Did my first order with Sweet Maria's. I ended up going with the 8lb sampler. Excited to try these!

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:-):-)
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Nice, they are a good company to deal with.
Looks like you have some beans to last for a little while.
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Yes I do.. I have been roasting them dark with a few light roast to mix in. I am going to try all these to what they recommend and see how I like them that way.
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Nice pickup Garry. I have the same Sumatra beans. They're a weird one to roast. You may not hear much at first crack. I remember on the first batch i roasted it made one very loud crack, then nothing after. Second batch wasn't much different. I'd be interested to hear what you think of the Brazilian Fazenda. I roasted the last of a different Brazilian Fazenda the other night. Great coffee and was thinking of picking up some of this new lot.
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It will be a while before I roast some.. I have some coffee I need to drink before I start.
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I see you decided to NOT buy AMERICAN ! !
Shame with people nowadays.



:-)
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Random pick by them for the sampler!
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ok, honestly now, is it difficult to roast beans yourself? I see you two both doing this and people enjoying your roasts Shane. Is it very tedious or actually enjoyable? I think it may be something I would like to do if I could find the time.
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Ten minutes and I have enough beans for 4 cups of coffee. I use a old hot air popcorn popper. Check out sweetmarias.com for a video on how to do it. Very easy.
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I love it. Way cheaper and fun for me. I also make beer.. From time to time.. Something about being able to make your own is cool.

It is simple.. Very simple. I will smoke as a I roast.. Listening to what the beans are 'saying'

I was scared at first.. Trying not to mess up the beans.. I would do a small batch, real dark, medium, light.. See how I like them

I can taste the freshness and now hate going to others with 'Folgers' style coffee or even whole beans they buy.. Way different now!
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Doesn't seem that bad.

Now, next question, is it more of a pride thing, or do you guys think the roasts taste better than what you can buy. Think of this as a question dealing with beer...you can homebrew but the costs come to about the same and the tastes do as well, is this different with coffee?
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Really! That is great news. I figured it was more of a hobby rather than something that tasted much better and actually saved money. As you will see from the previous post, beer to me is good to make yourself because you are enjoying your creation...i just didn't ever get flavor differences that made it much better than buying.
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I can buy locally a 2lb bag of green coffee for 12-18 bucks. Savings right there.
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Cool thanks :-) I'll do some researching
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Cole, roasting your own coffee is fun and extremely rewarding.
It takes a bit of planning and thinking ahead, oh and practice.
I have a small roaster that roasts about 1/3 pound at a time, it is very consistent but at about 19-22 minutes it takes much longer than most roasters. I now order my beans in ten pound bags and save a ton of money, I want to eventually order a 75lb bag or two.

After the 19-22 minute roasting period, I leave my beans out in the air (Out of direct light) for 12-24 hours to de-gas and then bag them up for 1-4 days until I brew them. I try to always have beens roasted without letting them get older than a week. It is a balancing game that takes some time to get used to.

Anything you can make on your own gives you an extra sense of pride and enjoyment IMO.
And all the warm comments I have received have been very encouraging.
Eventually I plan on getting a bigger capacity roaster and putting my coffee out to brothers here.
Send me a PM if you have any questions or post in the What did you roast today thread for more advice. If you LOVE coffee, you MUST start roasting your own beans!!!
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For me it's a passion to tinker. I'm a foodie from head to toe, and get really geeked on creating things. I'm always in search of that perfect 'whatever'. That's why i make my own sausage, have brewed my own beer, make my own bread (when I ate it), etc. There's something about the artisinal aspect of things like roasting your own coffee. You have the ultimate control over the end product. Want it darker, easy, just roast it longer. Like a lighter roast, just pull the plug sooner. The cost factor wasn't a big deal for me since I don't drink a lot of coffee daily, averaging 2 cups in my travel mug.

Like Shane says, you have to do some fore thought before you can have fresh roasted coffee. I roasted some on Tuesday night that I'll start drinking tomorrow. Eventually I'll upgrade my roaster to one with a larger capacity, but that's just so I can roast more to give away.

My next artisinal endeavor, home roasted peanut butter.
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Thanks Gents! I did some looking around and it doesn't seem that difficult. I definitely love drinking coffee FOR TASTE (Black only!) and this seems like something I think i would like to give a try. Best part, if I suck at it, it doesn't cost much to start...and I can buy off of you artists :-)

oh, and :-) Garry for thread jacking. I'll take a look at the what are you roasting today thread. Thanks all! And good luck Garry!
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That. Looks. :-)
I definitely need to get into this hobby.

Also, don't feel too bad, Cole, there's some solid info in this thread. :-)
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No worries Cole.

Nice hobby to be in!
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