Craft Your Own Coffee Podcast

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[S2E11] Home Roasting Q&A Apr 13, 2020

Show notes

Lots of home coffee roasting goodness to unpack this week with the experts at Sweet Maria's, Thrive Farmers Coffee and Bellwood Coffee!

Links/Resources mentioned:

- Here's a list of some great coffee roaster options. (**here's a video on the Barwell roaster...I was wrong, you CAN change the temperature**)
- What Aaron uses with his Nostalgia Popcorn Popper: Grease Splatter Screen // Thermocouple
- Scott Rao's Coffee Roaster's Companion

"Spring Break" // Q&A Next Week Apr 06, 2020

Show notes

I'm taking the week off! Back next week with a Q&A episode with your questions and expert answers.

Send in home coffee roasting questions and/or insights to be featured in next week's episode:
@craftyourowncoffee
craftyourowncoffee@gmail.com
Send in a voice message

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." - Epictetus

[S2E10] The FreshRoast Episode Mar 30, 2020

Show notes

Want to "level up" from your popcorn popper? You've got to check out the FreshRoast. It's compact. It's fast. It's easy to use. It has some downsides for sure, but it's a great way to gain more control over key coffee roasting variables and help you roast better coffee.

In this episode I share some of the pros and cons of the FreshRoast air roaster, and then roast a batch on my back porch.

Check out this video tutorial from the pros at Sweet Marias on how to use the FreshRoast SR540

Check out this FreshRoast starter kit that Sweet Maria's offers on their website!

**Green Coffee discount extended! If you haven't used the coupon code yet, you've now got until May 1st, 2020 to receive 15% off your Green Coffee purchase at sweetmarias.com! Use the coupon code CRAFTCOFFEE**

[S2E9] YOU Can Help Save your Local Coffeeshops! Mar 23, 2020

Show notes

We are all sacrificing right now, all over the world. We are truly in this thing together!

If you're listening to this podcast, you're a coffee lover. And you know our beloved locally-owned coffeeshops are struggling right now. I challenge you to take action on one (or more) of these 3 steps to help save the coffeeshops that we love so dearly in our local communities:

1) BUY. If you're financially able, buy the highest-margin items that you local coffeeshop offers. Examples: bags of roasted coffee, merchandise, gift cards (IF the shop gets the revenue upon purchase of the gift card)

2) TIP. If you're financially able, leave a MONSTER TIP for your barista when you order. There are also "Virtual Tip Jars" (nationwide list // Atlanta list) out there where you can leave a tip even if your coffeeshop is not open.

3) SHARE. Leverage the best part of Social Media by inviting your family & friends to follow your favorite local coffeeshops and support them in the two ways above.

If we all do what we can, we can help the specialty coffee industry - and all the human lives associated with it - in such a challenging time.

God bless you all!

[S2E8] Coffee Farmer Caravan: Date Night Debrief Mar 16, 2020

Show notes

Katie and I went to the Coffee Farmer Caravan event for date night this week at East Pole Coffee Company where we got to meet and learn directly from Colombian coffee growers and exporters. It was such a fun and educational night and we wanted to hop on the microphone to share some of our takeaways with you while the learning was still fresh. Although this season of the podcast is focused on Home Coffee Roasting, learning more about what it takes to grow and process coffee with excellence definitely helps us appreciate roasting green coffee at an even greater level!
Big Takeaway: if you can get your hands on some Gesha coffee, DO IT. It's such a crazy good unique experience.
Bigger Takeaway: after hearing first-hand stories from coffee producers, Katie and I decided we need to visit a coffee farm and see it first-hand as well! More to come on that.
BIGGEST Takeaway: a HUGE level of gratitude and appreciation to all the hard work, passion and dedication from all over the world that goes in to the coffee experience that we get to enjoy every day at home and in cafes.

Hear several more of our takeaways by listening to this episode!
Did You Know...
- the country of Colombia is responsible for ~30% of the world's supply of coffee? There are approximately 540,000 coffee farms across the country which produce and export over 14 million bags of coffee per year (1 bag = 60kg)
- this may be subjective, but according to Banexport they believe 50% of the flavor of coffee is a result of the growing altitude and the variety of the coffee tree. The other 50% of the flavor comes from the processing method (washing, drying, fermenting, etc) after picking the coffee off the tree.
- there are dozens of varieties of coffee trees which all produce unique flavors in the coffee beans. The most-sought-after variety of coffee today is the Gesha tree, which was discovered first in Gesha, Ethiopia but can also be grown successfully in Panama, Tanzania, Costa Rica, Peru, and of course COLOMBIA!

Learn more about:
Cafe Imports
Banexport
East Pole Coffee Company

**If you're enjoying the show, please consider leaving a rating AND a review on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts!

[S2E7] 1 on 1 with Thrive Farmers Head Roaster Chris Avirett Mar 09, 2020

Show notes

Time to nerd out on coffee roasting with Chris Avirett, a professional coffee roaster and Head Roaster for Thrive Farmers Coffee (Roswell, GA).

Chris drops some knowledge bombs about roast curves, roasting software, some funky thing called the Maillard reaction, and the Coffee Roasters Guild. Let's get nerdy!

[S2E6] The Coffee Pros Grade My Coffee Mar 02, 2020

Show notes

Remember that coffee I roasted last week with my neighbor Robby? Find out how we did with that roast in today's episode, as the professionals at Thrive Farmers Coffee evaluate and score my coffee. (FYI, there are only a few thousand licensed Q Graders in the world, and you'll get to hear from one of them in this episode).

I'd never been through an experience like this before. It was new. It was objective. It was educational. It was a little nerve-racking. It smelled GREAT.

Because of the length of the evaluation process, this is a much longer episode than I typically put out. However, listen all the way through...there are some clutch takeaways near the end.

The team at Thrive Farmers were warm and hospitable, they created a great environment for learning and I'm grateful for the time they gave to all of us through this experience.

Enjoy!

[S2E5] Back Porch Coffee Roasting With My Neighbor Robby Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

Ride along with me and my neighbor Robby as we roast a batch of green coffee from start to finish on my back porch with my Hottop Roaster. Robby is a "coffee person" but is new to coffee roasting so his insights, takeaways and questions are On Point for anyone who is curious about roasting their own coffee.

My Home Roasting Process (as played out in the episode)
1) Preheat ("charge") roaster to 420 degrees (internal temp of roaster)
2) Set final roasting temperature at 374 degrees (temp of bean)
3) Once preheated, add 300g green coffee into roaster (full batch)
4) Turn fan to 100% for 60 seconds once green coffee temp begins to "rise"
5) Reduce fan speed to 10%
6) When internal roaster temp reaches 400 degrees, reduce heat to 90% and increase fan speed to 20%
7) With every additional 10 degree increase in roaster temp, reduce heat by an additional 10% and increase fan speed by an additional 10%
8) Eject beans when bean temperature reaches 374 degrees (assuming first crack is complete and bean color is what I want)
9) Allow to cool in cooling tray for 5 minutes
10) Get rid of as much chaff as possible
11) Lay coffee beans out on cookie sheet for an additional 30-60 minutes
12) Put roasted coffee in mason jar or sealable bag (with one-way release valve)
13) Wait 3-4 days before brewing!
Don't forget to take advantage of 15% off your order of Green Coffee at www.sweetmarias.com between now and 3/31/2020 using the code CRAFTCOFFEE

Links/Resources mentioned:
- Hottop Roaster
- Orens Daily Roast
- Zabar's Coffee
- The Coffee Roaster's Companion book (Scott Rao)
- Pew Research Center article about neighbors

[S2E4] Giveaway Time! Home Roasting Starter Kit Feb 17, 2020

Show notes

Have you gotten the itch to get started roasting coffee at home? Or, do you have someone in your life who is constantly asking you to roast coffee for them? Well, thanks to Sweet Maria's we're offering a FREE Home Roaster Starter Kit this week! The winner of this Giveaway can either jump-start his/her home roasting journey OR gift the kit to your mooching friend :)
Here's what you'll get:
- Nostalgia Popcorn Popper
- 4 pounds of green coffee
- Some Sweet Maria's swaaaaag
Listen to the episode to learn how you can participate! Participation ends at 11:59pm EST on Saturday 2/22/2020

If you haven't done so already, please take a moment to Subscribe, Rate and Review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Your help with this truly helps widen the home coffee enthusiast community circle.

Also included in this episode:
- a coffee story from one of our listeners (thanks, Aaron!)
- some new roasting terms (which will get explored a bit further in future episodes)
- a couple pieces of roasting and brewing equipment that Aaron (listener) uses at home: FreshRoast SR540, Thermocouple, Bialetti Moka Pot, Artisan Software

[S2E3] "Turn Green Coffee Brown": Basic Roasting Science w/Byron Dote of Sweet Maria's Coffee Feb 10, 2020

Show notes

Byron and the Home Roasting guru's of Sweet Maria's take me to school on what happens to green (unroasted) coffee beans as they go through the roasting process. Learn why some roasted coffee beans end up looking different than others. Learn how Sweet Maria's helps everyday coffee people like you and me find tasty green coffee. This easy-to-digest episode should help take some of the mystery and confusion out of roasting coffee. Getting the itch to try out roasting at home? Get 15% off your green coffee order at sweetmarias.com between now and March 31st, 2020 by using the promo code CRAFTCOFFEE. Also, Click Here for an easy starter kit: Electric popcorn popper ($20) + 4lb green coffee (FREE) + Shipping = ~$38!!!! Send in your questions, comments, feedback, ideas, etc to possibly be featured in an upcoming Q&A episode this season! --> Email: craftyourowncoffee@gmail.com --> Instagram: @craftyourowncoffee --> Voice Message: Click Here to Record

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