PING: Diane and Susan (RE: coffee beans. OT)

x-no-archive: yes

Marengo said:

Well, I just had my first cup of coffee after roasting the beans as you
suggested. (I used the toaster oven; way to hot to fire up the big oven!).
I measured out my decaf beans (I used the Eight O'clock 100% Columbian I had
on hand), spread them in a single layer and roasted them at 400 degrees
until they started to crackle; then cooled immediately. Then I ground them
and brewed a pot of coffee. (I immediately noticed a change in texture of
the ground coffee; it was "stickier." Is this from oils that come out in
roasting?)

I wonder if I did this right. I removed the beans from the oven as soon as
they began to crackle. Was this right, or should I have waited until they
stop crackling? (Yes, I know, I'm an annoying newbie when it comes to
roasting my coffee beans).

While I can't honestly say that it rocked my world, it was definitely a big
improvement over using the unroasted beans. Much richer and more
full-flavored!

And one more question: If re-roasting the beans gives the coffee so much
richer flavor, why aren't they roasted twice by the companies that sell
them? Is it that the results are best when they are roasted just before
brewing, as I did?

I would love now to be able to re-visit the amazing coffee store at South
Streeet Seaport in New York City where I bought my coffee grinder about 15
years ago! They had an absolutely amazing selection of bins of every
imaginable (and some unimaginable) coffee from all corners of the world. I
was naive then and didn't take advantage of the opportunity I had then as a
coffee lover; I bought safe, familiar sounding beans at that time. Now I
wish I had been brave and experimented with the more exotic stuff!

Thanks guys!

Hi, Peter,

You'll have to thank Diane for the roasting advice, mine was to try
Jim's Organic Together decaf.

I'm not sure, but I think you're supposed to cool the beans and use them
the next day, but that's for green, not previously roasted beans.

Yes, the stickiness is from the oils.

You can get beans with a richer roast by paying more, not necessarily
roasted twice, just roasted enough the first time.

Susan

yes you did it right and are seeing the coffee oils. reroasting sort of
freshens the bean, changes the flavor. you could try roasting a little
longer till the crackle stops.

I haven't bothered doing this is a long time- but a cheap experiment. decaf
espresso beans are hard to find. caution- burnt beans are vile! you will
know when you've gone too far.

You can read about the different coffee styles online- many references.

Diane

"Marengo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:poPGe.54000$rb6.97@lakeread07...

Quoted message said:

Well, I just had my first cup of coffee after roasting the beans as you
suggested. (I used the toaster oven; way to hot to fire up the big
oven!). I measured out my decaf beans (I used the Eight O'clock 100%
Columbian I had on hand), spread them in a single layer and roasted them
at 400 degrees until they started to crackle; then cooled immediately.
Then I ground them and brewed a pot of coffee. (I immediately noticed a
change in texture of the ground coffee; it was "stickier." Is this from
oils that come out in roasting?)

I wonder if I did this right. I removed the beans from the oven as soon
as they began to crackle. Was this right, or should I have waited until
they stop crackling? (Yes, I know, I'm an annoying newbie when it comes
to roasting my coffee beans).

While I can't honestly say that it rocked my world, it was definitely a
big improvement over using the unroasted beans. Much richer and more
full-flavored!

And one more question: If re-roasting the beans gives the coffee so much
richer flavor, why aren't they roasted twice by the companies that sell
them? Is it that the results are best when they are roasted just before
brewing, as I did?

I would love now to be able to re-visit the amazing coffee store at South
Streeet Seaport in New York City where I bought my coffee grinder about 15
years ago! They had an absolutely amazing selection of bins of every
imaginable (and some unimaginable) coffee from all corners of the world.
I was naive then and didn't take advantage of the opportunity I had then
as a coffee lover; I bought safe, familiar sounding beans at that time.
Now I wish I had been brave and experimented with the more exotic stuff!

Thanks guys!

--
Peter
http://users.thelink.net/marengo