Basic advice for anyone considering home roasting

Basic advice for anyone considering home roasting:

• Don't start with samplers. Edit: don't start with small samplers of 1lb for each bean. SM sells XL samplers with 5lb per bean which offer enough quantity to experiment It will take several batches to figure out how to roast any bean. If you buy samplers, you will run out of beans before or just as you figure out how to successfully roast that bean. Buy at least two pounds or preferably five pounds or more of any bean you plan to roast until you can consistently execute a decent roast on the first batch and a great roast on the second batch. When you get to this point, go nuts on the sampler packs to learn all about origins first hand.

• Don't start with cheap beans or really expensive beans. Cheap beans are harder to roast well. You won't be able to capitalize on the potential of premium beans which fetch top prices. Buy above average beans which are rated highly in blind cupping by a reputable and experienced cupper. Learn how to roast good beans well before indulging your curiosity wildly. Discipline here and avoiding sample packs will accelerate the pace of your learning significantly.

• Safety is probably more important than in any other activity in which you engage. Fire is a very real hazard. Endeavor your roasting with the expectation that a fire will occur. Plan in advance how you will manage a fire. HAVE A FUNCTIONAL FIRE EXTINGUISHER WITHIN REACH WHILE YOU ROAST!

• Effect the best thermometry you can. To get exceptional roasts you will need to manipulate the roast profile. Observing temperatures from the beginning will help you develop an understanding of the how beans behave during the roast and will be useful in deciding when to stop the roast. A thermometer which responds very quickly to temperature changes is best particularly for air popper roasting.

• Especially for air poppers, weigh the charge. All roasters but particularly air poppers and fluid bed roasters behave differently with different charges. Experiment to learn these dynamics and what charge works best for your popper and approach to roasting.

• Make sure your brew equipment is up to par. If you are going to spend as much time as it takes to roast, you probably want to use a grinder on par with the Baratza Encore or better. A brew method that allows more control will be helpful as well. It is evident with home roasting how different beans and roasts work best with different brew parameters. The variability generally exceeds what you would experience with beans from commercial roasters. Aggressive intervention in the brew can often salvage a marginal roast. Having tools to effect such intervention may save many batches from the compost.