That worked out in my favor when we had to do some big mechanical work on our roaster. We wanted to play it safe and get some more coffee roasted while the repairs were taking place, so we started asking around to borrow some time on another roaster.
We wound up using the San Franciscan roaster of the Buffalo Coffee Roastery, in the main place mall! The staff & owners were extremely friendly and helpful and I really can't thank them enough.
My end of the day was mostly logistics: weighing coffee out, binning it, loading and unloading the van, wheeling stuff hither and yon, getting Michael what he needed, trying to keep everything as clean and unobtrusive as possible. They roast on-site at this cafe, and there were tons of people coming through the shop. Very interesting--but I can see why they try to roast after the rush.
And quite the learning experience, given that all our experience is pretty much just on our one machine. We had to use different batch sizes, and Michael had to really tune in on every nuance of sound, sight, and smell.
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| Air temp as we warm up |
Also, we love love love the cooling tray. Better heat sinking than ours, more surface area, and the squeegee actually works. You have no idea how excited this made us.
Meanwhile, back at Spot...
Turns out those bearings are really hard to get off sometimes!
But, our Primo is back up and running, which is a major relief. We also found a really good technician through this whole process, and while Michael is quite handy at fixing & maintaining most everything on it, it's nice to have a tech on call for the big jobs.
In related news, Spot has started the long process of looking into upgrading our roasting facility...possibly including a newer, somewhat larger roaster. That has me & Michael feeling like we're waiting for Christmas morning. It's probably going to be quite some time before we are actually on a new machine, given the complexity of selecting and installing one, but I look forward to reporting any progress there...
Whew. It has been a long couple of weeks in the roastery. Lots of cleaning, lots of scrambling around, but it is shaping up. We've got two assistants now, Robin & Marquita, as well as some occasional assistance from other interested baristas in the company.
And! The MANE Conference is right around the corner, and Pull-A-Shot not long after that.
That's all I have at the moment, friends. Brew strong. I will be updating more soon.
As I've previously mentioned, I have taken an interest in fluid bed roasting lately. I have not used one or had coffee from one, but the concept and various benefits seem very reasonable and compelling to me. It would not surprise me if these roasters are just misunderstood and under valued.
ReplyDeleteIf I were creating a coffee business, or being charged with selecting a roaster for one, I would insist on first evaluating a quality fluid bed roaster, namely a Sivetz roaster, before making a decision. If it works like it is supposed to, why would anyone not use one? If it actually works, then it seems like it clearly addresses the design problems of roasting coffee better than drums by nature.
Similarly I would insist on evaluating Versalab M3 grinders for espresso.
Some supposed fluid bed roasting benefits: roasts are faster, cooling is faster, repeatability, precision, and ease of operation are greater. Less effort needed to roast more coffee faster.
ReplyDeleteThere is a heart warming story in Kenneth David's first book about coffee about a small roasting business which was passed on from father to son. The father roasted in a big old drum roaster using a profoundly romantic and sensorial approach that involved no instrumentation. The son later installed and ran the business using a fluid bed roaster, but kept their drum machine in the shop because it was beautiful and sentimental.
It seems it is very easy to unevenly roast coffee in a drum roaster, or roast it too slow and bake it, whereas it seems like a quality air roaster is designed such that these things would be a relative challenge to do.
I somewhat suspect the preference for drum roasters may be significantly influenced by their superior romance and aesthetics, and the notion that they are better for "roasting for espresso".
Using an acidy washed coffee that was not roasted for espresso to pull shots using 14 grams in a double basket demonstrates that espresso is not "acidy" in itself, but instead that using 18+ grams in the same basket can explain excessively acidy results from the latter.
ReplyDeleteBrewing a coffee "roasted for espresso" as not espresso is widely accepted to produce flat, dull, disappointing results. I don't believe such a roast should be necessary for espresso.
p.s. In conclusion please build a roasting facility with probably a Sivetz roaster in South Florida in the building two blocks south of Spot Delray on SE 1st Ave... and also did you eliminate decaf yet. As always "kthnx".
Here are some links to Sivetz Kool-Aid:
http://sivetzcoffee.com/Fluid%20bed.htm
http://sivetzcoffee.com/newsletter/roasttempDec00.htm
"Oh Yeah!" - The Kool Aid Man
Michael I think is already pretty sold on the idea of fluid-bed, he's been talking about putting together a garage sample-roaster himself on the fluid bed model.
ReplyDeleteMarvelous! Sivetz sells a heat gun with a funnel and screen attached which they use for sample roasting 30 to 40 grams of coffee per roast. I think it is $150 from them ready to roast.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a fair price given the cost of a quality heat gun and for their time/efforts, and you have the benefit of knowing that the particular execution of this design and the heat gun itself is Sivetz approved.
I am revisiting popcorn poppers. With my $20 side vent Toastess unmodified it stalls at about a light city + roast. The batch size that seems to achieve the highest temperature (75 grams) seems like it does not achieve an ideal fluidized bed.
I am going to try a non-side vent popper to see if this fluidizes the beans better than the side-vent style. I am skeptical of the supposed increased risk of fire hazard. The heat gun approach would seem to be nearly identical in terms of the style of air outlet and heating element design. This would also be more similar to actual Sivetz roasters.
Will you and Michael be setting out to evaluate some air roasters, particularly Sivetz in preparation for possibly purchasing a new roaster?
Thoughts on important faults or trade offs on them?
Also, I have had commercially air roasted coffees from Whole Foods. I'm not sure who manufactures their roasters.
Also, I would like to volunteer to buy your roaster technician hearing and eye protection for his future angle grinding endeavors.
ReplyDeleteYeah seriously.
ReplyDeleteOn the new Spot Roaster question, I seriously doubt we'll go for a fluid bed. They're just a little too different. We're definitely going to stick one or two on the final list of roasters for evaluation and possible buy, but I think my top choice, and TPTB's, will probably be something more familiar. We're just hoping for something a little larger, a little more flexible, and with a few bits ours lacks.