Fresh From The Roaster….

Joe has a hit!

Joe Behm sent me one of his Behmor 1600 Home Coffee Roasters to test out.

Let me start out by saying pay attention – Read the manual and read it agin!  Do not leave it unattended when roasting – EVER!

I unpacked the Behmor and visions of a Ronco Rotisserie that would roast small game hens came to mind.  It is nicely packed so there shouldn’t be any issues in shipping anywhere in the US.
The removable safety / notice stickers where a pain to remove. The adhesive sticks too well.  Joe says to use rubbing alcohol and it will clean up nicely-he says the next shipment of units have a few of these issues taken care of.

I ran the roaster twice empty to burn off any residue left on the roasters metal surfaces. It smelled like when you light off your furnace for the first time in the fall.  Remember to do this outside or in your garage for you wouldn’t want this smell in your house.  For that matter I recommend you roast outside or in the garage with any home roaster.  The roaster eliminates most smoke issues except when you go to a very dark roast.

My first roast I had 1/4 lb. green of some Fair Trade Organic Brazil I wanted try.  I selected the settings per the manuals recommendations: 1/4, P2, B and pushed Start. The roaster came to life – very nice and quite compared to other home roasters I’ve used. The red glow of the heating elements glowed a like a radiant ruby.  As I started to hear the first crack on the coffee I noticed that the unit was starting to emit plenty of smoke – the smoke suppression system didn’t seem to be working well.  Then all hell broke out. I noticed that the chaff that started to collect had ignited.  I was in shock at first. Out of all my years roasting I have been “mister fire prevention”, how could this be happening to me.  Luckily I had a pair of welding gloves next to the roaster.  Since I was in an area where I could pull the chaff tray out and not cause a surrounding fire – did what you shouldn’t normally do.  I opened the door and removed the tray. Please not that this is not the smartest thing to do in a fire situation.  Opening the door feeds more oxygen to the fire. Since the coffee in the roasting chamber had not caught fire the roaster was ok except for a burn spot where actually smaller bean that had fallen through the roast chamber screen.  I had heeded the fact that I knew to be careful not to roast very small screen coffees. I looked at the FTO Brazil and thought that there may be a few beans smaller than a screen #15. So I figured that these small beans had fell through the roast chamber screen and collected near the heating elements and glowed red and ignited the chaff.

Ok, so I figure that this time I would try another coffee.  I had a FTO Sumatra that had a lager screen size.  Before I started I placed the beans in the roast chamber and rotated it by hand to see if any beans would fall out. All seemed well.  I started the roaster using 1/4, P5, D+.  I was watching this batch ever so closely – I wasn’t about to let a fire happen again!  As we progressed towards first crack I noticed in the far back right corner of the roaster I thought I started to see a glowing spot.  I immediately stopped the roast.  Safety first!  I pulled out the chaff tray and noticed that some beans had collected and started to smolder.  I then proceeded to pull out the roasting chamber and examine it. I couldnt believe there was a issue since I rotated it before I started to see if ant would fall out.  At first I thought that maybe when the drum heated up something had expanded to let the beans through.  I decided to do a test.  I place another batch in the chamber and place it in the machine.  I pushed the COOL button and let the roast chamber rotate.  I watched it closely and with in a minute a few beans had fallen out. Ah ha!  I pulled out the roast chamber and scrutinized it closer.  There was one wire slightly bent out op place – really hard to notice.  Could this really be what has caused this issue?  I took a pair of needle nose pliers and pushed it into place.  I filled the chamber with beans again and did my Cool cycle test to see if any beans would fall out.  I let it run for about five minutes and no beans fell out.  Now it was time to roast again.

I did FTO Sumatra again with the same settings.  I had to push the + time button to add another 30 seconds to the roast.  I wanted to do a nice fullcity roast on it.  As I started to hear the sounds of second crack I hit the COOL button and let it run its course.  The beans looked great.  I cracked open a few to see how well it roasted the bean internally.  Again it looked impressive.  Now I would have to see how well it cupped.
My next roast I wanted to do a lighter roast and it was back to the FTO Brazilian.  I personally had a hard time seeing the beans and trying to judge where to stop past first crack even with the light on.  I ruined two batches because I could see clearly how the beans where roasting.  I talked with Joe and he says he has an area he recommends to cut out for better viewing.  He said that he approves this and it will not void the warranty.

Now the moment of the proof in the cup. Wow!  These coffees cupped great.  They had developed a nice body (ala drum roasting factor) compared to other Home Air-roasters I’ve tried.  I cupped those two days later and still it was impressive again.
So I have to say the Joe Behm and his Behmor 1600 roaster are a hit.  Congratulations Joe and the 9+ years of work have really showed in this wonderful little roaster.

Once again I cannot stress Safety first. Please, please, please never leave any coffee roaster unattended.  As you can see that even a guy with 20+ years of roasting experience had issues.  My past experience may have helped alleviate a few issues – but there will be a learning curve on the roaster.  This machine is not a “Set and Forget” model, attention is key to your roasting success.  This machine is one of the best home roasting models I’ve tested in the price range. MSRP$ 299 and well worth the great coffee it can produce for you.
Once again I salute Joe and sip on this great coffee I’m having from his machine.

Joe -This Cups For You!

Holiday Funk!

As the Holiday season has progressed I’m hearing it just doesn’t feel like Christmas time. As an observer I ask where has the “JOY” gone? The Joy of the Holidays has gotten so tied up in commercialism I think everyone has lost touch with what really should matter.

I too have felt that way. I have had to look inward and reflect to search what this means to me. I look at my life and feel that I have been blessed in many ways. There are many trying times, but I feel that these trials of life will make me a better person. I ponder – have we got too politically correct or are too worried we will offend someone by using the word Christmas, Hanukah or even Kwanzaa . I could rant about this for hours, but I want to focus on the word JOY.

Am I too selfish or is everything is me, me, and me? By looking inward I feel that the Holiday season needs to be about others. What will bring JOY to them? What I have decided is that I need to bring JOY to those who really need it. Mary and I have started by donating food (and of course coffee) to the local food banks. Those who may have had the misfortune to suffer from homelessness and the eternal groans of hunger could use some JOY in their life. Have you ever felt the pain of true hunger? I’m not talking about the last diet you where on, because you have had the choice and opportunity to get the foods you desire.

We have also been supporting the Toys for Tots program. Yeah I’m a NAVY guy, but I got to give thanks for those Marines run a Tight Ship (lots of dig’s there). They bust their butts on this program and for that I’m proud of their service. We did some shopping last week and we purchased a few board games to donate. I remember playing these games as a child and the JOY I had; we bought Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Uno. Mary has been shopping away and the latest game she bought was a Dora the Explorer game. She has really gotten into the spirit.

Ok, on another note… We will be getting in a Behmor 1600 home coffee roaster. Joe Behm has poured his heart and soul into it. Once we get a few roasts on it we will plan demo it to the local home roasters. So far the reviews have been well received on it.

While you’re out shopping….plan to come on into Georgetown Market. I will be there on Saturday December. 8th. . We will be sampling out our Organic Holiday coffees between 12 noon to 2pm. Support your Independent Health Food Store. Think Global, Shop Local!

And remember to bring JOY into someone’s life this holiday season. Think of other people.

Ho, Ho, Ho….

This week on PIMP my Roaster for the Holidays….

I remember joking with my friend Paris Simmons in the Navy.  He would always say, “It aint easy being a P.I.M.P!”  We’ll he was right!  But thanks to Paris he introduced me to Digital Underground, Ice-T and a few other groups to open my mind to different music. Paris opened my eyes to the Urban life and the World.  And for that I thank him and dedicate this post to him.

So why is it so hard for me to be a P.I.M.P? Let me sit on Santa’s lap and I’ll tell you why?

Right now I have so many great coffees I’m trying to sell. People keep telling me “your a coffee pimp.”  And to that I say “Yes. Yes I am!”

Our Holiday Java and Reindeer Tracks coffee is made up of some really sweet and zippy Panama coffee.  This was a treasure when I cupped his coffee. I knew this would be a great holiday gift that I would want if I was a coffee lover.  It was a limited offering so I jumped as fast as I could to purchase it.  So, Christmas started early for me.

Oh yeah!  I forgot to mention that we can PIMP your logo on the bag.  Give us a call to reserve some of this special coffee especially for you. We can roast it and ship it to meet your schedule.

We just received in our Kona coffee.  It is FANTASTIC!  I had three cups of this today.  It is another sweet coffee with a touch of acidity. It blew me away. I haven’t had a Kona coffee like this to brag about in quite some time.  Usually they have been very mild with a bit of milk chocolate, but this is different. This is sure to go fast.  So, once again reserve or order yours today.

Since I am on Santa’s lap… I have a few Christmas gifts I want Santa. I am pimping out my roaster and I want the new Turbo-Kung Fu-Grip gas burners for my Primo roaster. I just need you to persuade my wife it will be O.K.

And I want a lollipop and the new X-Box 360!

The new girlfriend in my life and my wife doesn’t mind!

At ease! It’s not actually what you’re thinking.

Mary and I just got back from a trip to Minneapolis for the Midwest Roaster Group meeting at Café Imports.  It was such a pleasant drive.  The scenery was amazing; leaves were changing, huge windmills and a missing bridge. Huh?

So where does this new girlfriend come in? Well, her name is Mandy.  So on the trip it was Mandy this Mandy that! So who is Mandy? Ok, Mandy is the voice of my new TomTom GPS navigator.  It became the dominate conversation that we must listen and act as Mandy says.  I must agree Mandy was spot on the whole trip.

What was amazing was that the GPS took out all the worry of trying to figure out what exit or turn to make. And if you’ve been to Minneapolis, you know there are many offshoots to different freeways and connecting roads.  There were a few mistakes on my part, and the on going joke was that we were going to make Mandy mad!

Our first incident was on our trip to visit Peace Coffee.  I plugged in the address off we went.  On one of the turns that Mandy suggested, the road was blocked.  So we made the reroute per the construction signs and Mandy recalculated.  As we were driving past the construction signs we noticed that something seemed out of place.  It was the freeway bridge that had collapsed back in August.  Wow, an amazing yet tragic site to see.  So surreal.

Our visit at Peace Coffee was really nice.  The building where they are located was heavily inundated renewable & sustainable technology companies.  The roof top had solar panels and a roof top garden.  Talk about my dream of sustainable energy.  I would love to have those panels and a fleet of electric vans to do my local deliveries.  Since peace coffee is within the city limits, they do all local deliveries via bicycles.  I’m sure Mary would like to see my butt on a bike here in Indianapolis.  She knows I need that exercise.

The meet up at Café Imports was great.  Emily and Jamin were great host.  We did a cupping on each others coffees and we played with their Clover Coffee Brewer. Good times for all.  Not enough time because I could hang there forever with the smell of green coffee – it’s sweet and succulent.

Now it’s back to work.  I’ve been working on our Holiday offerings.  They are under the coffee section of our website at the moment.  We are offering a private label options on these coffee.  Check it out!  Call us if you have specific needs.

Oh yeah!  How many days till Christmas?

Tim Steals a Smart Car at the IMA

Ok, so he really didn’t steal one. But I was toying with the idea of a title like “Forget the iPhone, get in line for a Smart Car Test Drive”.  Ahhh! Current events.

 I played hooky this afternoon to be one of the first in line to drive a Smart Car here in Indianapolis. The event is happening all weekend long, but I figured once the local TV coverage kicked in the wait will be very long.  I arrived at the IMA (Indianapolis Museum of Art) at 11:30 am, and there was already about 30 people in line. The event kicked off at noon. 

I chatted with a few people in line, being my typical self cracking bad jokes. Probably trying too hard to get a laugh. There was a gentleman who drove in from Champaign, Illinos; he’s looking at getting one to do his local “grocery” runs.  He figures he drives less than 2 miles per day. 

It took about 45 minutes before it was my turn to take the wheel. I introduced myself to my Smart Car Chaparone.  Ahh! They know me too well.  Guess there will be no getting it up on two wheels.  After buckling myself in and getting familiar with the layout, I was ready to go.  There was more than plenty of room in this small car, don’t be fooled. The transmission on the car is called a manual, but there is no clutch and  it operates like an automatic transmission to me. A bit slow to make the shifts in manual mode I must admit.  However, it doesn’t hamper drivability or acceleration – go figure. 

So first thing I say to my chaperone, “There’s something I’ve really been wanting to try, I’ve seen it done in the movies and I’m pretty sure this car will do it! Since I haven’t rented a car lately – and this car will do! Plus this thing has a safety rating for roll-overs, right?”  Its kind of funny when people just turn their head and stare at you, looking like are you serious? I cracked a smile and said you don’t mind if I floor it? I was asked to hold off until we were out on the road. 

We leave the grounds of the IMA and turn onto 38th Street.  I hit the gas and ask for warp factor seven! BrrrrrRRRRRrH! I hit a whopping 80 Khm – that’s 50 Mph. The dash hasn’t been changed since these are Euro-spec Smart Cars. I tried the car in Manual and Auto mode.  The paddle shifters are cool.  I guess with paddle shifters I’d expect performance. The car drove very nice, smooth.  I just wonder how it would be on the highway, especially when an 18 wheeler blows by you. 

Overall my experience was very positive.  My only complaints are sluggish shifting, and where’s the diesel engined cars? I really think if they bring the diesel engine to the States they will sell like crazy.  My understanding is that they get around 70 MPG.  At today’s fuel prices, it would cut my gas bill more than half.  Last month I spent $426 fueling my ride.

Heck, the car would then pay for itself based on my current fuel usage alone. Plus if they sell diesel I could then use Biodiesel and cut “Big Oil” out of the picture completely. If you have time, go take a test drive.  They are holding these events all over the US.  Check out Smart cars website and see if the is an event near you. Plus if you have $99, this will reserve a spot to be the first to get one. 

Zoom.  Zoom!   Ok. I know it’s a Mazda tagline… 

Cheers!

ESI Training Class

We just finished hosting our training sessions with ESI. Ryan Haney did the honors of being our lead instructor. We first did training on the Franke Evolution. It was pretty cool breaking the machine down. In the picture you see Chris Edwards rebuilding the brew group.

 The next day we got our hands on the La Marzocco GB/5 and Swift Grinder. This was the first time I actually dialed in the grind on this style of grinder. We did a video pulling some shots.  I needed to tweak the grind a bit more, but our Cafe Vera still performed like a champ. The Creama looks yummy!  In fact it was!

Video Of Cafe Vera in Action

We had a great time manipulating the settings on the GB/5. There are so many areas to play with.  Temperature, Preinfusion, Preinfusuion time, and shot timing.  I know there are a couple more functions, but I can’t remember them all.  Talk about Coffee Geek to the MAX. You could constantly tweak and still not ever be satisfied.

Now I just have to pass the budget with Mary to replace my Linea in the Training Lab.

Busy Little Bees!

Summer months are supposed to be quiet.  Hardly. We’ve been busy little bees!

First off..We won the Nicaragua Lot # 5 from Jaime Armando Lovo – Santa Isabel Estate. YES! 

We were glad the we finally got to get our hands on some Cup Of Excellence coffee for our customers. We have had some great coffees before from the Santa Isabel Estate, its nice to know his special selection of coffee scored extremely well for this auction. Being ranked number five after all the National and International juries is outstanding.   This coffee has been consistently scored in the nineties!

I can’t wait to get this coffee in.  It is supposed to arrive in the US in about six to eight weeks.  We’ll do a few sample roasts and figure out how to achieve the best roast from this coffee.  It makes me feel like the Mad Scientist in the lab coat.  As I rub my hands together going “MuuuhHaaaaaah!!!” and plotting our schemes for world domination….  Wake up Tim!!  Stop daydreaming!  Ooops!  Better fall in line before Mary slaps me upside my head for being silly. Well, we try to have fun and have fun with our customers..  So shoot me! Better not say that too loud, she might take me seriously.

Speaking of lab coats… Last week we were hard at work roasting and cupping coffees for the 2007 Karnataka Espresso Blending Challenge. I’ve finalized my roast levels and tweaked my blends. I shipped them off and hope for the best. We entered six different blends. I think I heard that Sherri Johns will be one of the judges.  She’s a busy lady too.  She just got back from being the Head Judge for the International Jury of the Honduran Cup Of Excellence.  That auction will be coming on July 10th.

Now its time to put the lab gloves on.  I have to make our roastery presentable.  We are hosting a training session for ESI next week. I believe the training will be on the La Marzocco GB/5 and a Franke Superautomatic – I just can’t remember which one Ryan Haney told me about.  That reminds me; I have to go and purchase a Female L-6 connector to power these units up. So… I’ll make this short.

I’m off to the hardware store.  Wish me luck. Mary hates it when I go.  She says my eyes glaze over and I become the “kid in the candy store.”  Of course, I’m a guy; we want all the Toys!

My Soap Opera – On the way to Coffee Fest

Who says in the summer months the coffee business slows down?
Last week I was at Coffee Fest Atlanta, another one of my many road adventures. It started off as a really nice pleasant drive. I had my iPod cranking out talk podshows and music podcast. I was following my Yahoo Maps directions being happy as can be. At the directions of staying on interstate route 65 for 425 miles a no brainer. I couldn’t go wrong. Yet how wrong I was.

I crossed into Alabama seeing the amazing site of a Saturn 5 rocket. I could’t resist but stop to check it out. It was at a rest stop so easy enough to check out. Then I was back on my way. The exit numbers seemed pretty high (300′s), and my direction for an exit were at exit 123. Hmmm. That’s odd. According to my speedometer my turn was coming up in 30 miles.
So I trudged onward listening to my tunes. Thirty miles came and went. Houston we have a problem was mumbled, with the Saturn 5 still in my mind. So at the next rest stop checked the map. All I could think was how naive I was to trust Yahoo Maps and not verify it with a real map. I screamed mentally – Never Again!

It was too late to turn back; I was Birmingham bound and then a left turn at Albuquerque or was that right? So on to Atlanta Airport I go to pickup Mary. This little mistake ended up being 90 miles and 1 1/2 hours later. And to think of the price of gas! I made it to ATL just as Mary arrived.

The next day was our first day of Coffee Fest. We attended a few presentations and hit the tradeshow floor. It was reunion after reunion. We saw many friends that we didn’t get to see at Chicago Coffee Fest. I stopped by the Zoka booth and talked with Tracy Allen about the $130 lb. “Geisha Green Coffee – Best Of Panama #1″ Hacienda La Esmeralda. Tracy offered a cup off their Clover machine of their Brazil Santa Ines Cup of Excellence 2006. Yummy! Sweet, complex and smooth.

Along the way I ended up talking to Jeff and Fred at PT’s booth. While they were busy Pete Licata brewed me a wonderful cup of their Ethiopia – Biloya. It too was brewed on the Clover. For what I was expecting, the clover really brought out a lot of body in the cup. Still quite nice!

Then along the way I met up with Terry Davis of Ambex Coffee Roasting Equipment. Gosh, I sure took up a lot of his time. The conversation was stimulating – I just couldn’t let go! We were hitting topic after topic on relevant issues that we both see happening in the Coffee Industry. From the SCAA to the Roaster Guild and some projects in the works. Like myself, Terry is a busy man. So I really appreciated his time.

I ended my day over at Counter Cultures booth. I finally got to meet up with Peter
Guiliano. We have been passing ships in the night for the last five years. I’ve always been off to some event or other function, I even been to Counter Cultures roastery in that time too! However, I never got to sit down and talk with him one on one. We chatted for a bit. He invited me to their hosted event at Octane and then their new training facility. Both events were really great. Mary and I had a blast.

On Sunday I gave my class on Romancing The Bean: Up Selling Coffee Beans In Your Cafe. Overall it went well. I made the mistake to take questions after I said I’ll take questions at the end of the class. Live and Learn! This side tracked me a bit and I had to keep bringing the presentation back on course. This did make me rush the material towards the end. Sorry for that. But we did have a full class. It was standing room only in the back of the room so some folks didn’t get the handout. If anyone wants it, I can email it to you.

Then we were off to hit the road back here… Uneventful! No missed turns! I used a real map! All was well..

Now that I’m back in Indianapolis its back to work. This week I was roasting and cupping coffees for the 2007 Karnataka Espresso Blending Challenge. I’ve found the levels to where I want to roast the four supplied Indian Coffees. I will roast these on Monday. I will start the blending process to achieve my preferred blends. The challenge will allow us to use up to 30% of our own coffees if we chose. Hmmm… What shall I add? Or will I.