So, I thought I'd start a little blog here about my path down the Rosting Road, as it were. If you haven't read my profile, you should know that I've been a barista for 18 years, on and off - but mostly on. I've also been in managment, helped open shops, worked at solo owner/operator hole-in-the-wall shops, worked the conventions, run trainings, been in barista competitions, worked for masters of the craft - as well as a few fools - but have always been at arms length around the roasting process. I understand it, on the most basic level at this point. If you're a barista with a few years under your belt, maybe you'll understand my analogy here a bit more fully; that roasting coffee is like pulling shots. It is really, really easy to put coffee in the thing, pack it down, click the other thing over here, and out comes the espresso. But that does not make you a barista, oh no. It is so much more about subtlety, and tiny, tiny variations rippling through the constant repitition, and getting a feel for the 'nature' of the espresso. How will the weather effect things? How about the burrs; when were they changed last? Is the temperature on my machine stable? A long, long list follows, and you are constantly dialing in to stay in The Zone to keep your shots pouring sweet.
Well, roasting seems to be the same idea - at least here at Herkimer. When the Probat was installed, there was a digital timer/display/programmable thingy on the control panel, which I thought made sense: keep your roasts and everything consistent, right? Well, imagine my surprise when they ripped that out, and where LEDs once blinked and booped, there is now a rather utilitarian LED temperature display, and that's it.
Scott Richardson is our roaster, and has been doing it as long as I've been a barista - which he's done as well, with the additional skill-set of being in the repair and maintenance field of machines, grinders, etc. I'm finding that his 'feel' for roasting is much like my 'feel' for pulling shots. I hold automatic espresso machines with distain in the same way as he did with the fancy computer controlled Probat roaster. Coffee is hands-on, and can only really settle in with lots of experience. I'll continue to wrestle with my inadequacy issues around SO MANY DIFFERENT BEANS and hopefully bear in mind my own thoughts here; it'll come with time.
I'll try to keep this updated as I learn, and maybe you can see what it's like to go from a master barista to an apprentice bean-cooker.