This is going to be in two sections, because I am only allowed 2000 characters:

Roasting is a huge challenge, true. I would really have to see what you are doing to the coffee to know, well,... what you are doing to the coffee. Sight unseen and from the taste descriptors, I would wager that you are getting the coffee too hot to fast. you are roasting the exterior portion of the beans more quickly than the interior portion. This will cause the color to look right, while leaving the inside of the bean under-developed. This would be why it is tipping (burning a bit) and tastes green. Are you getting really nice coffees to work with through a reputable source, like sweet maria's?

Coffee quality could play into why the coffee tastes bad too. Indonesian coffee are very bold in their characteristics. They are kind of like primary colors on the color spectrum. There is a wide rang in which you can roast them and they taste ok. Also, they are usually not as dense. They are lower grown and wet-hulled, which leaves them very large and spacious in their interior structure. This means that heat can penetrate them much more efficiently. Thus, they are probably roasting the best. African coffees very on density pretty widely. I'd lie to know what African coffees you are using specifically. Lastly, a really good Central or South American coffee is typically going to be very high grown and very dense. These need to be roasted much more carefully and gently, so that the heat can be absorbed to the core of the coffee before the exterior begins to burn. This is why I love a drum roaster with gas and air control. We can really dial in these parameters. With an air roaster (or popcorn popper) this is more difficult. Air roasters are notorious for coloring the exterior too quickly. The heavy convection super heats the outside of the bean. There has to be more control. One way to do this in your popper is to try to add a bit more coffee, to slow the air down and absorb more of the heat more evenly. This is dangerous though, because you don't want to over load it.

I hope this has been helpful.

Happy Roasting!!

thanks man! Your wife told me she was getting that for you for V-Day. I told her that if you ever need any help or pointers to let me know. Also, go to www.sweetmarias.com TONS of info on home roasting. Literally the BEST site on the web for it. Thomson Owens runs it out of the Oakland San Fran area. Great guy. Great place to buy green coffee. You can literally spend months reading on his site. Let me know next time you're in St. louis.

Congratulations! Let us know if you ever want to get involved!

I'd be happy to help as much as I can. Let me know if you have any particular questions.

Hey man! I'll have to check out your shop next time I'm in CoMO!

Hello Brian what number is your Clover?

Brian, The Barista Exchange seems cool but I am not very good at the internet social network thing.

Kenya is almost always good. Kenya, as a country, really has excellent quality control. Like Colombia they have established a brand name. Both countries consistantly deliver very good coffee. Almost never a stand out but always very drinkable. Both are almost never a bad choice.

Rick





Rick