FYI, the attached image above is just for fun. But if you're wondering how I roll, it's single-origin beans from a small independent roaster, ground fresh, and brewed in a French press.
and a roast that's awfully close to light to be considered medium :/
@vieuxnez
The beans and brew aren't what's in those bags. These are all old pics on my phone from different times. But the ones in the bags indicate light roast. Also, what this roaster calls light is what I consider medium. Either way, it's always fantastic.
@vieuxnez
I used to be one of those people who thought they only liked darker roasts. Then I started getting into single-origin microlot beans, and realized the lighter roasting for many of those (especially from Ethiopia) allows many subtle flavors to shine through that darker roasting would mask.
I still like the dark roast, but I'm considering buying light roast to see if I can get much out of darkening it myself. (and trying it out, as well). For some reason, most of the coffee where I'm at doesn't go below medium roast.
@vieuxnez
Try the roster I use (pictured). Anything in the Special Mug category. You won't be disappointed.
I finally got around to ordering a bunch of coffees from the Happy Mug, dark, light, and some green to try roasting. ...
@vieuxnez
Please report back on your experience!
@voltronic Ok... I thought I would be replying a lot earlier than this, but I ordered a bunch of coffee. Some from happy mug, (some roasted[some dark, some light, and in-between], and the six pack of unroasted), and some from Peets, which had been my most recent coffee bean. Short story, the light roasts are pretty good, but I found many problems with my brewing method at the time that I had to fix (I used to rolling boil, now I simmer it for a long time before filtering, and it seems better)
@voltronic I used to have a regular coffee maker, and an espresso machine... decades ago? In the past few years, only, I started making coffee in a pot with a mesh filter. The most important thing, though, is that I thought roasting would be easier and less smoky. I tried pan roasting only once, and convection oven several times with various temperatures and approaches at reducing smoke. Eventually I got that to work somewhat, but I am happy with the results I got from my solar cooker.
@voltronic In the end, I think I've become a fan of self roasting. The Peets dark roast, I still like, but I liked the dark roasts I roasted myself more, which goes for the pre-roasted lights and darks from Happy Mug, as well, though I did like many of them, and I didn't make a rigorous survey, and will have to continue the coffee adventure.
@voltronic Here are some of my sun cooker roasts, one of which was partly burnt, but still palatable.
@voltronic I also wanted to capture the smoke coming out, though most of the videos showcase me need to change the exposure settings. One thing about roasting my own. It's hard to tell if its actually better, or if I had more desire for coffee after the aroma filled up the air so richly.
@voltronic I had planned on this being a quick test of some coffee and a bit of a response ... last year already? but ok, I finally got around to it. Light coffee, I like some of it. Definitely very different from dark, but they both have some great qualities. Thanks for the awakening me to the light.
@vieuxnez
You're welcome, and thanks for sharing your experience. I have never seen a sun heated roaster before.
@voltronic It had been on vacation because of recent slowly improving back problems, but I'm glad I brought it out for this, because it cooked the beans much more evenly than the pan method and the convection oven, as well as leaving the smoke, which I was able to keep fairly low (except for one slightly burnt batch) outside. Thanks for the recommendations, because I tried the lights, and the recommendations on the unroasted beans were some dark some light, and the lights were very good.