First Crack Podcast with Garrick Van Buren

via Jared on the Sweet Marias mailing list:

Minneapolis area roasters. We have a date, June 30 a time 2pm and a location Black Sheep Coffee Cafe (705 Southview Blvd., South Saint Paul, MN (651) 554-0155)

For those of you who missed the early posts Peter Middlecamp the owner of Black Sheep is both a new shop owner and Barista competitor yet still placed 6th this year at the US championships. He is also a very nice guy. Here is the email Peter sent me today:
“Sounds great Jared. I’ll have some cupping samples and maybe some signature
beverage ideas for next year for you to try…

I’ll be there. Should be fun.

We catch up with Twin Cities coffee legend Jeremy Raths and talk about:

1. Moving The Roastery from a coffee shop in the middle of St. Paul to delivering coffee from an abandon convent.
2. The history of the speciality coffee market - nationally and locally.
3. How the coffee market is changing to benefit the small, local, coffee farmer.
4. The flexibility to choose just the coffees he finds interesting.

Listen to Jeremy Raths and the Search for Extraordinary Coffee [28 min].

“BREAD MACHINES AND HEAT GUNS WERE NEVER DESIGNED TO ROAST COFFEE”

There are three problems I’ve run into since roasting with the Poppery

1. Small batch sizes (a maximum of 1/2 cup at a time)
2. Inconsistent roast times (the Poppery continually gets hotter - shorting roasts, burning beans)
3. The ambient temperature needs to be warm. So, no roasting in the Minnesota winters

Looks like a new roasting technique solves all three problems at once.

Like podcasting, I’m pretty sure I’ve got all the necessary gear in the basement. More later.

I’m finally making my home office more comfortable, so I can spend more focused and productive time without getting distracted by the rest of the house.

One of the things that crossed my mind was installing a small batch coffee roaster. Then friend of the show Pete T. points me to the NYTimes article on home roasting.

“At the end of a meal at a restaurant I’d like a cup of coffee. But it’s pretty rare that I’ll order it anymore,” he said. It just won’t taste right.” - Chris Becker

I’m with Chris, pretty particular about my coffee. But you know that.

Timoth Tulloch, CEO and Roastmaster at Minnesota-based European Roasterie (EuroRoast.com), and I talk coffee technology, from brewing to packaging, and why he’s aggressively moving into the single-serve coffee pod program (declaring the Black & Decker Home Cafe the best pod brewer). We wrap up with the culture of specialty coffee and how independent coffee shops can win against Starbucks.

I’ve been really enjoying their Mulawi and the new theme song is by Jeremy Piller.

Listen to Coffee Technology with Timothy Tulloch of EuroRoast.com [27 min]

Sam Buchanan and I roast up a couple of batches in my garage and talk about home roasting and coffee tasting techniques.

Oh, and I celebrate Uchenna and Joyce, the winners of CBS’s Amazing Race 7.

Listen to Home Roasting with Sam Buchanan [9 min]

In celebration of the first great day of spring, I dust off the West Bend Poppery and roast up some Aged Sumatra. Then brew up some iced coffee in my Toddy Maker Cold Brew Coffee Maker.

Things mentioned:

• Home Renovation
• Coffee by Kenneth Davids

Listen to the First Home Roast of the Spring [12 min]

Got questions about coffee or comments about the show? Call: 206-20-BEAN-1

Like the show? Support the First Crack Podcast

Greg Beale, a Dunn Bros. Coffee roastmaster, and I roast 8 pounds of Colombian beans, discuss holiday brewing tips, and the local flavors of the Dunn Bros shops.

Intro: PodCat from PodCat’s Daily Best of Podcasting.

Listen to Interview with a Roastmaster: Greg Beale [38 min]

Got questions about coffee or comments about the show? Call: 206-20-BEAN-1

Like the show? Support the First Crack Podcast

I walk you through roasting coffee at home with a WestBend Poppery air popcorn popper and bean from Sweet Marias and dig into the promise of RSS as a distribution channel.

Intro: Tod Maffin & Sean from I Love Radio.

Listen to Roasting at Home [13 min]