Coffee greens suppliers

MediumRoastSteam

What do people use for their supplies? The only few I can think (UK) which are reasonable are:

coffee compass;
Bella barista;
Small batch roasting:
Falcon micro.

I never bought from the last two. Are there any others? I think I’d go through 10kg a year, but rather buy in 2kg or 3kg at a time, 1kg each type preferably.

Also, I’m currently roasting (and learning) an Ethiopian Guji natural (peaberry maybe) on the Gene, but for the life of me I could not hear first crack. Maybe one or two pops and that was it. Is it normal? Very different from a washed Colombian before.

Many thanks!

Doram

MediumRoastSteam I used to buy greens from Has Bean, but got tired of seeing the prices go up with every purchase, so looked for an alternative, found Coffee Compass and never felt a need to go somewhere else.

Those two were selling green blends, which is what I was after as I didn’t know what singles to get. Others were selling single origin greens but not blends. Now I get singles as well, but still like Compass.

And as you mentioned, I don’t have a problem to hear FC, but some beans are louder than others, so maybe you got a shy coffee. :)

tompoland

We have the Coffee Snobs forum in Australia with their Bean Bay run by owner Andy who really does a great job of sourcing a range of beans and some very high quality, great variety and all for very competitive prices. Not much help for those of you on the “Up Over” but worth checking out for those Down Under. A notable mention goes to Withams here in Australia too.

oztayls

tompoland

For any Aussies here, you cannot go past Andy at CoffeeSnobs/Beanbay. The range and service are exemplary.

tompoland

I have the same issue (not being able to hear first crack) with my Aillio Bullet. So I bought one of those portable speakers with microphone. See make and model name below.

When the beans are approaching first crack, I take out the Trier plug thingy and stick the microphone in the cylinder that the Trier came out from.

It really works a treat. I can even hear second crack like this.

“WinBridge WB001 Portable Voice Amplifier with Headset Microphone Personal Speaker Mic Rechargeable Ultralight for Teachers”

MediumRoastSteam

tompoland - that’s interesting! I actually bought one too, and even with that I could not hear with those beans. Maybe the odd “pop”, which I attributed to FC. But it was like 2 or 3, very spaced out over 2 minutes.

@Doram roasts with the Gene too, and he said he never had such problems of not hearing FC with the Gene. I wonder whether it’s this particular bean.

tompoland - with the Bullet, is it the case for any beans you’ve roasted?

tompoland

MediumRoastSteam Yes pretty much the same for all of them. Even with the microphone, second crack is really hard to hear and other new Bullet owners have complained about not hearing first crack. Pic of the set up uploaded for those who have no idea what I’m talking about.

DavecUK

Some beans are super quiet as they enter first. Daterra microlots are notorious for it, the Amazon Dalian is a very quiet roaster (well mine is) and I can barely hear the start of first. Often when I do a roasting course, the trainee can’t hear it at first. Knowing what to listen for helps a lot…but as with all things the aging ear is less sensitive.

Del_UK

I got 2×10kg, 10 of Colombian and 10 of a natural Nicaraguan from a collective that coordinate on facebook. There’s a roaster who lives near me so he collected his 130kg+ and mine at the same time so postage was free!

The Nicaraguan sound like mini fireworks going off when they crack, whereas the Colombian are much quieter, but still auidable with the Behmors noise.

MediumRoastSteam

Del_UK - is that the Green Buying Collective group on FB with Phillip Turner?

MediumRoastSteam

Doram got a shy coffee. :)

Most likely got a shy ear! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

thusband

Doram I agree about Hasbean. I was willing to pay more for quality greens until I came across Coffee Compass which has quality and decent pricing. I’ve bought greens from a few companies here where the before roast sorting produced dozens of defects. Really unacceptable.

I usually don’t have a problem hearing first crack in my Huky except with decaf beans. They have a very soft first crack and almost zero chaff.

Del_UK

MediumRoastSteam
It is indeed! It worked out at about £8.50 a kg for my order and the beans are pretty fantastic, the natural is a strawberry feast)

I know there’s talk of another order coming soon, some Brazilian I believe…

MediumRoastSteam

Del_UK - ah! Small world. I actually posted there not long ago asking if someone was going to place an order and happen to live near me. You can then work out who I am. 😉

That group is great, as the quality of the beans are superb and the value for money is incredible.

Are you roasting on the Behmor then? Even I’m thinking of ordering one from Hasbean, despite having ordered one and ending up with a lemon a while ago. However, I’m also determined to make the Gene cafe work. 😊

Del_UK

It’s a great group, I’ve only gotten one batch so far but I’m after more, I’ve also posted recently asking about the possible Yemen naturals.

Yep, roasting in the garage on the Behmor as I type this! I really really like it. I’ve very little roasting knowledge, but I’m getting some great roasts from it.

MediumRoastSteam

Del_UK - thanks great to know. Other people like @SteveBRS also rave about the Behmor. Maybe I should give it a go again….

DavecUK

MediumRoastSteam - thanks great to know. Other people like @SteveBRS also rave about the Behmor. Maybe I should give it a go again….

Can’t hurt to try, HB price seemed pretty good.

Del_UK

For £250 it’s a great bit of kit. It’ll roast 400g easily so I can manage on about one roast a week, unless it’s Christmas and I’m at home for 2 weeks!!

MediumRoastSteam

DavecUK Can’t hurt to try

Thing is… I did try. But it didn’t like me.

Del_UK

Photo (hopefully) of my last roast (15th of Dec) about to be bottled up for single dosing and a shot (16g/32g) from them. A touch darker then I’d usually go but I am trying the various profiles on the roaster. Lovely salted caramel/toffee hit

MediumRoastSteam

Where abouts in the UK are you Del_UK ?

Del_UK

MediumRoastSteam
I’m in rainy Plymouth, Devon

MediumRoastSteam

Del_UK - cool cool. Had a glimmer of hope you’d be nearby. 😊👍