# How to maintain consistency?



## ckrhodes (Feb 19, 2019)

Hi guys,

Just a wondering thought, but how do you semi-professional/professional home roasters achieve all-year consistency with beans and roasting?

I had a talk with a coffee roasters that told me depending on the season/month, they change the recipe of the beans in order to always achieve a coffee that always has the same flavour profiles.

I would like to start getting into roasting myself, and eventually the dream is for this to grow, but was very curious about how you source the beans to always achieve this "consistency".

Thanks,

Callum


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## Batian (Oct 23, 2017)

Consistency may not be the essential ingredient for semi pro/hobby/small batch roasters. That is an area needed by the likes of the coffee chains. The semi pro cannot compete with the chains on price or consistency. You need bulk buying power, expert roasters (expensive) equipment and probably a good laboratory.

Unlike the chains, the semi pros tend to buy 'Speciality Grade' coffees that attract a more discerning and open minded consumer. So some minor differences between individual roasts of the same bean is acceptable and desirable. Those slight differences may make a the difference between 'superb' and 'unbelievable'!

However, the semi pro hobby roaster will always keep a detailed record of each roast and all the variables so that some duplication can be achieved or the roast improved on.

It's all a question of resource and scale. Costa have a £35M roastery that can deliver 11,000 and 45,000 tons a year. So they have the staff, facility and budget to waste a few kilos on creating consistency! Their customers demand that the coffee is exactly the same with every cup picked from the chalk board---and anywhere in the world. It's a bit like cigarettes and smoking habits.

The small batch roasters customers are a tad more discerning and open minded.

Greens can be purchased readily from eBay (yes there are some good suppliers on eBay) or many small batch roasters sell off some greens as a side line. Or you may go slightly bigger and buy from https://www.smallbatchroasting.co.uk/ or even go the importers direct. It is all about scale and budget.

If you are starting out say with a Gene Cafe roasting 250gms a time for yourself and family, then 1 or 2 kg lots from eBay and surplus from other roasters will probably do you well until you decide if you are 'going large'!


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Blends can need the mix changing each time a batch of beans comes in. It might also need changing according to how a roast comes out. The need will depend on the ability of the taster to taste / will customers notice.

The taste of origin beans depend to some extent on exactly where they come from and then roasting. Type needn't be a good indication.

There is some info around on the science of roasting including attempts to automate it but there are indications that at the typical fresh roasted outlet the best answer is experience - colour, smell and sound of beans as they are being roasted and knowledge of how the machine they are using behaves.

John

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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

ckrhodes said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> Just a wondering thought, but how do you semi-professional/professional home roasters achieve all-year consistency with beans and roasting?
> 
> ...


Are you referring to roasting something that tastes similar all the time or how to roast to make tasty coffee with whatever beans you use?

Were the roasters referring to making espresso blends ?


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

It reads like you're asking about how to create blends that always taste the same. The answer is to use coffees that have similar tasting notes and tweaking quantities according to taste. Achieving consistency of roast from batch to batch is another matter.


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