November 26, 2014
When I started this project of reaching out to roasters and asking them about why they roast and what their aspirations with roasting were, one of the first home roasters I had thought of was Carlos Aguayo because of his posts in the Sweet Maria’s forums. For some time Tom and I have talked about designing a Sweet Maria’s home roasting starter kit, and the flour sifter design that Carlos and some others have been discussion on the forum is one of the most inspirational set-ups that I’ve yet to come across as far as something to base it off of. I reached out to him to ask him about his how and why. -Chris Schooley
CS: What’s your name and what equipment have you used?
CA: I use my own homespun roaster built with a heavily-modified Poplite popcorn popper and a flour sifter. My modifications include splitting the fan and heat power so I can adjust the airflow (and thus, the air temperature) manually, and putting a thermocouple in the air flow to measure that temperature accurately. I don’t know that I am the first to use a flour sifter for this, but it works really well in this configuration. See the original thread for details: http://www.sweetmariascoffee.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5331
CS: What do you most love about roasting?
CA: I love that I can control the roasting process to get coffee that meets my tastes and preferences. I also really enjoyed the tinkering and experimenting that it took to get my roasting setup working well, and look forward to another design iteration when time permits.
CS: How did you get into roasting?
CA: I have moved to a new state several times in the last decade, and have struggled to find a consistently good source of coffee that I love every time. I got spoiled by fresh Peet’s in the San Francisco Bay Area, and found that even if a place roasted it’s own coffee, it often did not measure up. So when I found myself with a bit of time to tinker and a local source of green beans, I decided to give it a shot.
CS: What’s your dream roaster set up?
CA: I’m more of a roast-your-own fanatic than a gearhead, so I don’t know the various brand names and commercial options. But I would love to move closer to a true fluid-bed design with automated temperature controls and timers. I track temperature and time manually and have to hand-crank to agitate the beans in my current setup, and automating each of those would simplify the process.
CS: In your opinion what makes a roaster legitimate?
CA: For me, it’s all about making coffee that I like. If I liked store-bought coffee more than the stuff I roast at home I would probably quit as it is a considerable investment of time and effort.
CS: How do you know your coffee is good?
CA: I spent many years seeking the best coffee I could find, and I know what I like, but I do have an objective opinion from my wife to keep me honest as well. When she says it’s good, then I know I’m on the right track.
CS: Have you ever wanted to start a roaster business?
CA: Only when I was between gigs. I work in high-tech, and scaling a roasting business to be more lucrative in my town’s competitive landscape would be quite a challenge. Developing a home-roasting machine would be fun, and probably the best "fit", but taking this on seriously seems to me like a risky investment. Though I can imagine it being a lot more fun than IT work!
CS: Do you share your roasts with others?
CA: I have shared my roasted beans with a few friends, and their appreciative response was quite pleasing. I like to share interesting beans, like the tasty and giant MaragogypeMaragogype is a mutation of Typica coffee and was discovered in Brazil. The Maragogype is a large plant with big leaves, low production and very large fruits (and..., or "Elephant Bean" from NicaraguaNicaraguan coffees from the Segovia, Jinotega, Ocotal and Matagalpa regions are nice balanced cups. They often possess interesting cup character along with body and balance, outperforming many other....
CS: Do you have a favorite roasting company? What makes them your favorite?
CA: In terms of taste, I still prefer Peet’s Coffee, their full and rich flavor profileFlavor Profile implies a graphical impression of a particular coffee, whether it be an artistic portrait or data graph of the perception of flavor compounds. In the case... without a hint of burntness seems to me to be among the best I’ve ever had.
CS: Would roasting professionally ruin a hobby that you enjoy, or expand on it?
CA: It probably wouldn’t ruin it for me, but it would definitely change everything to scale up and run a business around the product. For me, it’s all about making the best coffee I can so that I can enjoy drinking it!!
