My search skills might be poor, but I don’t see that self-introductions are common here. But rather than explain what little I know each time I ask a question, I’ll start with a general hello to everyone and some background. I hope a general intro is not too rude and out of place. I’ve read quite a few posts and find that people are super helpful here. Very nice to meet you all!
I have been roasting my own coffee for personal consumption for about 20 years. I just searched my financial records and see that it shows a transaction on April 30, 2001 to Sweet Maria’s for a “coffee roaster”. It shows that I paid $129.94. I know that it was some kind of hot air roaster. I went through several of those roasters in a short period of time. On December 2, 2007, I have a transaction showing I purchased a Gene Cafe roaster for $514.49. Amazingly, that roaster still works (kind of). I replaced the heating element at least 2 times and the fan at least once. I don’t have a record of my roasts, but based on my and my wife’s patterns, I suspect it has seen close to 1000 roasts.
My primary coffee consumption is 2 or 3 (okay - it’s always at least 3 or 4) straight shots of espresso. I used a La Pavoni Europiccola for about 20 years and upgraded to a Strietman CT2 a couple of years ago.
For the last 6 months or so, my coffee life has been kind of sad and dismal. I really was not finding that my morning espresso was enjoyable in the slightest. The Gene Cafe was just not getting the job done. I don’t understand the issue entirely, but the coffee has just been kind of baked and boring. The temps and times didn’t seem much the same as ever, but the end result was not worth writing home about nor even mentioning in an intro post like this. So 'nuf about that.
So now my financial records show a transaction for an “Aillio Bullet” roaster for $ … the right amount. And very much worth it! Holy smokes it is fantastic! I still don’t have a clue what I am doing, but the coffee is just great.
I am very excited to have this wonderful machine and to be able to once again roast coffee that makes me look forward to hopping out of bed in the morning to light up the espresso machine.
Thanks in advance for being patient with my forthcoming questions that I expect to be asking.
Mark
I hemmed and hawed for years about getting a new roaster but finally bit the bullet on the Bullet in end of last year 