I want some coffee!

... and now it's installed. But not without the usual 2-steps-forward-and-1-step-back dance routined to keep the sedentary in the crowd (that would be me) from dozing. The fan and a couple other items arrived after a 3 day trip from Oakland to Benson. I had carefully preserved the old screws so I would have no problem installing the new motor. For all the good *that* did! The old screws were for cutting a thread in soft plastic and the new motor required a a machine screw of undetermined size. This was on a Friday (of course!) so it was Monday before I could voice my whine. Plus 3 days delivery (again). The package actually arrived on time on Wednesday but Wednesday was a drive-to-Tucson-and-pick-up-your-new-glasses day. So was late Wednesday afternoon before the motor went into it's new home and I was only able to run the fan calibration routine... no time for roasting. The motor mount is different because this motor has been changed to what the newer V2 roaster uses. Since I ...

Those were the first words out of my beloved's mouth when I gave her the news. The unthinkable happened sometime in the last few weeks: the roaster broke and I didn't realize it. The source of all things good here in Benson had a problem. I'm not completely sure when it happened but I think it might have been a while ago. The roaster has a drum that rotates and an induction heating system to get it to roast temperature. There's a speed control for the drum and a fan for drawing in air to move chaff to the chaff collector and to remove excess heat. That later device, the fan, is the culprit. The rear of the roaster is devoted to the chaff collector. It's basically half of a tub-like piece. One hole on the collector lines up with a transfer tube that carries the chaff-laden air from the drum to the collector and another hole in the chaff collector lines up with the impeller of a fan. The collector itself contains a cup-shaped wire screen that serves as the filter for ...

I still need to get our decaf "needs" resolved, but in the meantime Sweet Maria's threw us a curve ball.  My neighbor Will buys an espresso blend from them called Liquid Amber. They've been selling it for years so it came as a surprise when they announced to Will that they were "out of stock". When he asked the when-question he was told "we don't know when we'll be able to buy all the components of the blend". So that means we're back to the drawing board. I bought samples of 3 different espresso blends (he uses it to brew his pour-over)- "Espresso Monkey blend" from Sweet maria's "New Classic Espresso blend" from Sweet Maria's "Ferdelance Espresso blend" from Coffee Bean Corral I got the first roast of the Espresso Monkey done but I wasn't happy with how things went, so I reworked the profile thru changes to the "Recipe" (the way the roaster software automates a roast) and gave it ano...