I also buy whole bags for the larger group of people who drink.  Right now, we have a bag of Colombian Supremo Huila Valencia.  If some people are interested here, I may be able to sell 5 lb. lots.  PM me if you want. Price would be what I paid plus shipping, very cheap, around $3/lb.

Roasted or green? 

you guys are nuts..

5 lbs is a lot..especially if i don't know how it tastes.

If someone wants to buy 5lbs and wants to sell me a coupleof lbs, i am game.

I have been eyeing one of the Clive espresso machines..when i can spare a grand that is lol

@Quest: what beans have you tried so far?

I ordered a sampler pack from Sweet Marias and also traded a few varieties with my coworker. So far, I think I've tried:

Panama Esmeralda Gesha
El Salvador Majahual Tablon La Montana
El Salvador Finca Siberia Bourbon
Nicaragua Maragogype finca Los Angeles
Guatemala Antigua Cafe Pulcal
Colombia Vereda Pedregal
Brazil Fazenda do Sertao Catuai
Ethiopia Bedele Sota Cooperative
Ethiopia Goma Duromina Cooperative
Rwanda Nkanka Kinyaga
Sumatra Lintong Pak Joner
Sumatra Onan Ganjang Cultivar

I don't care for the Sumatras much at all. The African beans are pleasant, but none have really knocked me out yet. The Central American ones have been my favorite in my short coffee roasting stint. The Gesha bean is fantastic, and I can see why it gets praised but I feel the El Salvador Bourbon was just as good without the price premium.

No one has mentioned the Clever Coffee Dripper.  I think it is much better than an Aeropress, and even cheaper.  Sweet Maria's sells them, and has some info about how to use them.

I've been roasting at home for a couple of years now.  I built a PID temperature controller so I can program the amount of time it takes for the beans to get to a particular temp in the roast cycle.  I also use it for sous vide cooking, but that would be another thread.

If you want to start to control your roasts, get a big variac, and separate the fan power from the heater power on your air popper.  Plug the fan directly into the wall, and then you can control the temp with the variac, using a candy thermometer to check the temperature.  This is what I did before I built the PID.  I still use the variac to lower the fan speed towards the end of the roast. 

Of course, you could also go full PID right away if you want.

The variac can also be used to slowly power up old audio equipment, or DIY projects.  If something bad starts to happen, you haven't powered it all the way up, so you can quickly turn it down and possibly save some components.

Yeah, I've been happy with the coffee from my Poppery II, as it's waaay better than store-bought coffee. But I'd eventually like to get something to lengthen the roast times and make larger batches to share with people. Right now, 1st crack happens between 4-5 minutes, and then second crack starts around 8 minutes. I'd like to stretch the time between cracks by a minute or two.

I'm undecided between the Hottop 'B' and the Gene Cafe. I like brighter coffees, so I would imagine the Gene Cafe would suit my preferences more. The main disadvantages of the Gene Cafe (vs. Hottop) is the difficulty to hear the cracks, not being able to insert a bean mass temp probe and the long cool down (which I'd cool externally anyway).

From what I read online, the air roasting of the Gene Cafe gives "peakier" coffee tastes, while the drum roasters will be more subdued but the flavors are more cohesive. I've seen the word "muted" thrown around by folks who don't like drum roasters. I don't do espressos, so I imagine I'd like the brighter air roasted beans better.

Roasting Area

How are you liking that Hottop? I saw one for 325 on craigslist up here, but I was too late on it.

The Aeropress is great for being able to do an Americano at work with the least amount of gear.
 
Let me know if you guys wanna do a group buy and I'll try to work with the inventor...