Germack Coffee Roasting Co.:An Instant Detroit Classic!

[Gannon]

Finally made it to the new Germack Coffee Roasting Company in Eastern Market this morning.

They really knocked it out of the park...an instant classic in every way. The coffee operation is nearly everything I'd ever dream of in a non-artsy coffeehouse...on-site roasting, lotsa space, and a very friendly vibe...serving amazing coffee, of course!

They will make the coffee just about any way you'd like...if you are in a rush, they've pre-made coffees of the day in insulated urns...or will do French Press or Pour-Overs, or what I've also heard called Fresh Pours.

While you wait, the staff is totally interesting and engaging and welcoming...and one wander around the other side of the counter discovers some of the best of the old Rafal Spice haunting the walls. They even put the coffees in a similar space, pretty funny. I love the honoring of tradition and history.

The decor is all rough brick and open-beams...and simply f'in' cool. Lotsa windows and doors, it will be interesting to see how the traffic flows on busy Saturdays.


Ya gotta try this place out...


Cheers,
John

[pgn421]

John-where is it at in the market?

[Detroitnerd]

On the same block where Rafal was.

[Gannon]

Yeah, that second block up from the one containing the Russell Street Deli, Supino's, Rocky's and Zeff's. Their middle door basically stares into the heart of Shed 2.


It feels as if they've always been there, already. As I said, an instant classic...for the least-"instant coffee" experience on this side of town!


Cheers!

[adamjab19]

Yes this place is very, very nice. My Dad and I were starring through the glass at the coffee roaster and the guy motioned us to come around the other side and he then told us all about how the roasting process goes.

Try their honey roasted peanut butter!

[Parkguy]

...and one wander around the other side of the counter discovers some of the best of the old Rafal Spice haunting the walls. They even put the coffees in a similar space, pretty funny. I love the honoring of tradition and history.

I totally agree! We stopped in this morning, got some nuts and spices, some jelly [[impulse purchase!), and some green coffee to roast at home [[a hobby). It will be nice to have some high quality green coffee available locally. I mentioned to my wife that their coffee bins are right where Rafal's kept their bins. Made me a little nostalgic. I imagine that if I had pressed my face to the bare bricks and sniffed that I'd be able to pick up the awesome smell of decades of spice aromas from Rafals.

[downtownguy]

...and some green coffee to roast at home [[a hobby). It will be nice to have some high quality green coffee available locally.

Finally! Green beans locally. [[Hear that Gannon?) There is nothing better than tasting coffee that you roasted fresh. I'm surprised home roasting hasn't caught on with more people. How diverse was the selection of green beans, Parkguy? And the prices compared to online?

If they also sell some simple home roasting machines at Germack, I strongly, strongly suggest that some of you coffee snobs out there check them out. You may never go back to Starbucks again!

[Parkguy]

The had eight or ten different beans, including one Brazil decaf. I bought a pound of Ethiopian Harrar. They also had Ethiopia Sidamo, Costa Rica, Colombian, Nicaragua... a nice selection. The beans look to be decent quality. I'm going to roast some tonight. They were all priced at $8/lb.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Web link.

http://www.germack.com/visitusineasternmarket.aspx

[JBMcB]

Here are rather detailed instructions on building your own coffee roaster:

http://makezine.com/08/coffeeroaster/

[downtownguy]

Here are rather detailed instructions on building your own coffee roaster

You can use a hot air popcorn popper or even a heavy iron skillet to roast beans, but the consistency of the roast may suffer.

Or, if you don't want to go through the trouble of building your own, you can get a decent entry level roaster for $100-$150. I buy most of my beans from Sweet Maria's. Pricing is usually about $6/lb on up before S&H, so Germack's prices are competitive. Even if you're not interested in home roasting, Sweet Maria's has a lot of great information on the coffee growing and roasting process.

Thanks for the feedback, Parkguy.

[Parkguy]

You can use a hot air popcorn popper or even a heavy iron skillet to roast beans, but the consistency of the roast may suffer.

Or, if you don't want to go through the trouble of building your own, you can get a decent entry level roaster for $100-$150. I buy most of my beans from Sweet Maria's. Pricing is usually about $6/lb on up before S&H, so Germack's prices are competitive. Even if you're not interested in home roasting, Sweet Maria's has a lot of great information on the coffee growing and roasting process.

Sweet Maria's is a great source of info and green coffee. My roaster is a Nesco, which is entry level, but easy to use and gives great results. I started with a popper, but quickly decided that I wanted to get a roaster. [[Be careful when roasting with a popper-- the ones that have a screen at the bottom can cause a fire. Sweet Maria's has great instructions about roasting.) I have a feeling that there are a bunch of home roasters around town. Maybe they'll start showing up at Germack's!

[Gannon]

They'd better give roasting CLASSES then...my first time roasting from green was not a disaster, but the acidic stench almost got me evicted. From my lover's house. And she is a coffee fanatic, who bought the beans for my experiment!

What I've learned has mostly come from The Coffee Project. And Downtownguy, of course!!


I need to do a study on beans...but it is as deep and complex as wines and medicinal strains of Mother Nature's Most Amusing Analgesic. It is tough to impossible for a newbie to gain traction on the learning curve without some guru guidance.


Between Astro and Germack...we have some serious wisdom in town to glean from now. Serious kudos to the both of 'em! While there are other fine coffeehouses around town, certainly these joints have raised the coffee bar.


Cheers!

[canuck]

Reminds me of "Acropolis Now" when Robert Duvet goes; "I love the smell of coffee in the morning".

[Gannon]

Apocalypse Now...LOL...Robert Duvall...and he loved the smell of Napalm. Unworried at the beach, 'cuz "Charlie don't surf!"

But your twist would make a great spoof of a commercial...and you've got me gigglin' like a schoolkid now!

[downtownguy]

They'd better give roasting CLASSES then...my first time roasting from green was not a disaster, but the acidic stench almost got me evicted. From my lover's house. And she is a coffee fanatic, who bought the beans for my experiment!

The beans live a double life. When roasting, they have that bitter smell of burnt coffee. But give them an hour or two and they have the most wonderful aroma you will ever enjoy. The Nesco roaster that Parkguy talks about was my first roaster. It has a catalytic gizmo that squelches the stink and thus makes it perfect for roasting indoors.

I need to do a study on beans...but it is as deep and complex as wines and medicinal strains of Mother Nature's Most Amusing Analgesic. It is tough to impossible for a newbie to gain traction on the learning curve without some guru guidance.

Half the fun of roasting is trying new beans. I have found that I have a strong preference for the Central American beans -- Guatemalan being my usual favorite. Tom, Sweet Maria's other half, goes on buying trips every few months and documents these excursions on the website. He has become familiar with many of the coffee growers. His insight into particular crops is always present in the notes he includes whenever they get a new shipment. Whenever I order online, I usually get about 4-5 different beans. Then, I'm like a kid in a candy store anxious to test them with different levels of roasts to find the perfect one for each bean. The final reward is drinking what you've roasted. I love [[trying) to be a wine snob, too, but coffee roasting is much more hands on.

Germack probably will never be able to match Sweet Maria's on this level. I suspect I will go to Germack for my daily needs and use Sweet Maria's for special occasions. It's the best of both worlds.

[Gannon]

One of my most powerful memories while performing calibrations on high-end hifi and home theater systems was walking into one gentleman's kitchen in Orange County, CA...where he installed large blue industrial bins, roughly gallon-sized, across an entire wall. The green beans were arranged geographically...first by continent, then by country, and some by area. It was surreal.

He gave me a great tour of the world of coffee, keeping me just cranked enough to get him a sharp image on his expensive 3-gun video projector!


It was my first time ever having true home-roasted coffee...and your enthusiasm reminds me of him.

Cheers!

[SteveJ]

I roast with a popper in my garage. I would eventually like to get the Gene Cafe but I keep holding out because of the cost. SweetMaria is great and so is roastmaster. I would not recommend anyone try roasting in their house. Just all the smoke and the chaff will make your house into a smokey mess. Best to do outside. I'll go check out their beans when I head down there but I've become such a coffee elitist that I would probably look down upon what they have.

[Gannon]

Sweet Maria's is the place with the valved pour-over device, right?! The only one which allows proper steeping...if that is the correct term.

I just know I'll end up buying one of those expensive cooking thermometers, too.


Cannot wait until I get my Pi Water filter working again...heh...although I may invest in a distiller, too. It is getting old carting water back from the store, when even Absopure won't guarantee perfection in their distilled product. I called them once about the cost of buying large quantities directly off their distillery, and the ability to use the old 5-gallon glass bottles instead of shitty plastic ones. They didn't want to talk about approaching lab grade purity...


The things I investigate...

[Gannon]

Coffee Snobs Unite!

Just like with winos, you are much more enjoyable to the rest of us when you argue amongst yourselves...

[canuck]

I read an article recently about 2 recent coffee shops in my city that were started by folks who had learnned the trade in Melbourne. Apparently, aussies are experts at coffemaking since italian immigrants brought their machines in the middle of the 20th century. I guess they were all drinking tea before that, and never got to brew coffee with percolators, so the article said.

I like to brew mine [[Lavazza) in a regular coffeemaker; a dumb new Black and Decker but I grind it with the noisiest machine ever and I will be shopping around for a good one sometime. Any ideas about a reasonably priced one that doesnt burn and is not so noisy?

[Parkguy]

Canuck--
I have a Capresso grinder. It is reasonably priced burr grinder that doesn't burn beans and gives a very uniform grind. The only problem is that it doesn't quite grind finely enough for a real espresso grind. I don't have much of a static problem with it, either.

I roasted the Harrar from Germack this evening. Fortunately, my wife actually likes the smell of roasting coffee! The catalytic smoke reducer works great on the Nesco. I always let the beans rest for at least 36 hours before grinding and brewing, but the roasting seemed to go well.

There are a couple of really great roasters in the area who started out roasting at home. The owner of Chazzano in Ferndale said he started that way, and so did the owner at Espresso Elevado in Plymouth. Both roast really good coffee, and their espresso bars both pull shots as good as any that I've had anywhere.

[canuck]

Thanks Parkguy, I'll shop aound for one.

[rb336]

I'm going to have to check out Germack. Reading Sweet Maria's website, I was glad to see that they think people over-roast indonesians as well. If I pick up some Sumatran, will they custom-roast it for me on the spot?