Moscow Cafe Crawl

For years, Otto Keyes has been a sought-after harp technician and piano tuner. Now, settling down in Moscow, he’s gotten more serious about one of his hobbies: coffee roasting. Starting a few years ago with a popcorn popper, moving to a converted chicken rotisserie, banished from the house for the smoke, he now has a top-of-the line roaster setup and the experience with it to make some very nice beans.

You can find him and his wife many Saturdays at the downtown farmers market offering several freshly roasted batches and hot drinks too. You can also order some up at 208.660.8316, by email (redfinnroaster@gmail.com), or eventually on his website. Otto was kind enough to let me visit his roaster and collect a few pictures. Enjoy!

Green beans from Kenya:

The master himself blending varieties for the next batch:

Loaded into the hopper and ready to go:

Turn up the heat!

Keep and eye on those beans:

After about 18 minutes, time to empty the oven:

and cool the beans down quickly:

Filed under: Roasting on August 1st, 2008