That's the vibe I picked up too Jon.

I'm kicking the idea of treating myself for my birthday next month with professional roasting/cupping lessons from a company here in the Bay area, near Mill Valley. Not cheap, but perhaps worth it. I draw so much from reading the posts from you and other experienced gents on here, maybe I wont need it. But the whole coffee culture has been absorbing more and more of my mental energy and time, for the last 10 years. And suddenly now, getting into proper espresso preparation, it's even more so.

May I ask what you roast on?

I did another two separate batches of espresso blend roasts early on the 15th and they were both abysmal failures.

TomC wrote:May I ask what you roast on?

Sure
Here she is....
US Roaster Co. 1-lb Sample Roaster

The origin tastes I find in a Panama seem to fit well with the Gesha varietal to allow the florals to bloom. When in Guatemalan soils I can see the the fine florals might get a bit muted.

JonR10 wrote:Sure
Here she is....
US Roaster Co. 1-lb Sample Roaster

Now I have even more drooling/window shopping to do. I am going to spend all day Friday calling around to see if it's possible to buy a 1lb sample roaster that runs on 110 15 amp circuits. I could drag a larger one out to my patio to use propane, but I'd rather not. And to cap it off, I would look to spend pretty close to $1500 or less.

Am I smoking crack?

This years August crop will be hitting the Quest in about 30 minutes. I'll post Sunday if it stays quiet at work about the progress of the roast itself, but certainly the interest lays more so on the cupping.

According to Tom ( SM ) this years crop holds truer to the Geisha ideal, more intense and clear fruit. I'll look forward to getting this one to cup well, at City+. It will be a nice rebound from my boring Kenyan attempt.