Until I have time to finish the Olympia Club renovation, I'm drinking French Press. All my other espresso machines have found new homes.

Could someone please recommend a roaster that does a very light roast of African beans, lighter even than PTS, as light as Barefoot does? Honey-colored. Barefoot is shipping Fedex Ground and I don't want to wait a week or more for the beans to reach me.

Much obliged.

What kind of African beans?

Kenyan?
Yirgacheffe?
Rwandan?

http://www.novocoffee.com/

Novo (located in Denver, CO) focuses on Ethiopian origin coffees and roasts lightly. I was introduced to Novo by Cafe Grumpy in New York. Regrettably, they do not offer the Grumpy Heartbreaker blend online, but they do offer a good selection of single origins.

Ethiopian, malachi, would be my preference.

And Johnb and portamento, respectively, I've had coffee from Terroir (very good!) and Novo (very good!) before. I'd recommend them as well. However, I am talking a very light roast, not light by Starbucks or by Seattle standards. I do like dark roasts, but now I am looking for one that is not roasted deeper than the color of Grade A Tupelo honey ... an ochre, not a burnt umber.

I've done some ultra-lite roasting, pulling the roast before the end of the first crack. This is the traditional roast level of the Arabian peninsula. It results in a tea-like drink with most of the roast related bitter flavors absent. East African coffees done this way are surprisingly fruity and winey.

I'm experimenting with roasts this light for matching coffee to foods, since the flavor is far less overwhelming. I think the approach is promising; but as yet, I do not think roasts this light are commercially available.

You need to home roast for coffees like this, or PM me if you want a sample.

timo888 wrote:Ethiopian, malachi, would be my preference.

Ecco Caffe
Terroir
Paradise Roasters

Thanks for the suggestions, malachi. I've had Paradise roasts quite a lot (P. would definitely be on my "recommended " list for espresso, especially their 100% robusta from India, if there's any of it left) and also Terroir (again, highly recommendable) but I don't know Ecco. Yet I wouldn't say the Paradise roasts, though "light" relative to Seattle, barely approach the lightness of Barefoot, and I'm looking for something lighter even than Barefoot's roasts, to bring out the African varietal aromatics. I think Jim has caught the Spur:

another_jim wrote:... pulling the roast before the end of the first crack. This is the traditional roast level of the Arabian peninsula. It results in a tea-like drink with most of the roast related bitter flavors absent.

Regards
T

Few commercial roasters are going to roast coffees to that light a degree as there aren't a lot of high quality high grown coffees that can easily take such a light roast without being grassy and under-developed.

I accept your point, that a light roast requires beans of a special quality. But I have to say that the Barefoot roasts are the lightest I've found by far, and they are very aromatic with no grassiness. So I know it can be done.