I went to Greece for two weeks, Crete to be exact. Not expecting any decent coffee there, i took my travel kit with me. It consists of a 4 cup Bialetti Brikka filled with beans (i can cram in around 300gr) and my trusty PeDe. 300gr is not nearly enough for 2 weeks, so when i had no beans left, i looked for some beans. I was on vacation, so i wasn't prepared to make a huge fuss and try to explain Greek people that i absolutely needed freshroast and decided that the supermarket was going to have to make do.
So, when i was in the supermarket i was pleasantly surprised to find a large shelf just for coffee. My enthusiasm subsequently took a blow when i found out that there was only preground and instant. So the shelf was out. Luckily they had a large grinder for Turkish coffee in the back at the 'fresh' department filled with beans from ΚΑΦΕΣ ΔΑΝΔΑΛΗ After i pointed out that i didn't want them to grind it and that i just wanted the beans, they smiled and gave me a pound of those beans. For some reason, that same supermarket also sold ΚΑΦΕΣ ΔΑΝΔΑΛΗ preground packets. Anyway, on those packets stood that ΚΑΦΕΣ ΔΑΝΔΑΛΗ was roasted in Iraklion, which was not far away. And from the spilled grounds around the grinder, i could make up that it was for Turkish* coffee. It was a very light roast, I was almost browner than the beans.
When i got back at the apartment, i put them in the grinder, used the grind setting from the coffee before, poured some beans in the grinder and ground... And i found out why the people behind the counter were smiling. And why the grinder there had such a humongous motor attached to it. The beans were unbelievably hard. Sometimes i grind rice to clean the burrs, but these beans were way harder. I really had to crank the little Dienes.
Also, i had to really tighten up the grind before i got something drinkable. The coffee tasted very light, and although it was pretty sour, it wasn't an unpleasant kind of sour that makes your mouth shrivel up. Pretty nice in the warm weather over there. I couldn't get the mint smell to translate into a mint taste in the cup. Too bad.
Anyway, how did they makes those beans so unbelievably hard? Anybody got an idea?


*The Greek call it Greek coffee because they hate the Turks. But it is the same.

sounds badly under-developed

What Chris calls "underdeveloped" is a New England, Cinnamon, or Beduin roast; a roast ended just as the coffee enters the first crack. This is lighter than even the cupping roasts used to assess coffees, but is standard in many parts of the Eastern Mediterranean.

At this point of the roast, the beans haven't expanded, and are still as dense as they were green. Moreover, they have not become brittle, so they are harder to grind, and they do not produce fines. This makes them unsuitable for any percolation method (drip, espresso, mocha pot), and you should prepare these coffees by steeping them, i.e. Eastern Mediterranean or French press style.

Coffee roasted like this does not have a lot of roasted flavors, and the taste will be reminscent of tea or wine. I enjoy this level when drinking coffee with food, since the absence of roast flavors makes it less overpowering and more complimentary.

What other special things should be done with coffee roasted this light, in addition to the usage in French Press/Ibrik? Very high brew temperatures, lower brewing ratio/dosage?

I assume it would also work fine for siphon brewing as well? From my usage of that brew method, it seems like it would favor a nearly fine-free extraction.

I brew the ultra-lights (my name for them) using regular French press technique, maybe a hint cooler on brew temp is all. Not sure about how to drink them when done in an Ibrik, from an FP, I let them cool off more than usual, down to 125F to 135F when I start, and nearly room temperature to finish. This goes along with the whole coffee trying to be like tea thing.