My First Espresso Blend - Page 2

[Tristan]

Bastage #4 turned out great! It's a little less tart, a lot more floral and sweet. I can't make a final judgement until the blend has matured a few more days. Today is day 4 I believe.

One thing is certain, this makes the sweetest cappuccino I've tasted. It almost tastes like there is sugar added .

I would make this blend exactly the same next time. The next blend I make, however, is going to be called "Monsooned Bastage." I'm going to take this blend and replace the aged sumatra with Indian Monsooned Malabar. I'm looking forward to seeing what impact IMM will have on this blend!

[jamhat]

Hey Tristan, I came across this not too long ago:
http://thecoffeeroaster.blogspot....ffee-roasting.html

It is a blog belonging to a guy named Jason who closed his professional roastery down. He decided that he would give out his espresso blend recipe - one that includes monsooned coffee. It could be a good place to start.

[Tristan]

Hey Tristan, I came across this not too long ago:
http://thecoffeeroaster.blogspot....ffee-roasting.html

It is a blog belonging to a guy named Jason who closed his professional roastery down. He decided that he would give out his espresso blend recipe - one that includes monsooned coffee. It could be a good place to start.

Thanks for the link! It seems like he is using the Malabar as a base for the blend. I did some research and the malabar is a wet processed coffee. Usually a dry-processed coffee is used. I'm wondering if I should boost the percentage of malabar in the blend I'm planning? Before I had thought I would put in 2 oz or 12.5%. Maybe I should do 25%?

[jamhat]

Thanks for the link! It seems like he is using the Malabar as a base for the blend. I did some research and the malabar is a wet processed coffee. Usually a dry-processed coffee is used. I'm wondering if I should boost the percentage of malabar in the blend I'm planning? Before I had thought I would put in 2 oz or 12.5%. Maybe I should do 25%?

Perhaps the monsooning of the coffee somehow enhances crema? I don't know.

Have you read the blending article on Sweet Maria's website? Tom suggests using up to 60% monsooned coffee in a blend. I'm not sure how much he uses in his Liquid Amber blend, but it does have some and has a good balance.

Here's the link to the blending article: http://www.sweetmarias.com/blending.html

[jamhat]

Tristan, here's another thought on monsooned coffees. Ken Davids (2003) wrote that monsooning coffee "involves holding dry-processed coffee in special warehouses open to moist monsooned winds" (p. 96). It looks like at least some of them are dry processed. Davids seems to think that they all are.

Davids, K. (2003). Home coffee roasting: romance and revival. New York, St. Martins.

[Tristan]

Thanks a lot, that's very helpful! I think I'm going to give using 6 oz monsooned malabar a shot. I'm going to round it out with 6 oz of Brazil, 2 oz of Guatemalan and 2 oz of Costa Rican or maybe some yirg.

Looks like I've got a bit more research to do before putting this together!

[Tristan]

Thanks to James for refreshing my memory on Sweet Marias' roasting guide. I read it a long time ago, but it's one of those articles that I get something more out of every time I read it!

From the Sweet Marias article they recommend this:

# 60% Indian Monsooned Malabar
# 20% High Quality Robusta
# 20% Wet-processed Arabica, for aroma and balance: perhaps Indian, Timor, Java or Sulawesi

Based on that advice this is what I plan to put together:

Monsooned Bastage

Table:

Bean                      Amount in oz    Percentage  Processed?        Roast Level
           
Moonsooned Malabar              4.8        60.00%  Dry Processed     Full City +
Indian Robusta                   1.6       20.00%  Wet Processed           Full City +
?                               1.6        20.00%  Wet Processed     Full City +


           
Totals                     8 oz       100.00%

I need to look through what I have in the cupboards to see if I have one of the coffees that Sweet Marias recommend. Otherwise, I might throw 2.0 oz of Yemen Moka in the blend and give it a shot. This should be very interesting!

[Tristan]

I plan to put the following together to roast immediately:

Table:

Bean                  Amount in oz      Percentage          Processed?        Roast Level
           
Brazil Formosa               8.00         50.00%         Dry Processed        Full City +
Monsooned Malabar            4.00         25.00%         Dry Processed        Full City +
Guatemalan Antigua           2.00         12.50%                              Full City +
Indian Robusta               2.00         12.50%                              Full City +

           
Totals                      16 oz        100.00%

The "Monsooned Bastage" blend was certainly full tilt musty chocolate chips. It was VERY good. I want something a little richer, sweeter, smoother and more complex. I hope the other coffees will balance this out!

[Tristan]

Roasting last night didn't go as well as I'd hoped. The malabar seems roasted a bit too light ~city+ at most. It was very cold out in the garage (below freezing) and I had to crank the SC/CO. Despite these unfavorable conditions I believe the batch will turn out to be drinkable. Full City+/Vienna in 18 minutes. It's a little on the long side, but I had first crack around 14 minutes. It was very brief first crack. Although I don't think this batch is ruined, there may be some tastable abnormalities/defects in the cup.

[Tristan]

The latest version of my blend is definitely drinkable. I do like the taste of this in caps and doubles, but I don't like this blend as much as either the monsooned or the previous batch of Bastage (v4.0). I think I will keep the blends separate (exclude the monsooned coffee)

My wife and I just moved into our first house. We were supposed to have internet installed over the weekend, but the cable guys never showed up I called the company and have another appt. set for Tuesday afternoon. I will post more descriptive tasting notes once I get internet access at the new place.

[Tristan]

I just put the following together and plan to go out and roast immediately:

Table:

Bean                Amount in oz    Percentage  Processed?        Roast Level
           
Brazil Formosa             10.00        62.50%  Dry Processed     Full City +
Aged Sumatra Lintong        2.00        12.50%  Semi Wet          Full City +
Ethiopia Beloya One         2.00        12.50%  ?                 Full City +
Guatemalan Antigua          2.00        12.50%                    Full City +

           
Totals                     16 oz       100.00%

After putting in the monsooned malabar, I've decided I like the #4 version without it much better. One modification; I'm out of Yirg Kochere. I have replaced it with Beloya One. No, I didn't pay $20/lb for this Beloya; I bought this from a coop and it was very reasonable. Hopefully I get some of that blueberry kick I taste in french pressed Beloya.

[Tristan]

Ristretto doubles are mighty fine with this blend and caps are great. If I pull a regular double it seems too herbal.

I finally replenished my stock of Yirg. I'm going to return this back to Blend #4. That was my favorite so far! I'll probably use Guatemalan Antigua Santa Barbara instead of Pastoral because I'm almost out!

[Tristan]

I'm out of the previous batch as of today and intend to use this for shots and caps tomorrow:

Table:

Bean                   Amount in oz     Percentage       Processed?        Roast Level
           
Brazil Formosa                 6.00         50.00%    Dry Processed        Full City +
Aged Sumatra Lintong           2.00         16.66%         Semi Wet        Full City +
Ethiopia Yirg Koke             2.00         16.66%    Wet Processed        Full City +
Guatemalan Antigua *           2.00         16.66%    Wet Processed        Full City +

           
Totals                         12 oz       100.00%

The previous batch was too vegital and herbal for my taste. I think the Beloya one is great as SO french pressed coffee, but I've not been a fan of it in SO doubles.

I just roasted this batch on Tuesday. The roast went very well, just a few snaps into second crack when I pulled them out. I use a modified oil pan, which was new when I purchased it, as a bean cooler. I've cut a hole in the top of the oil pan just big enough for a colander to sit in. There is a connection on the side of the oil pan that perfectly fits the hose of the shop vac. The cold air is sucked through the beans sitting in the collander and usually cools them in 2-3 minutes. The only thing I didn't account for over the past few months is that when using the shop vac for this purpose the filter gets clogged over time with small silver skin particulate matter.

All this rambling leads to a point; the filter on my shop-vac hang up is all plugged up with silver skin. This reduces suction dramatically and therefore reduces airflow and increases cooling time. Now the cooling time is about 6-7 minutes. That's way too long. I'm thinking this has effected the outcome of these batches of the espresso blend. I have a replacement filter on order which is supposed to be designed for small, dry, particulate from saw, concrete and dry wall dust. I think this should be more effective. I hope it solves the problem. In the meantime I'm going to give the filter a good wash and let it dry out for a couple days.

* I only had 1.6 oz of Guatemlan Antigua Pastoral, so I had to fill in with .4 oz of Santa Barbara, a great coffee I might add.

[Tristan]

I ran out of the previous batch today. Last night I roasted the same blend as last time, but with only one variety of Guatemalan. Since I was out of the other batch, I used some of this batch for the caps this morning. It's already great! I think this is the blend I'm going to stick with. I might develope other blends, however, I consider this first blend a success.

Thanks for all the help and advice everyone here has provided.

As a side note, I ended up replacing the filter and buying a shorter hose for my shop vac/bean chiller. 12 oz batch takes 90 seconds from SC/CO to cold. I highly recommend this cheap and effective set-up!

[Tristan]

Just roasted another batch of this yesterday, however, I've added the robusta back in for some extra power.

Now that I've roasted a few batches of this blend the same way, I might be able to pinpoint exactly what flavors the robusta adds to the blend.

I thought I was done with the first version of this blend for a fleeting moment. I'm not sure I'll ever really be done with this blend.

If you don't mind reading me blather on about this I will continue to post my notes.

Good day!

[cappafan]

Since you've done so many versions, which one is your top espresso blend? I'm a beginner at blending and I'm still searching for a great Brazil. You seem to be happy with Formosa, right?

[Tristan]

Since you've done so many versions, which one is your top espresso blend? I'm a beginner at blending and I'm still searching for a great Brazil. You seem to be happy with Formosa, right?

I really like this blend the best so far:

Table:

Bean                   Amount in oz     Percentage       Processed?        Roast Level
           
Brazil Formosa                 6.00         50.00%    Dry Processed        Full City +
Aged Sumatra Lintong           2.00         16.66%         Semi Wet        Full City +
Ethiopia Yirg Koke             2.00         16.66%    Wet Processed        Full City +
Guatemalan Antigua *           2.00         16.66%    Wet Processed        Full City +

           
Totals                         12 oz       100.00%

I like the Brazil Formosa a lot. In fact, PM sent. It's very reasonable and from one of the popular coops.

It's really good for SO shots. It's pretty good for SO drip, but I like to blend it with other things, like Yemen Moka.

[cappafan]

Thanks for your recipe! Where do you get your Brazil Formosa? I've tried Brazil Beija Flor (natural process) and found it to be quite good. Have you try it?

[cannonfodder]

Watch the roast level on the Brazil and Sumatra. Most beans for those two origins don't take a dark roast very well. If you take them to second crack, or close to it, they start to get a carbon/ashy taste to them. I take mine just out of first crack and drop the roast. I have an aged Lintong that is super but it has to be roasted light, fast and hot. I roast it as fast as the hottop will go and drop the roast just as first crack is finishing. I will get one or two pops in the cooling tray, a light city roast.

My go-to blend has been a mix of Brazil Poco Fundo (more like an African that grew up in Brazil) Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira (Yellow Bourbon), an aged lintong and a nice Harar micro-lot. The Poco Fundo and Lintong are just out of first crack and the Harrar and Fazenda Cachoeira are taken to the edge of second crack. Degas for 5 days and drink away. I think it makes a nice espresso, a little light for big milk drinks.

[Tristan]

Thanks for the roasting tips on the Brazil and Sumatra Dave! I just roasted a pound of this blend last night and I think I took it too dark. I'm going to see how it pans out.

I think I might start roasting this in separate batches again; roast the Brazil and Sumatra to Full City and pull them right before second crack. I'll roast the rest to FC++ and see how it goes.