Moxiechef wrote:I needed to start roasting some espresso due to almost being out of my last bags of Paradise and Blue Bottle.

Is there a rule of thumb when roasting for espresso versus other brew methods? Slower, faster, longer here, shorter there,.....???

Not for me. It's my impression that some people seem to roast a bit darker for espresso, but that didn't seem to hold true for my tastes. On the other hand, some beans seem to be better suited for different brew methods when I roast, which could partially be a function of my roasting profile. I've shifted completely to pourover methods and siphon, so haven't been doing any of those comparisons in quite a while.

Here are my last two roast of SM New Classic Espresso. I've tried to eliminate the "flick". One I roasted to FC, just before second crack. The other is more of a City+, dropped at about 428F.

I might adjust the scale so you can more easily see the slope of the ROR line (mine is at 70 vs yours at 100). My better roasts seem to have a steadily declining ROR (ignoring the drop a bit after the start of first crack). My ROR usually is getting pretty low when I drop. Your ROR is actually rising for a minute or more (again - factoring out the dip).

My preferences tend to lie on the lighter end of the roasting spectrum. If you're wanting to go darker, you might try to improve ROR control but enter first crack with a bit more heat so you can maintain a declining ROR.

As always with roasting, there are no rules that are set in stone, so YMMV.

When pulling for espresso, how old before you guys start checking? I pulled a shot after about 18 hours and it was super gasy.

I'm usually getting low on beans when I roast - I could plan better.... I usually start using them within 2 days of roasting. Sometimes they're great quickly, sometimes they peak days later and an extra day or two of rest would have been wise (but not critical). Sometimes I have "old" beans left, but can't stop myself from trying the new ones.... Friends are happy to take my throwaways.

Overall, things look pretty good. How's it taste? In the end, what's in the cup is all that matters. The funnest thing for me is to roast, taste, make notes, make roast changes and see how it changes the cup. Figuring things out is not always easy though....

When pulling an espresso shot without sufficient post-roast rest time, I would wait at least 15 minutes between grinding the bean and pulling the shot. The greater surface area of coffee powder facilitates the degassing process. Alternatively, I may also blend older roasted bean with the freshly roasted batch.

For the espresso oriented roasting styles, you may dig out the old 2014~2015 Roast and Learn Together threads (FAQs and Favorites) and pay special attention on Rich's (boar_d_laze) roasting style. He owns a USRC and also prefers roasting to the verge of the second crack as you do. Generally he prefers a longer Dry phase and a shorter Ramp phase, and he increases the gas when entering the Ramp phase in some of his later graphs (which was contrary to our understanding of Rao's style at that time).

I don't have the Sweet Maria's New Classic Espresso blend, and my own preference is a lighter roast level than yours. My two cents:


Here is one of my roast charts of Costa Rica from yesterday. Both of us increase the airflow (labeled Fan) throughout the roast. I increase the fan speed in several smaller steps, and the last increment is 1 minute after the first crack starts. As to the gas control (labeled Power, expressed in %), I also adjust it in small increment. I make the last increment of gas between 280 to 300 F, and gradually decrease the gas when expecting the first crack.
The boundary between Slow-Start-Fast-Finish and the Fast-Start-Slow-Finish is blurred by controlling a roast in many small steps. I can morph the graph from one style to another. This is my way to control the roaster, and I enjoy exploring an array of profiles and find out my own preference.

That is one sweet looking ROR. Nice job.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll try the grind and wait method for pulling shots with recently roasted beans.

9Sbeans wrote:When pulling an espresso shot without sufficient post-roast rest time, I would wait at least 15 minutes between grinding the bean and pulling the shot. The greater surface area of coffee powder facilitates the degassing process. Alternatively, I may also blend older roasted bean with the freshly roasted batch.

For the espresso oriented roasting styles, you may dig out the old 2014~2015 Roast and Learn Together threads (FAQs and Favorites) and pay special attention on Rich's (boar_d_laze) roasting style. He owns a USRC and also prefers roasting to the verge of the second crack as you do. Generally he prefers a longer Dry phase and a shorter Ramp phase, and he increases the gas when entering the Ramp phase in some of his later graphs (which was contrary to our understanding of Rao's style at that time).

I don't have the Sweet Maria's New Classic Espresso blend, and my own preference is a lighter roast level than yours. My two cents:

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Here is one of my roast charts of Costa Rica from yesterday. Both of us increase the airflow (labeled Fan) throughout the roast. I increase the fan speed in several smaller steps, and the last increment is 1 minute after the first crack starts. As to the gas control (labeled Power, expressed in %), I also adjust it in small increment. I make the last increment of gas between 280 to 300 F, and gradually decrease the gas when expecting the first crack.
The boundary between Slow-Start-Fast-Finish and the Fast-Start-Slow-Finish is blurred by controlling a roast in many small steps. I can morph the graph from one style to another. This is my way to control the roaster, and I enjoy exploring an array of profiles and find out my own preference.

I followed one of Patrick's profiles from March/April of 2015 Roast & Learn. I dropped at about 430F, which if you look at your FC start temp and mine, we are about 12F off, so that'd possibly be dropping at 418F on your temp probe.....or not.

Since I just roasted it, I haven't tasted it yet but let me know what you guys think of the ROR.

Thanks,

JB

Wow, your RORs do really look great! On a related question, I'm wondering what your (and other's) sampling intervalnis set robin Artisan?