ROASTERS, please publish recommended temperature ranges by coffee

[timo888]

I would really like to be able to consult a "sticky" posting here on HB, showing the following information in alphabetical order by coffee variety, by Roaster.

COFFEE VARIETY.....RECOMMENDED TEMPERATURE RANGE....ROAST DATE

Roast Date is necessary only if the recommended temp range varies from roasting to roasting.

Each roaster could have and maintain their own page (assuming it's possible to edit a sticky posting. HB )

That would be very convenient. It would save me several sink shots per bag

Of course, hyperlinks to the roaster's website could be easily embedded by the roaster, to lead the reader to more information about a particular coffee offering.

As an alternative, if each roaster maintained a similar page on their own websites, and simply had a "sticky" posting here on HB with a link to the relevant page, that would work too.

Roasters, please consider.

Regards
Timo

[barry]

dose dependent; water dependent; temperature profile dependent; machine dependent; etc etc etc.


--barry "the numbers don't always translate"

[Jepy]

I agree with Timo, any info the roaster has to offer is helpful.

[Marshall]

I would really like to be able to consult a "sticky" posting here on HB, showing the following information in alphabetical order by coffee variety, by Roaster.

COFFEE VARIETY.....RECOMMENDED TEMPERATURE RANGE....ROAST DATE

I think that posting temperatures would be meaningless, because of the wide variety of spots where people measure theirs, the accuracy of their measuring devices and other variables. But, a "high - medium - low" recommendation could be very useful for consumers who have a sense of what that means on their own machines. It's what I ask the roaster when I'm buying a new coffee.

[HB]

High / medium / low would work for me (translates to 203, 201, 198F on my equipment). I would appreciate roaster's recommendations on dosing along the same general lines, i.e., best if served as a ristretto or double, or if a triple basket is recommended (e.g., Intelligentsia Black Cat).

[AndyS]

dose dependent; water dependent; temp profile dependent; machine dependent; etc etc etc.

I'm with Barry...uh...barry. There are so many factors that it can be deceptive to think, "If I pull the Black Cat Shot at 200.5F, just like Matt Riddle does, then it'll taste like Matt's espresso."

Actually, it's not just that I don't see much of a benefit providing this info, it's that there's a downside: people will tend to get locked into the "official" recommendation without experimenting on their own. This will prevent them from making some fascinating discoveries on their own.

[cannonfodder]

I disagree. When I get a blend, especially a new one, I email the roaster and ask what temperature, dose, pressure they recommend. I then use that as my starting point. Then make small changes in accordance with what I get in the cup. I don't use the roasters recommendation as an absolute, but as a starting point.

[luca]

I agree with Dan and Andy. I don't really know that numbers are all that useful. Case in point; we recently had a few kilograms of Dave Makin's WBC blend to run through our Synesso. We knew that the WBC machines were (apparently) around about 93C, but we ended up going nearly 2C higher; a big difference in anyone's books. You've got to go with your tastebuds. Vague starting points are fine, but there is a real risk in people taking recommended parameters as gospel. There's also another risk for the roasters; giving too many specifications on the back of a bag could be a bit of a turnoff for 90% of their customers! Which is why Timo's idea of keeping that info on the web is cool.

As for the non-temperature variables, yeah ... there are a helluva lot of them. I'm using a coffee at the moment that is very sensitive to dirty machines ;P

Just some random thoughts,

Luca

[another_jim]

I once considered posting an April Fools announcement of a superauto that used a smartcard for each espresso blend to set temperature, pressure, and anything else one could think of. Then I thought maybe a William Gibson style piece with espresso crazed hackers invading the digital espresso fortresses of Starbucks.

Currently, I'm pulling my house blend, designed for 9 bar, 203F ristrettos as 8 bar, 198F near lungos; and, despite the meager crema, they taste brilliant. It could be because its hayfever season and my nose is stuffed, because of the weird weather in the past few days, or something else entirely. It's one thing to be able to set ones pressure temperature to some degree of precision; it's another to expect the same coffee to always taste its best at one set of magic numbers.

Doing espresso is a bit like playing an instrument. The better ones technique, equipment, and experienced breadth of judgment, the more one can bend the notes and try a bit of jazz.

Will this pull still taste brilliant tomorrow; who knows?

[timo888]

The points that temperature recommendations would be, at best, rough guidelines are all well taken. But what prompted me to make this suggestion was a radically different experience I had recently with Papua beans from two different roasters. I thought perhaps a recommended temperature range might be a simple index into the roasting style--if it were narrow enough. If I were looking, say, for a Papua that would do well at a relatively cool temperature, and one roaster was recommending 192-196 and another 199-203, it would help me to make my buying decision.
Regards
Timo

[luca]

The points that temperature recommendations would be, at best, rough guidelines are all well taken. But what prompted me to make this suggestion was a radically different experience I had recently with Papua beans from two different roasters. I thought perhaps a recommended temperature range might be a simple index into the roasting style--if it were narrow enough. If I were looking, say, for a Papua that would do well at a relatively cool temperature, and one roaster was recommending 192-196 and another 199-203, it would help me to make my buying decision.
Regards
Timo

... or they could just keep their traps shut and still have a 50% chance of getting your business without risking alienating any of their customer base ;P

Cheers,

Luca

[barry]

I once considered posting an April Fools announcement of a superauto that used a smartcard for each espresso blend to set temperature, pressure, and anything else one could think of.

that concept isn't that difficult to implement. in fact, i had just such a discussion with the franke tech trainer when i was training on their superautos.

[Walter]

I once considered posting an April Fools announcement of a superauto that used a smartcard for each espresso blend to set temperature, pressure, and anything else one could think of. Then I thought maybe a William Gibson style piece with espresso crazed hackers invading the digital espresso fortresses of Starbucks.

We might have RFIDs with that information on each bean soon...

[Jacob]

I like the way Kontra Coffee (http://www.kontracoffee.com) is doing it



Roast date - best before date - name of roaster - name of 'cupper'.
Name of blend (which is specified below).
Contry - Producer - Quality - Share.
Grind recommendation.
Dose recommendation.
Brew temp. recommendation.
Brew time recommendation.
Brew pres. recommendation.
'Preparing' recommendation (says that you should use a good grinder).
Blends character description.
Weight.

[another_jim]

that concept isn't that difficult to implement. in fact, i had just such a discussion with the franke tech trainer when i was training on their superautos.

If it weren't quite feasible, it wouldn't be a good April fool's for a savvy crowd. It is actually something I do expect to see within a few years.

[barry]

It is actually something I do expect to see within a few years.

it can be done now.

[Johnny]

We might have RFIDs with that information on each bean soon...

At least on the person or their clothes, etc... our cats each have one embedded now

[jason_casale]

We have two additional small labels on the back of the espresso one label has the company name contact info web site coffee type the roast date stamped on it as well another label we just started putting on has general starting brew parameters temperature range pump pressure range basket size optimal grams of coffee and finally extraction volume. We would get a decent amount of people emailing about starting brew parameters for the espresso. The way we figure it, we are giving you something to start to work with which is better than nothing at all.