I just got my hands on some Yemen Marquaha this week and hope to roast up my first batch in my old, upgraded Behmor+ this weekend.

I was unable to roast this weekend due to numerous issues not the least of which was two of my dogs getting sprayed by a skunk in the back yard. It's been busy but I'm hoping to be able to roast it up sometime this week.

After watching Joe and Dave's video, reading their profiles and tips, I roasted my first 2 lb. of this today. I'm still working out control of my roaster, but thanks to the trier tips Tom and Dave offered, and the favorite profiles they posted, I was able to make a go of it by mainly focusing on bean temperature. It seemed that knowing when to drop was key, smelling for a cherry note and trying to stop short of any roast notes. The cherry flavor when I dry cupped my second roast out of the cooling tray was so strong I scored another 5 lb. while we can.

Get ready for a really ugly Artisan graph. I roasted 1 lb. The time scale is off because I didn't click the buttons when I hit milestones, but this batch is very promising based on that dry cupping. You will also see that my ET is useless. To translate from the graph, I charged at about 350F BT because I wanted something indicating drum temperature but expect that wasn't accurate because the probe is near the drum and there were no beans loaded at that point. Turnaround was 50 sec in at 183F. Drying at 300F ended about 3:20. First crack started at 9:40 and measured 385F. I dropped at 10:20 and 399F. Moisture loss? Can't tell. I need a better scale.



Because my roaster has a perforated drum, it's completely different than the standard TJ-067. Air flow is affected through the aeration ports enclosing the burners, and I may need to partially block them off to allow a more realistic ET. I baffled my fan with very intense flow restriction that I show in at this link:

TJ-067 Gas Roaster Guidelines for Different Load Sizes

ET via the probe in the chute was useless because it would go ridiculously low, yet BT was maintained. BT was much more affected by the flame under the drum than by apparent ET. I manipulated the fan, drum speed and gas along the way to keep BT tracking toward intended milestones. For this Artisan's predictive tracing was very helpful. The main things you guys taught me was using sensory milestones, because my BT reads lower than Dave's but yields the flavors he describes.

At this initial stage I'm glad I've roasted on a Heat Gun/Bread Machine, because I was able to get consistent roasts on it mostly by tracking BT.

In the jar after resting overnight, the smell of the beans is more and more intense berry. Grinding eliminates that in dry aroma. In the cup it's exotic oriental spices. The taste is like sandalwood, cardamom, cinnamon, all in subtle blend. Mouthfeel is silky. As the cup cools all of that is blended with a cherry-like sweetness, but the cherry doesn't resolve in the flavor yet. This is a very elegant coffee, structured with a soft acidity. I've never had anything quite like it, and I like it a lot. Janet took a sip and said, "Wow, that doesn't even taste like coffee." There is none of the leathery aftertaste one gets so often in other coffees. That resolves instead to nutmeg, allspice, marjoram.

Added two days later: Flavor faded fast over the next day or two. I'm waiting to see if other flavors emerge.

I will be doing another batch of this tonight and meeting up with Wilford Lamastus of Elida Estates, tomorrow in a cupping at Boot Coffee in Mill Valley. I was up there earlier this morning with their head roasting instructor Stephen Ezell cupping several profiles I did on the Unicorn Gachatha AA, and some nice Best Of Panama auction lot sample geishas I roasted. Star of the table this morning was the Panama Finca Santa Teresa natural geisha. I'll be excited to see what the group thinks of the Marqaha tomorrow, because it's particularly awesome even fresh off the roast.

Has anyone with a Hot Top roasted this coffee? I have had it for a few weeks and haven't gotten to roast any yet. I have an old unmodified Hot Top B with no bean temp. Any suggestions on how to roast it would be appreciated.

I haven't roasted it yet either. I'll have plenty of time next week to roast, but then my roaster will be a campfire and an Androck popcorn popper... I'm deciding this week what greens to take with me.

My brew methods next week will be similarly limited (though I may bring the Twist).

So are most of you taking this bean to City+ territory? I have 5lbs on the way and want to be sure that's where it shines.

I haven't roasted it yet, but from following the thread it seems like city to city+ with a longer ramp and shorter dev stage is the trend to let the acidity shine.

rawman wrote:Has anyone with a Hot Top roasted this coffee? I have had it for a few weeks and haven't gotten to roast any yet. I have an old unmodified Hot Top B with no bean temp. Any suggestions on how to roast it would be appreciated.

I will be roasting this Thursday on a heavily modded Hottop B-2K. I will charge 195g of beans at 375F, shooting for drying end at 4:30 and 1st crack at 9:00. I'll allow for development after 1st crack of 1:30 or 20F, whichever comes first.