Hi all

I just roasted a batch of Costa Rican High Grown Atlantic beans from my local supplier - I stopped it 1 or 2 pops into 2nd crack, and ended up with a nice even chocolatey color (it looked like one of my best roasts to date).

However, at 3 days rest, I brewed it (espresso), and found it to be...boring! There was a bit of a musky aroma - not bad but not exciting. A very medium body and some mild acidity...perhaps some hints of nuts but other than that, literally NOTHING. It was bordering on the most boring cup of espresso I've ever had.

Anyone else who roasted this bean have any comments?

Sing

there is no way to know from your post what the beans were.
you would need to provide a lot more detail.
but even then - given that you roasted yourself - we'd still be guessing.

hi there

Like I mentioned, they were Costa Rican High Grown Atlantics...I believe a fairly specific type of bean from Costa Rica. They were roasted to a clear full city, maybe 1 or 2 pops into 2nd crack, and given 3 days of rest. They were pulled as an espresso that looked good (~25 ml in 25 sec, nice layer of crema).

I'm not sure what other information about the bean I can give?

I was just expecting a bit more citrus and high notes.

Thanks
Sing Chee

Unless you know the farm and age of the bean I don't think it's close to specific enough.
As already mentioned the roast profile will make a big difference - 1c and 2c doesn't mean all that much...

I know plenty of high grown bad costa rican. High change nothing to the quality of the farm.

Be aware also that there is different type of Costa rican. The classic very balance clean style that will not shine at dark roast and the high acidity wash coffee.. Knowing the farm, the process and the harvest is key here.

Hi there

The roasting profile was as follows: 180c for 5 minutes, 225 for 2.5 minutes, 235 for 2.5 minutes, the 245 until 1c (at about 12.5 minutes), temperature dropped to 240 until 16minutes (when I heard the first 1 or 2 pops of 2c). Which is a pretty standard profile I think.

Fair enough with the bean farms. I don't think I can chase down the name of the farm...my local espresso shop doesnt even know that! Never realised that there could be so much variation in the beans even if "high grown".

Do you think it may be possible that I roasted it too dark?

Thanks
Sing Chee

"High Grown Atlantic" is a C-grade designation of any arabica from Costa Rica that doesn't rate a specific growing area's SHG (strictly high grown) specialty coffee rating. "Boring with no offensive tastes" would probably be the best you can expect.

Some home roaster will answer this question better than me, but if you expect high citrus and acidity notes, roasting over 2nd crack is not the way to go. Try to go with a lighter roast, before full city.

Oops, I made a slight mistake. Costa Rica uses "Strictly Hard Bean" or "Hard Bean" where other Central American countries use "Strictly High Grown" or "High Grown." So the name of the coffee doesn't imply a grade. However, the lack of grading or regional designations still means it isn't specialty coffee.