Good Robusta Greens?

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
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boar_d_laze
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#1: Post by boar_d_laze »

I'd like to try roasting some robusta and blending it in to some of my espresso blends. I don't have any particular goal in mind, but would like to get a feel for what a 10% robusta hit will do.

SM is, of course, out. While my other usual supplier, Klatch, doesn't handle them.

What's around that's good?

If there's anything which lends itself to pre-roast blending (rots o' ruck, I know), that would be especially nice.

Any robusta roasting rules I should know?

BDL
Drop a nickel in the pot Joe. Takin' it slow. Waiter, waiter, percolator

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Marshall
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#2: Post by Marshall »

Dr. John of Josuma Coffee has been selling his Malabar Gold espresso blend (which includes robusta) to home roasters for years. The "Kaapi Royale" that he imports was recently given one of the very first robusta Q Certifications by the Coffee Quality Institute. He normally sells it only in commercial-size lots. But, perhaps, if you ask him very nicely, he might sell you a little.

http://www.josuma.com/kaapi-royale.html
http://kaapiroyalecoffee.com/
Marshall
Los Angeles

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bean2friends
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#3: Post by bean2friends »

Paradise roasters has some, so does Burman.

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yakster
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#4: Post by yakster »

One of the members on the Green Coffee Buying Club who's name rhymes with Old Lava was distributing some R-certified Indian robusta a while back, but he closed that distro out. I was hoping to try some eventually.

Josuma or Paradise Coffee may be your best bet right now.
-Chris

LMWDP # 272

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kire612002
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#5: Post by kire612002 »

Roast robusta separately and let it rest a couple of weeks before blending.

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boar_d_laze (original poster)
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#6: Post by boar_d_laze (original poster) »

After a two week rest, what's the window for "still fresh enough to use?"

BDL
Drop a nickel in the pot Joe. Takin' it slow. Waiter, waiter, percolator

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mariobarba
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#7: Post by mariobarba »

kire612002 wrote:Roast robusta separately and let it rest a couple of weeks before blending.
+1

A local roaster I buy from occasionally blends some robusta into his espresso blend. He tells me it's good to go a couple of days post roast, but from my experience, two weeks is pretty much the minimum you would want I t to rest.

As for staying fresh, my guess would be months. Most robustas are used as crema/mouthfeel enhances. They wi ll do this quite well for a long time. Just try any Italian espresso blend roasted months ago. Sure the taste won't blow you away since the arabica has staled, but you'll be able to pull a thick and creamy shot.

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Boldjava
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#8: Post by Boldjava »

yakster wrote:One of the members on the Green Coffee Buying Club who's name rhymes with Old Lava was distributing some R-certified Indian robusta a while back...
Once we get settled into our new home, I will be grabbing a sack of quality green robusta from the importer in the Fall. It is Indian, from the Sethuraman Estate: http://kaapiroyalecoffee.com/

I found it good enough to drink as a SO in a press pot with lots of frothed milk, though I don't care for the higher dose of caffeine. I played with it post-roast in an espresso blend at a ratio of 5% and the crema was significant.
-----
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boar_d_laze (original poster)
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#9: Post by boar_d_laze (original poster) »

Presented for your approval:

Crema is a non-issue with my espresso blends... are there other reasons to add Robusta? If not, maybe I should just forget about it.

Existential issues aside, the other things are beginning to make sense. Let's see if I have them right...

Definitely roast alone for post roast blending. I tend to roast almost everything to somewhere in the C+ to FC+ range; i.e., close to, at the border of, or just barely into second crack. But no matter what's going on with other beans, Robustas should go through second crack to Vienna.

If we go through a bit more than a kg of Arabica greens a week -- which we do -- we'd want 150g (green weight) tops of Robusta for the same time period.

Robustas want to be roasted in smaller batches, and my (nominally) 1kg roaster shouldn't have problems with a 600 - 750g charge. Even assuming it becomes a fixture of my blends, 600g - 750g of green Robusta should last a couple of months after aging. And a couple of months with good storage (Tightvac) won't be a problem.

Given what I'm learning, it doesn't seem likely you'd hurt them much by freezing; thus, could roast three loads on a weekend morning, portion the roasted beans into batches, freeze, keep for however long (up to six months say), and use as desired.

In my case, 5kg seems like a lot and 2kg might be more practical. But best quality Robusta may not be available in quantities that small. Anyone have any thoughts on Dean's Beans or Burman's?

BDL
Drop a nickel in the pot Joe. Takin' it slow. Waiter, waiter, percolator

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bean2friends
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#10: Post by bean2friends »

I've always had good success with Burmans. I wonder, though, if there robusta is as good as Paradise's. And, Paradise's shipping is hard to beat. Here's what Paradise says about theirs:

"S.O. Espresso™ - India CxR is a 100% Robusta coffee. It is super sweet with notes of lime, mango, marigolds, nutmeg, cardamon, peanuts, cinnamon, and a strong vanilla flavor."

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