Has anyone tried Daterra? I'm thinking of buying some greens based on the description (chocolate and caramel notes) but would like to first find out from someone who has roasted this (recommend or not and whether used as a blend or SO).

Daterra is actually a blend of beans from different farms in the Daterra region of Brazil that is blended to make a mellow and balanced coffee.

Do a search for Daterra and you will get several pages of information.

Dave - thanks for the information! I thought Daterra was a single bean.... Goes to show you what a newbie I am but I'm definitely having a lot of fun trying different beans to roast!

Well, I ordered some beans from Chicane and they are:
Ethiopia Sidamo, Brazil Santos, Costa Rica Orosi Valley, Daterra Reserve and Guatemala Antigua.

Which beans are good to blend together to make a balanced and yummy cup?

I can give you some roast level info for those beans at least to get you started. The Antigua I thought was at it's best at a Vienna roast. The others all pretty much Full City, just before 2nd or slightly into it. The Sidamo maybe even try at a City or City+. Both of the Brazils will benefit from stretching the roast out longer.

Try the Daterra Reserve that was harvested within the last few months; not sure if any roasters are offering it yet. It's the best Daterra Reserve I've ever had - tame flower syrup.

Lynn - thanks for the roast levels. Will try them when I receive the order. Would you know which beans would go with which beans best? Also, I tend to prefer darker roasts like FC+ to Vienna. Can I roast the Sidamo darker?

Peter - thanks for the heads up but I think this Daterra Reserve from Chicane may not be that recent.

Sure. You are the one you have to please. I just tend to like medium and light roasts more than dark. Part of it has to do with my espresso machine. The Sidamo was decent across a range of roasts, I just liked the flavors that came out between City and Full City.
As to a blend, use either of the Brazils at about 40%. Then just add in say 20% or each other bean. Give it a rest, try it. Adjust as needed. Try it differently the next roast and see which was better.

Roast a half pound of each, blend them after roasting, one or two shots at a time. Then you can see what affect each bean has on the blend and decide on final mix.

I usually start with single origin espressos of each bean with 3 roasts of each bean, city, full city and full city + (just into second crack). Then I know how each bean responds to roast level and pick the one I like the most. Then I roast each and blend them as I stated above to find what I like.

I roasted the 5 coffees I bought and they tasted quite awful except for the Daterra Reserve (ok). I roasted them on Jan. 8 and tried each of them today (3 days later):

Daterra Reserve to FC+
Guatemala Antigua to C+
Ethiopia Sidamo to FC
Costa Rica Orosi Valley to FC
Brazil Santos to FC

Since I'm quite new to this, I can't really describe the taste. It just doesn't taste like what espresso should taste like. I don't know if what people refer to as 'ashy' is what I'm tasting..... To me, it taste and smell like sawdust (esp. the Guat). What went wrong?

For one thing the Guatamala definitely likes a darker roast than city. Best into Vienna. Antigua's seem to prefer a roast like this, especially this one. The Orosi Valley often turns out quite well into the Vienna range and will bring out more of the caramels. You stated in your previous post that you prefer roasts in the darker spectrum. Maybe you will like them in darker roasts.

Another question that comes to mind is did you blend them or run them as single origin espressos? I really only enjoyed the Sidamo and Orosi as single origins and pretty much either french pressed the others or blended them.

You might also try going for different temperatures in brewing with your achille. This might help some

On your Behmor, did you log the temps and times of the roasts? This could provide some useful information for others. I know next to nothing about the Behmor so any help on using it will have to come from others, but I am fairly sure someone will chime in to help some.