I've been having trouble with lighter roasts tasting very flat. I generally go by Tom's (sweet maria's) specs. recently I did 2 batches of an Ethiopia bonko wp. 1 I ended just after 1c(10:15) and the other 2 minutes (12:00-12:30)after. both turned out not so good.

I have found that bean to be difficult to get right in my HotTop.

As a side note I will say that I never really got any flat tasting coffee when I used my variac controlled popper before I got the HotTop nearly a year ago. That to me suggests that brighter flavors will come from hotter and shorter roasts of "fruit bomb" high altitude beans.

My guess is that you are starting with too much mass of beans and you are prolonging the roast with first crack at 12 minutes or so. That might bake the WP Bonko beans and give you the flat taste you describe.

Take a look at some of Max's profiles (coffee.me) and perhaps start with 150-175 gm charge. I've recently had some good luck with 175 gm using a modified form of his profile as I don't seem to have his (high) voltage at my house (119-120V during a run). This includes some nice light lemony WP Bonko.

Hopefully more knowledgable folks will also reply. Good luck!

The early Hot Tops with the built in profile had a a slow warm up to 300 or so that was great for espresso, but too flat for cupping. Current Hot Top users will have plenty of tips for curing this.

200g dropped at 320(BT)
Hit 300 around 4:45-5:00
First Crack - 7:50 - 8:00
I end the roast shortly after the end of First Crack

kevin wrote:I've been having trouble with lighter roasts tasting very flat.

kevin wrote:200g dropped at 320(BT)
Hit 300 around 4:45-5:00
First Crack - 7:50 - 8:00
I end the roast shortly after the end of First Crack

So, this isn't specific to your roasts of this Ethiopia? Which HT model? Which brew method/parameters?

I don't see anything flat-producing in your posts so far. Is it possible the results are just too sour for you?

coffee.me wrote:So, this isn't specific to your roasts of this Ethiopia? Which HT model? Which brew method/parameters?

I don't see anything flat-producing in your posts so far. Is it possible the results are just too sour for you?

HotTop-KN8828B
Omega HH506RA with a KTSS-HH probe through the bean shoot.

That's correct - I've had the same results with various beans when trying to roast for brewed coffee. Also, those notes were off the top of my head. I can post the exact notes when I get home.

Roast
Generally I drop 200g at 320 on the Omega.
- Fan:1 Power: 10
Hit 300 degrees right around 5:00
- Around 360 I start backing off the Power, and up the Fan a notch or 2
- At 1C I go Fan:4 Power:4 (variables also change depending if this is for espresso)
When rolling First stops I take the Fan: 1

Brew
I usually use a press pot with 1.75g of coffee per 1 ounce of water.

On a side note, coffee I've roasted for espresso have been turning out great.

another_jim wrote:The early Hot Tops with the built in profile had a a slow warm up to 300 or so that was great for espresso, but too flat for cupping. Current Hot Top users will have plenty of tips for curing this.

This seems to be the problem I've been encountering. I didn't realize this was a known issue.