Ninety Plus Perci Red DP Geisha-Odd Profile, Interesting Results

#1: Post by **TomC** » February 7th, 2014, 1:54 am

My first crack at the fabled Ninety Plus star, the Perci Red Geisha from Panama. I don't have much of this to play with, but it's interesting, even for a Geisha. It's only 36 hours out, so I'll see how/if it develops. But my early fears were that I took this coffee too far, but the cupping results don't quite bear that out. It finished into a fully developed FC roast, completely smooth surface, but still a medium brown ochre very similar to Hershey's milk chocolate in color.

The cupping tonight revealed some quirky cultivar notes, but I haven't had anyone else's Perci Red to compare to, so I'm stabbing at it a bit blindly. Dry fragrance is raspberry and black tea. I get Kool-Aid juicy red cherry flavor most predominantly, braced with sparkling crisp apple, tartaric acidity. There's an underlying voluptuous milk chocolate mixed with creamy jasmine. Body/mouthfeel was simple, short and took the backseat.

Here's where it gets sticky. There's a lurking Saaz hop spiciness. It's nearly marijuana like, but nothing overwhelming like a funky Indo coffee, it's actually subtle in the background and finish. This Saaz hop note can border on woodiness (which is what concerns me). The greens aren't brand new, but my moisture loss was only 13.5% which seemed low for this level of visible development. I don't think I'm leaving any cultivar character behind, hidden by roast overdevelopment, and I think it needs a fair bit more development than a typical Geisha to get the cherry notes away from tart and lime-cherry.

Has anyone else played with this green?

Some say Geisha's can improve and have longer staying power with longer rest, but not all, it's a toss up in my mind that I haven't been convinced of yet. For me, the Don Pachi DP Geisha was one that went from dynamite to meh, in anything past 5 days, and that was Ipsento's master touch on the roast, not mine.

#2: Post by **chang00** » February 7th, 2014, 2:10 am

Wow....that was a fast roast. Mine is generally about 12 minutes. Another hobbyist here and I roasted the same beans around the same time. His roast on the Huky was full of strawberry, and mine was plain fruity. I've never had MJ myself so can't compare that to personal experience.

#3: Post by **another_jim** » February 7th, 2014, 2:23 am

I have several roasts of mine done in 11 to 12 minutes, with reduced batch size, and ET held below 500 throughout.

To me, its the coffee of the year. Lusher than the Colombian WP Geishas; cleaner than the Don Pachi; and more powerful than both. I also get the classic Geisha comfort food tastes: strawberry, apricot, chocolate, that only show up together in the stratospherically priced Esmeralda auction lots

But no hemp or hop in mine. I keep to a 500F ET limit for all DPs and semi washed, precisely to avoid all astringency; although hemp and hop sound like they might be fun.

February 7th, 2014, 3:26 am

I saved this very small test batch for the last of my roasting session, so I knew innately that it would end up going fast, which I was ok with as long as I could develop it out of any grain like rawness, and as long as I could keep it to a short, fast finish without tipping over too far.

I get exaggerated flavors that keep me intrigued. It's not strawberry, It's Smucker's Strawberry Preserves. The cherry is like maraschino syrup or Kool-Aid. Maybe even more accurately, Otter-Pop cherry (if anyone can remember those).

I know I have a corrective factor that I have to account for when doing smaller roasts. A standard charge of 180-200g that I have found gives me the best amount of control vs ease of manipulation gives me accurate temps. But I know that I don't normally have to wait to 312 to hit the end of my drying phase, so I question most of my thermocouples values here. My 1C almost always hits closer to 385,etc.

I mention the Saaz hops because they are a mild, clean, slightly spicy floral hop. I thought it added a unique was to finish such a startling coffee of extremes.

#5: Post by **kwantfm** » February 7th, 2014, 7:04 am

I've been roasting a lot of Don Pachi and Finca Santa Teresa Batista Natural and find that I much prefer both within a week of roasting (that may be generous). Day 3 seems to be the peak for me, both are outrageously sweet especially when I push the yellow to FC stage of the roast a little quicker.

#6: Post by **another_jim** » February 18th, 2014, 2:49 pm

I just read Ken David's 97 (!) point review of Barrington's 2012 roast. It shows an Agtron of 52/67.

This would be a very fast and hot roast (8 minutes or so). Pulled just ahead of the first pops of the second to get 52 on the outside; and with low air and high ETs to get 67 on the inside. That's just about the opposite of the gentle profile I use for all DPs. I'll try it and see what gives -- fortunately I can do it on a small 110 gram lot.

February 21st, 2014, 10:37 am

Jim, did you ever try this? My second batch came out better, but there's obvious age on the coffee, so I never saw it at it's best.

February 21st, 2014, 10:46 am

I tried it; and it's got more depth to go with the fruit. But I think I ran a smidgen hot, and there is a trace of dry distillate that doesn't quite fit, like a slightly toasted edge to a pie crust.

#9: Post by **drgary** » February 21st, 2014, 2:44 pm

I was gifted with a sample and appreciate others' dialing in a profile. At this point I find myself with a main roaster that's too large and a HG/BM as my sample roaster for that. Can anyone suggest how to start this with a roaster based on a heat gun? Is it worth pre-heating the aluminum mixing bowl or just bring it up to heat after loading at room temp?

#10: Post by **TrlstanC** » February 21st, 2014, 4:56 pm

I didn't realize Ninety Plus sold greens, at least retail. Or did everyone just get their green sample through a roaster that was trying it out? I don't think I've seen this from any roasters yet...