Nordic Style - What is meant by this for coffee roasting?

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

I was briefly discussing with a barista at a cafe in Sarasota. She mentioned they are interested in a Nordic style. I didn't have time to ask what was really the philosophy or style behind it since they were busy.

Q:
1) What is meant when they say it is along the "Nordic approach" to coffee roasting?
2) Is this part of "the 3rd Wave of coffee" or something even newer and broader or just a regional thing?

Note: I appreciate all espresso roasting styles whether North Italian, Southern Italian roasts. The Nordic, I believe is a lighter roasting style.

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sversimo
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#2: Post by sversimo »

"nordic style" is about quality.

1) find the best quality beans
2) roast it as gently as possible, often below 10min, drop them 30-60s after first crack.

The coffee is brown, and not black in the cup. Its all about getting the best flavours out of the coffee.
Any defects will shine through, giving you a bad taste in your mouth, so basically it all comes down to quality in every step.

Espresso based drinks are on the way out here in Oslo, as more and more people gets their eyes open for the remarkable taste of excellent drip coffee.

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boar_d_laze
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#3: Post by boar_d_laze »

By "Nordic Style" most people mean a lighter than City finish, with a very bright personality in the cup. Rolling 1stC is a common sensory milestone for Drop. There's nothing new about the roasting style -- at least not as a roasting style. In that sense, Nordic refers to finishes as light as Cinnamon and New England, and as dark as American Roasts.

Coffee roasted that lightly preserves it's fruit and varietal characteristics; and because "roasty" notes are not developed, they neither mask nor compete with the fruit notes.

Nordic roasting claims to be as much about the philosophy of roasting as about techniques and finishes. As someone who prefers coffee roasted into the C+ through FC ranges, I find the sentiments behind Nordic roasting of honoring the bean, terroir, and farmer far more attractive than the real world results. Nordic roasts -- at least the ones I've tried -- are unpleasantly sour.

There are a few North American roasters who roast in the Nordic style. Heart is a good example. While they have their fans, the overwhelming reaction by "connoisseurs" and people serious about coffee in blogs and on the boards -- including H-B and CG -- has been sharply negative.

But, to each his own,
Rich
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Boldjava
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#4: Post by Boldjava »

boar_d_laze wrote:...As someone who prefers coffee roasted into the C+ through FC ranges, I find the sentiments behind Nordic roasting of honoring the bean, terroir, and farmer far more attractive than the real world results. Nordic roasts -- at least the ones I've tried -- are unpleasantly sour.

...
Rich
+1. Amen.
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TomC
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#5: Post by TomC »

An interesting approach to this style, but using different technology, leads to a much better cup. I was given four insanely good samples of John Laird's "Supersonic Coffee" at the SCAA, and it's a Nordic approach, but roasted on a Loring Smart Roaster.

The difference between that roaster and traditional roasters as far as how the bean heats, is quite unique. And it allows for fully developed centers of the beans, since they roast from the inside out more than the outside in, like traditional roasters. You end up with beans that have higher Agtron numbers that actually have a more cupping roast profile, or just less "roast" on them, due to darker, over roasted exteriors.

None of the samples I tried were sour, overly bright, or lacking development, but were just incredible, light roasts that were "fully ripe". I think it sometimes takes someone with the experience of John Laird to achieve new horizons like this. Sometimes its the combination of the technology (the roasting machine) more than the philosophy of the guy behind the tryer achieving great things.
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Travisimo (original poster)
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#6: Post by Travisimo (original poster) »

Good to hear about everyone's input about Nordic style roasting & philosophy behind it.

So if the Nordic style is a light roast is it still recommended really for drip and pour-over, etc - No espresso huh.

In regards to pour-over with a Ethiopian Sidamo, it was clean, crisp and refreshing. Yet, I still prefer the essence, emulsion and thicker mouth feel of espresso extraction still.

BTW,
Tom, thanks for the fantastic coverage of the SCAA recently especially pointing out a Who's who in the coffee industry with a name with the face photo journalism!

Loring Smart Roaster sounds very interesting that this new roasting technology will cause more innovation with coffee roasting and provide a new appreciation of a farmers & roasters hard work to shine through possibly even more!

Regards,
Travis

bohemianroaster
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#7: Post by bohemianroaster »

TomC wrote: None of the samples I tried were sour, overly bright, or lacking development, but were just incredible, light roasts that were "fully ripe". I think it sometimes takes someone with the experience of John Laird to achieve new horizons like this. Sometimes its the combination of the technology (the roasting machine) more than the philosophy of the guy behind the tryer achieving great things.
And herein lies perhaps an entirely new and exciting topic for roasters: that elusive light roast that isn't underdeveloped. I love that you are pointing out the sheer technological aspect . . . even though I have a very well designed machine in my Diedrich, I wonder if it possesses the ability to do what the Smart Roaster does. Probably not. Have to say that most of the "Nordic' style roasts I've tasted have been head-bangingly acidic. A friend brought me a sample of some Wendelboe coffee, and I was all excited to try it . . . brewed it up the way I've been brewing coffee for 30 years . . . couldn't drink it. So the whole business of sourcing these great beans is lost on me. Maybe I haven't been properly initiated into this circle of coffee cognoscenti, but I would still love to experience a very light roasted coffee that did indeed reveal a new world of flavors, and not just unripe fruit.

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entropyembrace
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#8: Post by entropyembrace »

Transcend coffee adopted the Nordic approach to roasting just under 2 years ago. What they made clear when introducing it is that the goal is to fully develop the sweetness of the coffee while retaining the acidity and avoiding introducing roasting characteristics to the coffee. The result is coffee which tastes like ripe fruit, and is very lively and enjoyable.

They also made it clear that this roasting profile is for filter coffee, they still roast espresso to develop caramel and dried fruit characteristics, which tastes better at the intensity that espresso delivers.

You can watch the video they posted just before switching over here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzx5wfoZj7c

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farmroast
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#9: Post by farmroast »

Some coffees I really enjoy very light roasted. My most memorable roast of last year was a very light roast of the g1 wp ethiopia deri. And appreciate having some roasters working on that focus. Same as I accept a place for well roasted dark roasts with proper bean selection.
One thing about playing with very light roasting is roasts that slightly miss can be terrible/compost only, where working on dialing in a best profile in a med/light range, slight misses are at least drinkable or giftable :roll:
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jessebgordon
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#10: Post by jessebgordon »

I recently had a discussion with a good friend who works for Mahlkoenig about this. A good point he made is that the way we generally brew coffee here in the states doesn't really lend itself to that roast style. However, if you go there to have coffee, the roast style and brew methods are so interconnected that it really does work well. The lighter roast is simply a piece in their particular coffee culture.

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