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PT's Green Coffees

Postby another_jim on Sun Nov 14, 2010 6:53 pm

PT's, the famed 3rd wave roaster from Topeka, also sells green coffee. I always like when top roasters sell their beans green, since it is an assurance of quality, after all, they sell these coffees under their own name. Here's a few I tried recently:

El Salvador Finca La Mercedes Pepinal and Avila: Talk about terroir! These two were clearly akin when I blind cupped them, since they had a unique and very alluring succulence, somewhere between a fruit and a vegetable (Agave, maybe?). The Avila is a natural, more complex; while the Pepinal is more focused. Both cup around 92.
El Salvador Finca El Molino Orange Bourbon: If someone got a perfect balance on an estate blend of Bourbon and Paca, it would taste like this: a classic Central American cup with subtle hints of orange blossom, fresh almonds, and chocolate. Around 90.
Ethiopia Sidamo Guji Region "Ardi": Very clean with the classic Sidamo florals, green tea and chocolate. Sweet, well worth trying, but slightly faded, as if it had stayed in country too long. Very good provided you roast smaller lots, faster and gentler than usual. Brew it 1 1/2 strength, and for espresso, roast lighter than usual. 88 points.
Brazil Ipanema Dulce: I was apprehensive, since this was an extremely acrid coffee few years back. But they've cleaned up their act. A very simple and very sweet coffee with mango-plum and ceder notes and almost no acidity. Roast it very light, stopped well before even the first pops of the second, for espresso for a classic North Italian shot profile. 85 as a brew, 88 as a shot. This coffee will work oddly as an espresso blend base -- roast it very light for the fruit and ceder, and blend it with a darker roasted central Bourbon for the nuts, chocolate and smoke.
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Postby costa on Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:14 pm

Hi Jim, could you please give me some advice for roasting the Sidamo Ardi? What do you mean with faster and gently? I have the Gene cafe since May and this is actually my first home roaster. This is also the first time I am in a coffee forum. I received some days ago the big chaff collector of the Gene...so I hope the results will get better. Does the Sidamo Ardi need a good predrying, how many minutes at what temperature do you recommend? And then? 480 F?, 465F? I would appreciate a reply! Did you maybe have also the Amaro Gayo? Could you say anything according to its roast profile?
Thanking you in anticipation!

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Postby another_jim on Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:24 pm

I do not know how to operate a Gene Roaster, or how what its temperature readings mean. But here's what you need to get your roaster to do in order to get roast the Ardi right.

Dry processed coffees almost always have less moisture than wet processed ones, and need shorter drying periods, so preheat the roaster a little more than you would for Centrals or Kenyan coffees

The Ardi, uniquely, for espresso, requires an unusually light roast, a regular City brewing roast, stopped well before even the first pops of the second crack, since the roast taste is all green tea rather than anything interesting. When roasting coffee this light for espresso, it is mandatory to slow the roast to a crawl during the first crack, so the acidity isn't overwhelming and the grassy tastes are definitely all gone.
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Postby costa on Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:25 pm

Thank you for the quick reply! Actually I had to tell you that I almost always brew my coffee with a french press... :oops:
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Postby another_jim on Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:42 pm

In that case, same roast until the first crack, but finish a little faster -- 3 minutes from start of first crack to end of roast, rather than 4.5
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Postby costa on Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:48 pm

The other thing I still don't understand by the DP ethiopian coffees is the right temperature (external temp.) to get to the 1C. Sometimes I tried by 470 F but it ended with some carbonized beans. If I use 445 F I have no charcoal and some good results, in many cases anyway is the cup boring and without the powerful fruitiness of the DP Ethiopians. Roasting at home is such an interesting hobby and a challenge also! I know that there are some general rules, but it's not so easy at all...For example I had 5 lb from Jimma-Negusie from Sweet Maria's and I didn't get even one roasted batch that gave the expected result...On the contrary, I had some success with Haile Selassie Sidamo, Yirgacheffe Koke and with the Shakiso Sidamo Maduro in the summer. Is there some general rule for the DP Ethiopians concerning the temperature to 1C? I am very thankful for your answers and it is the last question for now :) I got some very interesting coffees the last weeks:
El Salvador La Illusion, El Salvador Alaska, Nicaragua St. Guadalupe Pacamara, Guatemala El Bosque Amatitlan Red Bourbon and Panama La Esmeralda Special Naranjo from Has Bean Coffee in England and also Ethiopia Amaro Gayo DP, Ethiopia Sidamo Ardi and some others from Roastmasters.
Thank you again!
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