Roasting Competition by Mill City Roasters - Discussion Thread - Page 9

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
9Sbeans
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#81: Post by 9Sbeans »

It was not a happy surprise when I opened the 4# bag. I have never seen, nor roasted green beans in such diverse sizes and shapes. From this thread and other discussions, I have the impression that our judge might prefer slightly darker roast than my own preference. I also checked the published roasting profiles on the Café Imports web site and noticed most of their roast time is around 12-min. In contrast, most of my own default roast time is from 9 to 10-min. I'm used to high-grown hard beans with floral notes and sparkling acidity, but apparently my prior experiences won't help me on this one.

How to evenly roast beans in various shape and size? My own hypothesis is that both increasing airflow and slower RoR might positively contribute to a better consistent roast. For me, preventing roast defects will be as important as bringing out maximal flavor potentials. Because I always keep my charge weight at 227g to reduce variables, I'll have to mélange at least two of my best batches for the two 120g bags.

Based on the above information, I decided my two trial roasts. The first trial would be my own default 9~10-min roast, with slightly higher fan speed throughout my regular roast. The second roast would be 11~12-min roast. Prior to my first FOTR roast, I ran a batch of Tanzania, our bean of May R&LT.



As can be seen, two roasts of my default 9-min profiles were very similar. The only difference was the drop temperature. I intended to use Tanzania as SO espresso and the Colombian drip only.



My second trial of Colombian:



I sealed the bean for 4 days, and made a 1:15 (coffee: water) brew on my Aeropress. Without V60, temperature/time parameters unknown, I think just my routine Aeropress parameters should be fair enough to judge my own roasts. My observation was similar to Jim (here, also in his May R&LT thread): faster roast (9-min-ish in my case) preserved better dry fragrance, and the longer roast time developed fuller body. Choosing one profile over another would be personal preference. I can add 2 points for a better dry fragrance and take 1 point away for thin body. Alternatively, if I value fuller body over dry fragrance, I may take 3 points away for thin body.

More importantly, I found minor burnt notes in my batch #2 (12-min) roasts when coffee was cool to room temperature. I was puzzled and carefully inspected my roasted beans. I saw tipping in my batch #2. In my observation, I estimated around 5% of my batch #2 beans were lighter in color and there were tipping marks on all of them. I assumed those were slightly under-ripe beans (not to the degree as crackers) and had lower density. However, I didn't observe those tipping marks in my batch #1.

[To be continued]

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Boldjava
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#82: Post by Boldjava »

Excellent post 9Sbeans. Enjoyed the discussion, thought process, approach and profiles. Good learning points in there.

Judging? Probably 4 of us from the shop evaluating the 77 entrants. Eight of us homeroasters from around the state on the finals along with a Q-graded cupper/local roaster. Oh, and sausage, Minnesota cheeses and micro-brews post event.

B|Judge, hoping to keep Ruth awake.

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Boldjava
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#83: Post by Boldjava »

another_jim wrote:...Perhaps this cultivar doesn't deserve its poor reputation, but it deserves a finicky one: this ain't no "it's all good" bourbon...
Ah, another Bourbon fan. I first remember you discussing that when we cupped together at Intelli many, many moons ago.
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roastimo
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#84: Post by roastimo »

95beans write
I have never seen, nor roasted green beans in such diverse sizes and shapes.
I took the remainder of the mix of my roasts 1,2, and 4 out of the freezer for a close-up. The variety in size and shape is not seen there, nor do I remember seeing it in my green batch. Maybe from a different sack?


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Boldjava
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#85: Post by Boldjava »

roastimo wrote:I took the remainder of the mix of my roasts 1,2, and 4 out of the freezer for a close-up. The variety in size and shape is not seen there, nor do I remember seeing it in my green batch. Maybe from a different sack?
I grabbed 4 sacks (617 lbs) of the coffee. Here is the bio- in case it was missed earlier: 6 small farmers. Predominately Colombia and Castillo in there but a couple of farmers had Caturra as well. My beans were relatively uniform.

http://www.cafeimports.com/beanology/vi ... inpro-2972
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roastimo
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#86: Post by roastimo »

Thank you Boldjava, and yes I had missed that. Relatively new to roasting, I have not developed a vocabulary for describing taste, and maybe don't agree with all suggested words for description, yet like some of them. So far I can only find the words to call the coffee "exciting" and to state I detect some cinnamon, and a lasting taste after...which is all in the direction of approval. I enjoy the coffee.

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Boldjava
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#87: Post by Boldjava »

roastimo wrote:Thank you Boldjava, and yes I had missed that. Relatively new to roasting, I have not developed a vocabulary for describing taste...
Find 3 other serious coffee drinkers. Grab some greens from a vendor who has good notes. Roast. Cup. Often. And do it again, and again.

I found my own cupping improved within groups. For me, the learning was exponential when the cupping was frequent and done with others who wanted to learn.

Don't use a flavor wheel. Folks tend to "force-fit" a word rather than describe their own experience. Practice and enjoy!
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9Sbeans
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#88: Post by 9Sbeans »

Last weekend, I had time to run 4 more batches. My batch #3 & #4 were a repeat of my batch #1; batch #5 & #6 similar to my batch #2. I also tweaked my parameters in each batch.

Since I wanted to improve the mouth feel of my batch #1, I extended the MAI phase (or, ramp) from 3:30 to around 4:00 in my #3 & #4 batches. The total roast time was longer, from 9:00 to 9:30.





I was not happy with the burnt notes in my batch #2. However, I didn't know the source. Is that due to a too high drop temperature? Only the tipping of the few beans or every other bean even without tipping marks? Too aggressive drying phase? (Less likely, because it's not in my more aggressive batch #1.) Applying too aggressive heat after the first crack?
My batch #5 and #6 had longer total roast time, and various drop temperatures.





After roast, I observed the same tipping marks in my batch #5, but not in my batch #6. #5 was out!

It's decision time, which batch to be submitted for the competition. I could imagine the taste of my batch #3 & 4 (similar to my batch #1), but won't know the taste of my batch #6. Oh, well, why not letting our judge to find out? 8)
The drop temperatures of my batch #4 & #6 were very close. After mélange of the two batches, I couldn't tell from the color difference. I had enough beans immediately sealed for three, 120g bags. Two bags submitted, and one bag moved into my chest freezer 5 days post-roast. I think the storage condition should be similar to my beans submitted to the competition.

I haven't tasted my own roast yet. I still have about 1 pound of green bean in my stash. I'll use these remaining beans to emulate roasting parameters of our champion, and do a side-by-side comparison with my own roast.

Cheers all, and good luck everyone. :lol:

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cannonfodder
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#89: Post by cannonfodder »



Dave Stephens

jalpert
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#90: Post by jalpert »

another_jim wrote:Perhaps this cultivar doesn't deserve its poor reputation, but it deserves a finicky one: this ain't no "it's all good" bourbon.
My sentiments exactly. I've been telling people (read: my wife) that they did a great job choosing the coffee for this competition because you really need to know what you're doing to get the most out of it.