Springtime Homeroasters Competition - discussion thread

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

We're doing a Springtime Homeroasting Competition with Highwire Coffee Roasters!



These are our three choices of green coffee:

Roastmasters Kenya Gaturiri AA Microlot

Roastmasters Ethiopia Kochere Grade 1

Roastmasters Costa Rica Black Honey


Guidelines for the competition:
  • 1) SO only per submission, no blending of the three options and submitting it as one roast.( on your honor)

    2) You can choose to submit one coffee, two coffees, or all of them. 100g roasted coffee per submission. Judging will be for cupping/drip coffee style only, no espresso.

    3) I will ask for judgements on the roasts separate from judgements on the coffee, meaning the higher scoring Kenyan won't have a great advantage over one of the others, just because someone chose to use it over one of the other coffees. Scores will be tabulated and a winner will arise out of each of the three coffees.

    4) They'll be free to make a judgment of whichever coffee they deemed best on the table, where they can apply their subjective opinion of which coffee they liked best. The cuppings of each three for the best within each, will be an evaluation of roast only, not the specific coffee.
We'll aim for the third week of March for submissions to be due, with a confirmation here in this post once it's verified.

Our judges are the three co-owners of Highwire Coffee and perhaps one other member of their cupping team. Between Robert, Eric, and Rich, there's a World Barista Championship Certified Judge, and many, many decades of professional cupping experience. All submissions will be sent to me, I'll share my address shortly.

The cupping will be conducted double blindly. Like last years HB Roasting Comp hosted by Sweet Maria's, if I'm invited to attend the cupping, I will for the incredible experience it is. It will follow the same standard cupping protocols of silence during judging and scoring. I will be participating in the competition obviously, but I won't have any knowledge of which coffee is which including my own. And I will not be participating in any form of the judging or scoring, just sipping and listening afterwards. These are the very transparent parameters in which it will happen, if I'm invited to attend (Henry and I did the same thing last year). Otherwise I'll be dropping off blindly numerically identified, identical sized samples of everyones coffee and waiting to be notified of the results via email.
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TomC (original poster)
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#2: Post by TomC (original poster) »

And I'll kick it off with a brief comment about one of these coffees, the Costa Rican Black Honey. As soon as Jim mentioned it, I checked it out and it seemed very interesting so I got some. I had it ordered the next day and I'm now cupping it after it's first test roast on the 7th.

This isn't a coffee to miss out on. There is the most intriguing depth of fine artisanal chocolate and flavor of melted vanilla ice cream in this cup that I think I've ever found. And I mean interesting chocolate, not bland, vague chocolate that comes via late roasting effects. The mouthfeel is potent and lingering. The aftertaste dwells on dutch cocoa to the extreme. This is a coffee that sings a few notes, but appears to do them extremely well. It's wonderfully sweet, integrated and the finish dries nicely into a nice long enjoyable aftertaste.

There was a baking soda tinge to this each day until today a full 4 days out, so consider evaluating this coffee after at least this much rest. I wasn't blown over with this coffee on day 2.
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another_jim
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#3: Post by another_jim »

TomC wrote:There is the most intriguing depth of fine artisanal chocolate and flavor of melted vanilla ice cream in this cup that I think I've ever found.
Yeah; I got that huge in the espresso too. I guess it's a crowd pleaser any way you do it.
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pShoe
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#4: Post by pShoe »

Other than traditional cupping, will any other specific drip methods be used while judging, and any specifics of brew preparation parameters?

Thanks

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TomC (original poster)
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#5: Post by TomC (original poster) »

No, it will just be a standard cupping, likely a few of each submission prepared as a 10g-150gH20 cupping bowl along with a small tray with your unground beans for visual examination.
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Bodka Coffee
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#6: Post by Bodka Coffee »

How are the entrants notified of results?

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TomC (original poster)
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#7: Post by TomC (original poster) replying to Bodka Coffee »


Carrier Pigeon :wink:


The results are usually listed at the tail end of the discussion thread. In Jim and Henry's traditional HB Home Roasting Competition of years past, there's been a sticky posted at the top of the thread for about a week during the discussion period after the judging. I might forgo that, we'll have to see. But there'll be a clear list of each of the top 5 ranking in each 3 coffee classes, and a best in show.
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#8: Post by Bodka Coffee »

That's kinda scary. :lol:

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farmroast
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#9: Post by farmroast »

just saying, the Brumas del Zurqui El Centro Black Honey is really nice! Been a fan of that farm micro-mill since they won the crop of gold back in '06. Bought a bunch of that lot. Thanks for spotting it Jim
LMWDP #167 "with coffee we create with wine we celebrate"

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TomC (original poster)
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#10: Post by TomC (original poster) »

I ran another batch of it about an hour ago. It's such a pleasure to roast. Smells intoxicating and is quite easy to dial in to something delicious.
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