Today. I had a little of Ethiopian and a little of Yemen left and I was doing some testing. I put both in equal amounts (~220 grams) and I did a very fast, dark roast with a 3 minutes finish phase. It was so oily that I thought I had to throw it away. I bite on the bean and it looked as if it had little flavor. It wasn't promising.

Surprise on espresso! The shot in the espresso machine went quite fast (~18-20 seconds). I got quite a surprise when I tasted it (right out of the roaster and without resting time). The aromatics and the alcohol effect were very high, probably the highest I've ever tested. This kinds of kills my previous assumptions about resting the coffee to improve it. It can be quite good right out of the roaster. I have tied both coffees before but never achieved this goodness. I think the trick was the roast being that dark-oily (never ventured that far). Not all dark roast are the same! This time it was more luck than a calculated roast, but it showed me that great things can be uncovered with regular cheap beans.

Today. I had a little of Ethiopian and a little of Yemen left and I was doing some testing. I put both in equal amounts (~220 grams) and I did a very fast, dark roast with a 3 minutes finish phase. It was so oily that I thought I had to throw it away. I bite on the bean and it looked as if it had little flavor. It wasn't promising.

Surprise on espresso! The shot in the espresso machine went quite fast (~18-20 seconds). I got quite a surprise when I tasted it (right out of the roaster and without resting time). The aromatics and the alcohol effect were very high, probably the highest I've ever tested. This kinds of kills my previous assumptions about resting the coffee to improve it. It can be quite good right out of the roaster. I have tied both coffees before but never achieved this goodness. I think the trick was the roast being that dark-oily (never ventured that far). Not all dark roast are the same! This time it was more luck than a calculated roast, but it showed me that great things can be uncovered with regular cheap beans.

I just took a a pic

Been fooling around a little with some Ethiopian Natural myself. Latest blend is 125g Sumatra Mandheling, 50g Ethiopian Sidamo Natural, and 50g Burundi Yandaro, all from Roastmasters.com, all roasted together for roughly 13:30 to about C+.

The roasts are very even in color, and quite attractive; not many quakers or tips, low chaff production (no surprise there). I roasted today, and don't believe I culled more than one or two beans.

Taste is fairly "old-world," with just a touch more earthiness than a really sweet Italian. Not much acidity, even at the light roast level. A fair amount of sweetness, as much caramel as chocolate. What chocolate there was more milk than bitter-sweet. The varietal notes you'd expect from African and Sumatran are fairly well developed.

Needs 72 hours to get its head straight.

Pleasant as a straight, and decent in milk, but not writing home to tell the folks. I rate it at the border of G/VG.

I like it, I'm also kind of over it after two loads and one more resting. Good thing, because I'm running out of Sumatra anyway.

At this stage of the game, everyone else does a much better job of blending.

Linda, she who drinks the lattes, wants me to order more Lenny Dee. However, I haven't tried Klatch's greens yet. Think I'll get my ass over there and buy some Brazilian for a base, and some Central American for kicks.

Damn, this is fun.

BDL

Hi again.

I tried three shots today of the same beans, and they were not as good as yesterday. Yesterday, even a gusher tasted really good. Today, all the wonderful stuff is gone and it is hard to make a good shot. The first shot was a sink shot and I had to tighten the grind more. Afterwards, it lacked all the liquorish gas it had yesterday (anise, spices, etc). The usage time window was quite narrow and unusual for this roast. I think that all the good gases escaped or they were brought out at once and they are there no more.

Cheers

After drinking some Sumatra/Ethiopian, I changed my mind about the Sumatra/Burundi/Ethiopian I was roasting and drinking. Bottom line: It's too earthy, and the Burundi is the culprit. Funny, because if Sumatra's in an earthy coffee, the Sumatra is pretty much always why. But in this case the Burundi was bringing on the funk. Roasted darker, it may be a good candidate for a French Press, but it's too funky and generally sucks for espresso. Never again.

Sometimes all you need is a good cry,
BDL

Gonna be some 100% Jamaica Blue Mountain that was given to me. Never had it before, very interested to see what all the fuss is about.

Len

Got me some Klatch. 12 lbs of greens in all.

4# Brazil Bob O Link;
4# El Salvador San Juan Bosco;
2# Costa Rica Cerdo Pallo; and
2# Guatemala Genuine Antigua Covadonga.

I'm proposing they'll be combined as two distinct blends; both of which will be more in the nature of "Comfort Food" than pure excitement. Both to be blended before roasting, then roasted at the HT profile I call "1." It seems to work very well for most espresso blends, and is my generic. I'll be trying them in 224g charges, not blending the entire shipment at once. Prudent, don't you think?

The whole thing is very tentative and subject to improvisation as need and whim dictate.

Blend 1 - Inspired by a conversation with Dave, Klatch's roaster:
3 parts Bosco, plus 2 parts Covadonga, and 1 part Bob O Link.
(Dave didn't give me exact proportions, but this is pretty close to what reads between the lines.)

Blend 2 - An attempt to cuddle up to an Italian blend without crossing too far into "been there done that;" a poor thing but mine own:
3 parts Bob, plus 2 parts Cerro Pallo, plus 1 part Bosco.
(I'd originally chosen CR Helsar, but Dave worried about it roasting at the wrong rate, so I switched to Cerro Pallo.)

For their maiden roasts, both blends will get the FC treatment. With luck the beans will speak louder than the roast, and the Gods of Espresso will still get their due.

First roast, Blend 1, tomorrow morning.

We're currently using 125g Brazil Yellow Bourbon to 100g Costa Rica Sin Limites Honey (both from Homeroasters), roasted to FC. It makes for a pleasant, clean cup; better than a great many commercial blends, but isn't as good as... say... Lenny Dee. On the other hand, it is a definite a step up from the Sumatra / Ethiopian; and light years better than the stuff with Burundi. Burundi is the devil's bean.

Klatch coffee came very nicely packed, in 2 lb sacks, with a fold and bend top; not plastic zip bags. A pleasant surprise. Delivery was prompt. It apparently shipped on the same day it was ordered. It's not cheap. Dave was very helpful. If these greens are any good, and God knows Klatch has the rep, I'll be ordering again.

We probably won't try Blend 1 until Friday -- which should conveniently coincide with the last of the Yellow/Honey. To be more accurate, we'll try it whenever we run out of the batch sitting next to the grinder now and run some Grindz through.

As Max Hybrid says, "Coincide THIS, coffee boy."
BDL

Only thing missing is the Roaster.

Hello everybody, this is Marcelo Goulart from Pedralva , south of Minas Gerais, BRAZIL.
This is my first post, it's been a pleasure take part of Home-Barista.

Well, i already have my own green coffee, now i have to get the roaster, and i believe this is a great place the share information and experience.

Thanks to all.
By.