rama wrote:Seems we were all more open sharing our opinions in previous years' competitions. ... but would not be happy to have gone through the trouble and not learn a thing. So I'm all for openness on this...

I tried something new(for me) with my brew profile. Take a chance and hope to learn from it.

I like to think of us as a team trying our best to make it as difficult as possible with all great roasts on Tom and SM cupping table

I entered the espresso competition this year. I got a late start and only had time for two iterations before sending off my blend. I was surprised by how long the brazilian lasts - it's day nine on my first roast and I'm not even sure it's peaked yet.

The guat was more trouble, like most guats it needed plenty of drying. Even then, though, it was pretty malic. If i had more time i would have played around with taking it significantly darker than the brazilian, which is actually the opposite of what i was thinking at first. I still have no idea how my espresso turned out because the competition roast is only rested four days right now.

I think that maybe my first roast of the brazilian was the best. It was slightly darker (5-7 degrees hotter finish) than i wanted, but after i dropped the finish temp on the second roast I realized it wasn't as good. The problem was that these coffees needed to rest for so long that by the time i figured out my second roast needed to be adjusted i had already done my third roast! I took my third roast 30 seconds longer (same finish temp) so i'm hoping that helps.

I normally like all kinds of roasts; but a competition is its own reality. Judging means drinking lots of coffees in short intervals; so the winner has to be a coffee that stands out from the crowd. Both light and dark roasts are higher risk/higher reward than medium roasts: they are easy to screw up; but stand out when you hit them right. Middle roasts are almost always balanced and pleasant, but getting something that really pops is tougher than with lighter or darker roasts.

Maybe next year will do the competition in reality show format: lots of rounds, one loser eliminated each round and one winner getting a meaningless prize. Then the overall winner would be someone who never screws up a roast, but is totally risk averse, at least, until the final round.

another_jim wrote:
Maybe next year will do the competition in reality show format: lots of rounds, one loser eliminated each round and one winner getting a meaningless prize. Then the overall winner would be someone who never screws up a roast, but is totally risk averse, at least, until the final round.

^ This.

It would force me to work harder. I'd probably be out long before the end, but it would still be worth it to try.

Plus, like the reality shows, the contestants get critiqued on what was good and bad, then they apply that (hopefully) to the next round.

It would still have to be done with only a small ( 3 max) choices of coffee though. After that, it would be too difficult to deal with so many variables.

rama wrote:I'd be happy to be trounced this year, but would not be happy to have gone through the trouble and not learn a thing. So I'm all for openness on this...

On day four my roast still has way too much baking soda. Luckily it's got at least three more days to rest!
But one takeaway for me already (from reading this thread and then jumping elsewhere) is that i realized i may be designing my roasts to be on the sour side, and then trying to fix that with an over-extracted shot. I need to fix my extraction "tendancy" and then adjust my roasts for properly extracted shots. See, i'm learning!

Now if only we had an HB rental program for a VST refractometer...

popeye wrote:Now if only we had an HB rental program for a VST refractometer...

Ha! A reminder to appreciate how relatively predictable and straightforward brewing is compared to espresso.

The Guate gave me problems. Seemed to tip really easily. The moisture seemed to want to blow out where the taproot comes out. Tried to keep the charge temp. down as well at the MET. There also seemed to be some insect/borer damage often near the same taproot spot. Just couldn't seem to get even drying. ymmv

rama wrote:Seems we were all more open sharing our opinions in previous years' competitions...I'd be happy to be trounced this year, but would not be happy to have gone through the trouble and not learn a thing. So I'm all for openness on this...

Hope I am not derailing the topic.

Your collective responses helped serve to remind me that we all struggle a bit to nail a roast. I evaluate greens weekly for buying consideration. I get one run at that bean on which to make that evaluation. Sometimes things don't always work out perfectly on the one/two roast(s) venture. The reminder from this thread is that perfection doesn't come to any of us in one roast. Thanks.

Second, and here is where I hope I don't derail the topic. Maybe we can consider selecting a quality green, say from Sweetmaria's or the Shrub. Do this about 4 times per year. Anyone of us can announce a roasting learning experience; it needn't fall on Jim. We could all grab some of it and use it as a learning opportunity of what worked and what didn't work with the particular bean. Might be a ton of learning about origins and respective roasting profiles for desired results. No challenge/competition needed. Merely mutual sharing/learning.

I would be glad to do sub-distribution if that offers a less expensive effort at it.

Sounds like a very interesting idea. Count me in.

TomC wrote:Sounds like a very interesting idea. Count me in.

Let's follow-up on the concept over here, Roasting Collaboration, which will keep the competition thread on-topic.