Roast and Learn Together - April 2014 - Page 2

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
User avatar
[creative nickname]
Posts: 1832
Joined: 11 years ago

#11: Post by [creative nickname] »

OK, I feel good enough about my first two roasts to think it worth sharing the profile curves. This is on my HG/BM roaster, with the "ET" measuring temperature halfway from the heatgun to the bean mass. I tried to keep that value at a fairly constant 480F from ramp through the finish, as you can see below.

Here was my city roast:



This has brewed best in a press, to compensate for its light body. There are nice notes of blueberry and lemon, with a subtle floral overtone that I find hard to characterize.

Here is my C+ roast:



This developed some very nice cocoa notes, at the expense of some of the fruit. I served our houseguests a melange of the two, which had the best balance of all my brewing attempts so far, and that turned out to be a crowd pleaser.

I have pulled a few shots of the C+ so far, which were reasonably sweet and fruity, if a bit on the sour side. I think I should be able to strike a better balance with a bit of experimenting. So far, this is not my favorite Ethiopian natural I have roasted this year (that honor goes to the Kaffa - Michiti Coop beans I got from sweet marias in February), but it isn't bad. I'll probably roast more this afternoon, if I can carve out some time for it.
LMWDP #435

Intrepid510
Posts: 968
Joined: 13 years ago

#12: Post by Intrepid510 »

My information on my Roast, Behmor 227 g charge, 2 minute empty heat up, then P2 1lb. FC @ 10:30 into Roast, drop @ 13:00 minute. Result C+ to FC.

I got a nice subtle berry taste to coffee with a nice bit milk chocolate to with it. Overall it was good, but not great. The processing on this coffee for me tasted very clean little to no fermented taste.

pShoe
Posts: 357
Joined: 11 years ago

#13: Post by pShoe »

Took BL's roast out of the freezer, and brewed some this morning. I'd swear it's a different coffee from what I brewed when it first arrived. Much stronger presence of fruit, and a nice juiciness. And to think I had almost given up on this coffee :o. So I roasted more yesterday too, and wished I had Rich's notes at the time.

I'll piggy back on rich's thoughts that FC is way to dark for this coffee. There is probably someone that can produces something good in that range, but if you don't have a lot of this coffee to experiment with, I'd avoid it. My third brewing roast didn't have much development past 1CE, but enough that I would call it C+. Total roast time very close to Rich's posted brewing profile, although I spent a little more time in drying.

I roasted for espresso too. Ended right around Rich's recommendation. From what I can tell over the past few months, Rich's roaster and mine are very closely calibrated on temperatures. I ran very low MET on the espresso roast, and dropped it at a very long roast time of 15:22. I haven't had a roast time like that in a while, but it was smelling great when it dropped. I'm eagerly awaiting a new toy on its way to my house. It should be here just in time for this roast to be properly rested. I can't wait.

If these profiles don't work out then I'll speed things up on the front end of the roast. I might drop them at a slightly lower BT too. Time and taste will tell. If that doesn't work then I'm out of luck because I'd be out of this coffee. Visually, I can tell BL roasted very very lightly. They like roasting light over there, and are good at it too. Their BN23 roast literally stalled me out while grinding on a Pharos.

darag
Posts: 1
Joined: 10 years ago

#14: Post by darag »

Hi Folks
First post. I ordered 5lbs of the Danch Meng this month and roasted it on my Behmor, I have roasted 30lbs plus on this Behmor altogether.
I usually roast for pour over. I roasted 2 batches of 180g last Saturday. One batch I gave to a friend to evaluate.
I roasted all of them at P3 D 1/2lb. This profile gives me the curve of 70 for 3mins rising to 80 for 7mins rising to 100 for 7mins. I preheated at p1 for 2mins.1st crack at 13:30 with 2nd at 14:40 and a cool down happening at 15.
These settings gave a full city plus roast. In hindsight I would use possibly a p2 setting, will research that later.
I had an 8oz V60 pour over about 24hrs later. Pleasant smell of raspberries with a taste of mild lemon going to raspberry. However it is a little chalky on the after taste and I would probably recommend a lighter roast. I have been drinking this the last few days, the raspberry is fainter with milk chorale and lemon coming through and overall I can tell it is a tad over roasted, not a bad taste at all but could be more finessed on my end. Will report a bit later on for lighter roasts.
Dara

User avatar
Boldjava (original poster)
Posts: 2765
Joined: 16 years ago

#15: Post by Boldjava (original poster) »

Roaster/Charge: 228g Ethiopia Danch Meng, Gene Cafe. 1st crack: 10.30. Pulled 12.40. 467* thermostat setting, ran entire length of roast. C+/FC-

Cupped:
* 4 day rest
* 9 g/5 oz water

Fragrance: glazed strawberries

Aroma: Earl Gray tea

Acidity: medium, citric

Flavor/nuances: Tea, sage, wild strawberries, touch lemon lime, slight white grapefruit skin zest. No fermentation detractors.

Body/mouthfeel: light cup, soft

Finish/aftertaste: Sweetness in finish and aftertaste - lightly sweetened ice tea in finish, slightly dry. Appealing, inviting.

Score: Excellent coffee though not my kind of cup. 87.75.

Comments: Despite reading your roasting notes, I believe my temps were too high. Tne next roast, the temp on this should be lowered and pulled earlier. I will pull a shot tomorrow though I have no idea what it will be like. Still learning the crossovers between pourovers and 'spresso.
-----
LMWDP #339

User avatar
Airhan
Posts: 4
Joined: 10 years ago

#16: Post by Airhan »

I actually ordered this coffee because I thought it would be good, but lucky me, it's featured here! Does anyone have thoughts about how well this coffee would fare in a fluid-bed? I've never tired 13ish minute light roasts min my modified popper, I'n not sure I can get it go slow enough.
~Grind it like it did you some great injustice!~

User avatar
Almico
Posts: 3612
Joined: 10 years ago

#17: Post by Almico »

I just completed my second roast for this bean. The first needed a week to settle in and was brew sensitive. It took a while to get it to taste good, but when it did it was very satisfying.

I found that this tiny bean takes a good bit of heat to get going. It did not hit FCs until 12 minutes at 404*. Plenty of chaff in the mean time though, but no audible crack. Then when it did it popped like crazy for 4 minutes. FCe was at 16:21 @ 453* and SC started less than a minute later when I dropped. So I'm calling this a FC roast.




User avatar
Almico
Posts: 3612
Joined: 10 years ago

#18: Post by Almico »

So I've been drinking this last roast for the past couple of days. As a straight espresso, it is a bit much. It is not what I would consider a natually "sweet" coffee.

As an espresso-based Americano or an Aeropress brew it is really nice. No characteristics stand out as exceptional, but none offend either. It is very full-bodied with a very nice mouth feel. Not the cleanest cup, but not the grittiest either.

I'm going to try another roast and drop and bit sooner to see what I can get.

I used to start roasts just past C and then gradually increase to get it where I liked it. But I've found that I can drink a roast that is too dark. I cannot drink one that is too light. So by starting in the dark side and moving backward, I at least get coffee I can drink or give away while I'm dialing in.

elltydd
Posts: 31
Joined: 11 years ago

#19: Post by elltydd »

Almico wrote:So I've been drinking this last roast for the past couple of days. As a straight espresso, it is a bit much. It is not what I would consider a natually "sweet" coffee.
Almico wrote: Not the cleanest cup, but not the grittiest either.
My experience with this coffee (only two 1lb roasts) was quite the opposite. I found it to be quite clean (for a natural) with lots of sweetness and a good amount of fruit.

When I look at your profile I'm a bit confused. It seems that your bean temperature completely flattens for 2.5 to 3 minutes, possibly even dropping in temperature, before the heat rises again and you hit first crack. If I did this in my roaster to any bean, it would leave the coffee flat and dirty... at least I think it would. I feel like that would bake the bean. Can you help me understand your approach?

User avatar
Almico
Posts: 3612
Joined: 10 years ago

#20: Post by Almico »

I use a Turbo Crazy roaster rig:



with two heat sources. The turbo oven on top is controlled by the PID. The Stir Crazy heating element from the bottom is manually controlled by the variac. The TO is pre-programmed and the SC I vary per conditions. I can make this rig do anything I want. Knowing what to do is the trick for me.

For most beans I've roasted I hit FC around 9 minutes and 395* so I'm in the habit of backing off on the variac at this point to slow the roast through FC. This bean didn't crack until 12:15 after I added some more heat. Then it took on a kind of exothermic reaction and ran up to 450* before SCe. The funny thing is it threw off tons of chaff between 9 minutes and 12 minutes with no crack whatsoever. I have never had a bean react like that.

So I'll try it again and slow down the whole ramp up to FC and not turn it down when it gets there and see what happens.