Roast temperature for espresso

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

I'm curious what most of you are doing for a final temp on beans intended for espresso. I usually buy from SM and tend to get good results if I follow their suggestions. However on some of there espresso blends I've been less impressed. To me anything roasted to the start of 2nd crack (440-450deg) tastes relatively the same regardless of origin or process. I've much enjoyed making espresso with some of my roasts that I've done for pour-over through as I find it easier to identify flavors and differences. Final temps can range between 390-420deg. on those.

MattS
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#2: Post by MattS »

I dropped their New Classic Espresso blend at 410F on my last roast and I like the results. That was my first real roast (post-seasoning) on my new Arc Roaster, though, so I'm certainly still experimenting.

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CarefreeBuzzBuzz
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#3: Post by CarefreeBuzzBuzz »

Nick,

I am all with you. We don't roast to anything near second crack. I hit FC around 390 and we rarely go above 420, most often not above 415. Then you taste the origin of the beans not the roast level, but then again its all personal taste, and if people are used to that smokey flavor some just stick to it.

We particularly enjoyed the SM Box of Chocolates choices roasted that way.
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Rickpatbrown
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#4: Post by Rickpatbrown »

I drop during our as first crack is finishing. Depending on the beans, room temperature and the thermometer's mood ... this was anywhere between 410 and 420F.

I think lighter roasted espresso is amazing. The acidic zing and bright fruity, flowery flavors ... whooooo man. It's way better than what they serve in most cafes.

I tried their monkey blend and took it a little darker, maybe 425ish. It was good. But not as good as some dry processed Ethiopian at the tail end of FC :D

Mbb
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#5: Post by Mbb »

Not espresso
But temperature isnt fixed, it can be related to how fast you approach it as well

I roasted a Sumatran last week that I did not like the earthiness taste of, I had considered throwing it away. So I took it to the very beginning of second crack, 410 F, (nothing to lose), and I'm usually a thirty seconds after first crack kind of medium coffee drinker. I also used low heat and stretched the roast out pretty far.

It came out nice. No earthiness at all. Roasting to second crack will take away all the origin attributes pretty much. Just smooth , dark chocolate, hint of bitter dark roast taste. No acidity really, but maybe some flashes of acidic flavors. Difficult to describe. I definitely liked it better than any commercial grocery store or char bucks dark roast I'd ever had.

While drinking a couple of cups I kept thinking "I bet this would make good espresso". Reminded me some of the stumptown hairbender that my son likes. I had to drink it for a few days when I was in New York with him recently

Still not what I would call a dark roast fan. My medium roast costa rican that I was drinking today I kept marveling at every time I took a sip. Simply awesome coffee. Balanced chocolatey acidity. My son says it smells like caramel

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another_jim
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#6: Post by another_jim »

The key is not the bean temperature, but the timing of the final roast phase, from first crack onset to the end of the roast. For a brewing roast, you want this to be 2 to 3 minutes, for an espresso roast, you want it to be 3 to 4 minutes. You drop the heat more for espresso roasts, so the rate of rise is slower.

How hard you apply the brakes depends on how light you want to roast. For a light espresso roast in a drum roaster, you basically have to turn the heat off, and let the roaster coast in. For a darker brewing roast, when you want to get to the 2nd crack neighborhood in around 2 1/2 minutes, you may need to crank the heat up.
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false1001
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#7: Post by false1001 »

My general rule of thumb is when I hit 1C I try to have my RoR under 15 F/min (usually around 10 F/min) for brewing roasts, and above that (usually around 20 F/min) for espresso roasts.

I break that rule of thumb all the time though. I generally find espresso to be much more forgiving of different roast styles/manners than brew.

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another_jim
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#8: Post by another_jim »

false1001 wrote:My general rule of thumb is when I hit 1C I try to have my RoR under 15 F/min (usually around 10 F/min) for brewing roasts, and above that (usually around 20 F/min) for espresso roasts.
Seriously!? If you have an espresso roast and a brewing roast at an equal finishing temperature, you finish the espresso roast faster?
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Horatio Sanz (original poster)
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#9: Post by Horatio Sanz (original poster) »

I'm hearing from most you; you're not actually roasting too much darker for espresso than other gravity brew methods.

Also, Fun Fact: The rule of thumb comes from a time when it was legal to beat your wife with a stick. When needing to provide "Domestic Discipline" or "Moderate Correction" you just needed to make sure your stick wasn't thicker than your thumb.

false1001
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#10: Post by false1001 »

another_jim wrote:Seriously!? If you have an espresso roast and a brewing roast at an equal finishing temperature, you finish the espresso roast faster?
Of course not, I get that rule of thumb because I generally finish espresso roasts much hotter than my brew roasts. If I was aiming for the same temp (within the same time) I'd probably be aiming for the same RoR upon 1C as well.
Horatio Sanz wrote:I'm hearing from most you; you're not actually roasting too much darker for espresso than other gravity brew methods.

Also, Fun Fact: The rule of thumb comes from a time when it was legal to beat your wife with a stick. When needing to provide "Domestic Discipline" or "Moderate Correction" you just needed to make sure your stick wasn't thicker than your thumb.
That is not a very fun fact

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