Evening all,

Hopefully this is the right way to get this started. I saw a discussion about getting a R&L together over in this thread Is there an upcoming 'Roast and Learn' in the works?. Mark (creative nickname) mentioned a willingness to discuss the Colombian Tiamana from SM. I have roasted a pound of this bean so far and have 6lbs left in stock, it would be great to compare notes with others who have also browned some of these beans.
I know the bean got some good reviews here, but so far my roasts have left me questioning my method, or maybe just my tasting ability . I will post up the profiles I have when I get back to my roasting laptop.

Nate: thanks! I'll let you know when I get mine in, ordered 5 lbs tonight, probably by Friday...if SM has caught up with their orders.

FYI: I'm roasting with a Corretto setup.

This profile (on the Quest) was awesome. I think I still have some green left. I'll play along too if I may

Tomc: thanks! What's the TC placements on your 2 drum temps?

TomC wrote:This profile (on the Quest) was awesome. I think I still have some green left. I'll play along too if I may

I just did my full 2 pound bag of the Timana Principales Lotes in my Quest, it is a nice bean. I worked on getting the drop temp high and then a good declining RoR and did 3 roasts at C+ and 3 at FC+, 150 grams each batch. They cupped out with green apple acidity, black tea (or Lemon tea), and a strong wild honey finish. The FC+ will be SOE once it ages a bit, cannot wait to try. The degassing bags are bursting with Caramel, I keep squeezing them to smell it.

I noticed the FC came at a really high temp, maybe 15 degrees higher than a washed Panama I roasted last week, I was starting think it wasn't going to crack until it did, and the start of the 2nd crack was very quiet. I took the FC+ up to a 230 C finish and it still looks nice and even with no oil spots.

Unrooted wrote:Tomc: thanks! What's the TC placements on your 2 drum temps?

My graph at the bottom isn't perfectly accurate as far as what is what.

The top black line is my MET which is on top outside the drum, in the standard location.

The red line is my exhaust air temp probe that sits right at the exit of the drum near the bottom of the chute and I think it's one of the most important ones, second only to a well placed BT probe.

The second, lower black line is my drum temp which goes thru the original higher BT probe location on the Quest and arches up and away from the tumbling beans and sits right up against but not touching the drum.

Blue line is obviously BT, which is placed thru the sight glass and is optimally positioned for my needs. It's very thin, responsive and doesn't stick in too far. I've tweaked everything so many times over the years, just to arrive where I'm very satisfied with their locations. This is what works for me. It gives me very accurate information on doses from 150-300g but I generally stick from 175 at a minimum to 250 or so.

This bean needs a lot of heat up front. It seems to like a shorter roast, as long as the development is sufficient. Those malic acid notes and deeply honeyed sweetness really jump out. I don't find it sour done this way and is equally good as espresso, but I haven't played with it much beyond this point of development to see what further maillard reaction flavors emerge.

You guys are going to make me re-order more of it.

TomC wrote:This profile (on the Quest) was awesome. I think I still have some green left. I'll play along too if I may

That would be awesome Tom, jump on in.

Here is my latest profile for this bean on the USRC.



As a shot, the taste was a good standard Colombian SO espresso after a 3 day rest. I found a nice level of acidity but was lacking the caramels and honey notes. Could the 3 day rest have been too much and I missed it?

Brewed in a clever dripper was similar, nice Colombian SO, but missing some of the noted flavors.

From all this I think my post FCs time was too much, and I baked the flavors away. I also would like to even out the ROR curve, kill the bump up just before FC and reduce the post FC drop. But primary focus for the next roast will be shorter length. I have had a number of roasts on this machine with the same pre-FC bump and drop that tasted very nice, so that will be a project for a later roast.
FC looks early, but this seems to be the new normal with my particular setup on the USRC. Beyond that, I welcome any opinions suggestions for future roasts.

I plan to roast up another batch Wednesday or Friday and will post more profiles from that go around.

For those pulling espresso, what parameters did you run?

I pulled on a QM Vetrano with a Compak K10 grinder
201F, 15.3g in 31g out after 28sec in a standard dbl basket. Nice looking shot from the bottomless PF, but as above just felt the taste was lacking.
Maybe next time I will get out the VST 15g basket for a try.

Bak Ta Lo wrote:The degassing bags are bursting with Caramel, I keep squeezing them to smell it.

I had a different Colombian like that. Oddest thing was the beans were a generic Colombian SO 10lb buy just for learning the controls on my new roaster. I thought most if not all batches would be garden fodder. But then on batch 10 or 11, I dumped it to cool, shutdown for the day and walked away for a bit. Upon my return there was this pile of almost candy sweet caramel smelling awesomeness in my cooling tray. No way was that going to the garden without trying it first. Not the greatest drink ever, but that caramel smell lasted for days and a nice whiff from the bags was incredible.

nate74 wrote: I pulled on a QM Vetrano with a Compak K10 grinder
201F, 15.3g in 31g out after 28sec in a standard dbl basket. Nice looking shot from the bottomless PF, but as above just felt the taste was lacking.
Maybe next time I will get out the VST 15g basket for a try.

Well this thread got me so anxious I pulled some espresso with it early, it is of course has very thick crema at this point but very promising. Balanced, acidity is nice not harsh. I like the green apple with honey flavors I am getting, but I now wish I had more of this bean to take it even a little darker, it seems very flexible. I was pulling 19 grams on the Strega in a 20 gram VST basket, ground in the Monolith Conical, shot output around 36 grams in 30 seconds. I think it will get much better in a few more days.

Agree TomC, I wish I had more if it now. I am learning my lesson about what someone the other day here on H-B called "bean hopping", cannot remember who said that but I am guilty. I get a bean where I like it, or find a good one and then I have 6 different two pound bags to roast. Truly a kid in a candy store when I go to SM's page to order.