ROBUSTA in a blend, is there a target age ?

#1: Post by **bang4dabuck** » May 20th, 2016, 11:01 am

Or the older the roast the better ? I have 4 lbs. that I estimated to be my annual allotment. I have an idea how to roast. It is an Indian Cherry and was thinking to roast it all in several batches this weekend. I also had the impression that it would improve with age and to wait at least a month. So my questions are 1) what is too young ? and 2) how old is too old ?

#2: Post by **yakster** » May 20th, 2016, 1:48 pm

Great question, if you don't get an answer here you might try contacting Dr. John at http://www.josuma.com/ who knows quite a lot about coffee from India and Robusta.

#3: Post by **another_jim** » May 20th, 2016, 4:10 pm

Ideally, if you blend robusta; roast the robusta ahead, let it age at least a few weeks in a valve bag, then blend it in. Robusta aromatics aren't great; but the mouth feel and chocolate pudding taste work well for medium and dark roast espresso, especially for milk drinks (the crema becomes like a painter's canvas). If you are using it at 10% to 25%; you can roast one batch, then use that repeatedly over several months, blending it with fresh roasted Arabica. Roast them slow, and drop them when the 2nd crack starts rolling.

May 23rd, 2016, 2:44 pm

So age AT LEAST 3 weeks and USE within 4 months ???

I am roasting separately and going to blend at around 10-15% mix with Brazilian and Honduran.

#5: Post by **another_jim** » May 23rd, 2016, 4:37 pm

bang4dabuck wrote:So age AT LEAST 3 weeks and USE within 4 months ???

That's roughly right. Store it in a valve bag

#6: Post by **rpavlis** » May 27th, 2016, 9:52 am

I would never blend Robusta with other coffee before roasting. Although the components of Robusta and Arabica are very very similar, their proportions are NOT. Robusta has less sugars, so it browns at a somewhat higher temperature. To me anything approaching dark roast with Robusta is rather grim stuff. If you want a BAD coffee for a bad memory, just prepare espresso from dark roasted Robusta. It is somewhat worse than awful. Robusta tends to have high chlorogenic acid (It does not contain chlorine in spite of its silly name). This compound is decomposed by dark roasting, but a lot of it must remain intact in lighter roasting, and it is generally claimed to be an apetite supressant. (Indeed people take green coffee extract, generally made from Robusta, as a weight loss aid.) Maybe others disagree, but to me dark roasted Robusta is grim stuff! When Robusta is roasted separately, you can optimise its temperature to avoid the burning tyres and skunk taste of it by keeping the temperature down. The darker the Robusta roast, the longer it needs to be aged, and the age approaches infinity quite fast as the roast gets darker--that is my opinion on the matter.

I also am fond of espresso with substantial amounts of non cremated Robusta!

#7: Post by **wearashirt** » May 29th, 2016, 10:01 am

I'll add some concurrence on letting it age before blending. Look forward to some effects of rhum and bitter chocolate in your espresso. Layer it under some citrusy coffees.

I wouldn't go beyond 20% by mass though. Honestly just 10-15%. 20% tops, if you have the non-rubbery kind of robusta.

#8: Post by **Boldjava** » May 29th, 2016, 11:12 pm

wearashirt wrote:...

I wouldn't go beyond 20% by mass though. Honestly just 10-15%. 20% tops, if you have the non-rubbery kind of robusta.

I had some Q graded robusta from Kaape Royale, India. I went after it <too soon?> at 5%. Great crema but I didn't care for its taste. Maybe a function of too early. I drank some straight in a press pot with heavy cream. Not bad but got the jitters too quickly. Gave it to my son in law <grins>.

June 8th, 2016, 11:16 am

I do understand to roast the ROBUSTA separately and now I know to go low and slow but is there a consensus as to the color target? Do you concur with rpavlis as to, I am guessing, going for a caramel color ? I will roast the Brazilian and Honduran together not sure what ratio but probably favor the Capucas since I have more of it.

June 8th, 2016, 2:55 pm

It's like Arabica: do you like light or dark? Robusta has less sugar, so dark roast caramels are more bitter than sweet. On the other hand, this means it darkens more slowly. Finally, a light roast will smell more rubbery, and will need a longer rest. This is a matter of finding out what you like; not finding the right recipe.