I'm new to buying expensive beans with a light roast profile. In fact, I'm not sure I'll find it to my taste, but I do have the desire to try them out. I'd love some guidance and opinions on the various setup potentials I have for preparing a cup. Which of these setups will yield the best output? Are all of these setups inferior to a gold standard, or is one of them pretty close? The beans I'm thinking are Manhattan's world class selection beans or pollons Gold Gesha.

Setup 1: Comandante C40 MK4 with Aeropress / V60

Setup 2: Kinu m47 with a LMLu

Setup 3: Kafatek MC6 with a LMLu

Setup 4: Kafatek MC6 with Aeropress / V60

Thanks a bunch!

PS - a future purchase will likely be the Strietman CT2, so that can be assessed as well.

C40 and a filter method seem likely to give you the most easily enjoyable results.

Manhattan and Apollon's Gold both have changed roasting style over the last year or so. For conventionally processed, light-roast coffees, https://en.thepickychemist.com/boutique is a source that many I know are now using.

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated. I figured this would be the case. Not sure I even like these type of beans yet, but feel like I'm missing out by not exploring. I think it is safe to say that on espresso, I prefer a bean that leans closer to medium. But my work setup is an Aeropress / V60, and this is where I'm looking to explore the lighter roasts.

Jeff wrote:C40 and a filter method seem likely to give you the most easily enjoyable results.

Manhattan and Apollon's Gold both have changed roasting style over the last year or so. For conventionally processed, light-roast coffees, https://en.thepickychemist.com/boutique is a source that many I know are now using.

What has changed in their roast style? Have they gravitated to an even lighter roast vs traditional light? I will check out the link you provided - thanks

Appolon's Gold has shifted to a slightly darker roast than they were providing a year or so ago. For me, for the price, I'm not willing to take the chance on a comparatively "roasty" coffee. Manhattan has seemingly also gone a bit darker. I haven't heard "roasty" from others. It still seems to be well regarded, but I thought worth mentioning that their coffee today may be roasted notably differently than a year or two ago.

Got it. Thanks!

Why not just do the cupping setup for all new coffees? It is simple and requires no special equipment, no technique is needed to brew coffee, and it is repeatable and standardized. That being said, cupping does not always tell the whole story. I have had a few coffees that I felt delicious in cupping but never could get satisfactory results in brewed coffee. Or the opposite in that, coffee tasted awful in cupping but ended up fine in pour-over. So, when I am exploring a new coffee, I cup first, then follow it with a few brews usually simple recipes in AP or V60.

I have been a home roaster for a long time, and since I was satisfied with my own roasts, I have been abandoning the idea of buying roasted coffee from a store for many, many years. But recently, I have decided to explore what the new third-wave coffee has to offer for my cup enjoyment, mostly due to FAD and FOMO as it turned out. LOL

So, I did similar to what you are planning to do, but much simpler. I don't do espresso. So, I simply did cupping for each coffee and compared it to each other or with my own roast. My tongue can not take more than 4 different cups at a time, so I spread the exploration over months and repeated the same coffee (stored properly) over time.

My conclusion was that I did not like any of the mostly light-roast from 6 roasters (TM, SEY, Passenger, GH, Prodigal, Onyx), ~20 total bags of single-origins and blends. They were all good coffee in their own right, but all turned out to be something other than what I enjoy. I just don't care for fruit-forward coffee.

I like low-acid, full-body, earthy, bold, chocolaty, sweet cups of coffee. That is the "traditional" coffee flavors mostly from roast, but definitely also from beans. I dislike bitterness in the cup, so mostly what I like are medium roast, never oily beans. I tend to like funky, smoky, woody flavors in Sumatra and other Indonesia. And I dislike the sour taste up front in my cup. A hint of fruitiness in the back end of the cup is a good quality for me, but pronounced acid flavors up front were never my thing.