The tracking I was given says a shipping label was created on December 22 and nothing has changed since. Maybe the tracking number changed once it was shipped.

If anyone has any espresso brewing parameter suggestions I'd be interested in hearing them. Since getting my Monolith grinder I've been pulling shorter shots (18g/30-33g) even with lighter roasts. The odd coffee really doesn't like this (I'm looking at you "Holiday" SL28/Geshia blend) but for the most part I enjoy the increase in mouthfeel and concentration.

Sent you an email. Looks like it was lost in transit. Sent another one out today.

WOW. This response is unexpected and appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to chase down a single bag of coffee. Very much looking forward to tasting it.

Had a chance to cup through these four blind (roasted in 150g first-attempts in my freshroast to roughly the same medium-light) and it was really fun. Having four different washed beans on hand to compare was really illustrative, as you can get a good sense of the common backbone of flavor while also getting the surprisingly large differences by method.

I'd had both the Iced Cascara and the Burundi before via Facsimile and was surprised that these two were my favorite, since I wasn't a huge fan when I last cupped them. The Burundi process stood out as really sweet, round, and stonefruit-y, while the cascara had the most well rounded fruit flavors with good acid and a really pleasant nuttiness. Kenya and Ethiopia both have been great in normal drinking but didn't stand out as much in the cupping -- eth had a certain herbal flavor I didn't like as much, while Kenya had the best fruit aroma and highest acid but lost out in balance.

Anyways there's enough variation between FR roasts that I'm sure roast differences explain some of these flavor differences, but I was really happy with them nonetheless, I'll try each in my huky next and probably do a little better.

How did these all roast in relationship to one another?
Is the Kenya similar to 2020's offering?

I figured i would use last years profile as a starting point, but dont have any intuition as to whether I will need to add or subtract heat for the different processes.

Very similar relative to each other; haven't done any previous crops, don't know about that.

olutheros wrote:Very similar relative to each other; haven't done any previous crops, don't know about that.

Thanks for this. I roasted all 4 today. I just saw the the Burundi was sold out. This is pretty disappointing. I wanted to taste them, before committing to a large purchase. I was excited about the Burundi in particular.

But to the question of how they roast ... For the same heat profile, they all roast exactly the same, expect the Cascara was about 30 seconds faster. I have no idea if each is good at this profile. I'll check in a few days.

My starting heat setting is 4.5 KPa, 2.5, 1.5, 1.0, 0.5, 0.1 and then at the end I switch to the single burner on the stock Huky stove to keep it from flicking or stalling (thats the 4.0 at the end).

I had technical difficulties with the cooling tray on the first roast. One of the wires broke free from the fan. They stayed warm for a few minutes longer until I got them into the other exhaust fan. They don't smell great and I forgot to hit "drop". But all these coffees are roasted very similarly.

***Update on tasting***
I cupped all four roasts this morning. They were good. I think that I need to extend my development phase a little bit and get my drop temp up. These were a little too light and I got some grapefruit sourness. Overall, I thought the coffees tasted very similar. The dominat feature here is the superb quality beans. They all shared good acidity, sweetness and body. Nice, clean aromas. The process seems to just accessorize the bean. I think that the descriptions on Aida's site are on point.

The Burundi was heavier in the stewed fruit category, while the Kenya had that typical Kenya savory steak, with good, well balanced acidity. These two were my favorite of the four.

The Ethiopia was good, with better separation between the acidity and sweetness. I thought clarity and sparkling acidity were good descriptors. I thought this one was slightly less balanced than the other to "African" styles.

The iced cascara wasnt bad, either, but it was my least favorite. I think I was expecting a bit more in your face, natural process experience. The cascara flavor was subtle to me and I felt like it suffered a bit in the other categories.

I have no idea how well each one could be played with ti get the most out of each process. That would be awesome to have 5lbs of each and a whole week to try different profiles to accentuate each beans attributes. I wonder if my ranking would hold up in that case. This is the time where professional roasters are needed.

Thanks again, Aida for you hard work. It clearly shows in the quality of your coffee!

Love reading all of the feedback and being a part of this community! I'm glad you all are enjoying the processes and geeking out just as much as I do.

Damn, The Burundi went out of stock so fast.