Royal Crown Jewels just posted a Chris Kornman article on searching for balance in coffee roasting for pourover, espresso, light roasts that aren't underdeveloped, and dark roasts that are sweet, not bitter. He also describes how they're adapting by taste to scale up from a Diedrich IR-5 to a 15 Kg Loring Falcon machine. And, he comments on how apparent crashes in BT ROR yield excellent results in the cup that don't taste baked. I picked up several useful tips when reading this article.

Chris,

I certainly don't have either roaster in my garage. I liked his description of changing roasting technique for different roasters to achieve goals and match flavors across them and that different roasters will have plots that look other ideal but may well work. For instance, I have noticed how my roasts can have a slight rise in BT ROR after 1C and not taste baked. You're right that a plateau is a sure sign things won't go well. As a novice, I like reading through the details of how he's thinking about roasting for a balance light or dark roast, such as his description of ROR that he shoots for with light roasts going into 1C and how he wants that to proceed, that he starts counting 1C when there's a second between cracks, which gives me a starting point instead of something more vague. And yes, coffee after 1C in the roast process is not exothermic. I already knew that but others may not.

Chris,

Passages like this really help me right now, as I try to get better at lighter roasts with sufficient caramelization balancing defined origin notes:

"My strategy is this: hit the gas early, well before the turnaround. Get out of the drying phase quick and start slowly, incrementally pumping the brakes in color change. Ideally, I want to get to the first crack fairly quickly still - under 8 minutes if possible, and I'll take less where I can.

That said, I don't want to steamroll it: by the time the coffee is cracking regularly (when I mark the first crack as it begins to roll, less than 1 second between pops) I'm shooting for a rate of rise at 15F/minute or below, with a decline of at least 5F every thirty seconds thereafter."

Also, I'm finding this to be true as long as there isn't an extreme flick in BT ROR during post 1C development:

"Some folks might describe this as a "crash followed by baking" but I'd look them in the eye and pour them a cup and tell them not to knock it before they've tried it. "

Much of what anyone is experiencing also relates to the characteristics of their roaster. I've got a North TJ-067 1Kg propane roaster that I had them fit with a perforated drum. This means that I am paying more attention to environmental temperature than I might if my drum were double-walled cast iron. I've been advised by Jim Schulman to keep ET steady and avoid it declining. So, I'm very focused on ET and the gap between ET and BT as I seek to achieve my roasting plan. I may get some apparent flicks near the end, but the coffee doesn't taste baked, especially if I'm going darker and want to preserve some acidity at the center of the bean. For dark roasts, I've found this Neil Wilson post extremely helpful because going just past 2C takes one out of the Scott Rao ever-declining BT profile.

Does "Always Decelerate ROR and flicks" really matter?

Also, I'm am following Scott Rao's recommendation to focus on two batch sizes. My small batch where I can still usefully track measurements is 350gm. My usual large batch is 750gm, although that may become 700gm as I freeze sealed packets of greens for freshness. My roaster easily does 1Kg batches, which I may do for some gentle dark roasts just entering 1C.

For me, it comes down to accumulating experience, roasting increasingly within the "sweet spot" of my roaster and fine tuning by using the trier to determine drop, and by taking notes and doing lots of tasting. People have different methods of cupping post-roast. I chew on a bean right out of the tray to note any impressions and see whether those translate to brewed coffee. My experience here is mixed, but it's sensory information that could be useful. That dry cupping can tell me some of the tastes available in that coffee even if they don't appear in the brew. The day after the roast, when it's morning again and I can tolerate caffeine, I brew a cezve of coffee and find it's very drinkable in its own right. Then of course, I'm brewing and pulling shots after resting the coffee for at least five days, going back to my Artisan profile and adding notes to create a plan for the next roast of that coffee.