I got these beans in a few days ago and took a stab at them last night ... really high hopes! I've never really had Ecuador beans on my radar, but something about Royal's description made them sound irresistible.

The beans themselves: smell amazing. They have a strong fruity smell, slightly winey. They remind me of the Super Wush anaerobic smell, but not as vinegary. Definitely more refined than the super wush. The beans are on the smaller size and irregularly colored. They have a "wild" appearance to them.

I like that Chris at Royal suggest to seal the beans airtight (I assume vacuum), if you plan to keep them longer than a month or two. Finally, someone not claiming that beans are good for a year! I have so many beans loose their magic after 3 months.

Royal has some really strange roasting notes associated with them. https://royalcoffee.com/product/3427097000013083031/. They claimed it was a very easy roast. On a Diedrich IR-5 (I assume closest to a Huky vs the Ikawa and Aillio) ... "Minimalist roast approach" basically, they set the heat, made one gas change after peak ROR and then maybe ... left the room of something. Not really much else.

Anyway ... I did not do that. I tried to control it, with variable success. I guess not bad for a first roast.

My thought is that its not a very easy roast. The high water activity requires lot of heat to get it moving, but once it's going, it doesn't want to slow down. These types of roasts are tricky. It's like driving a car as fast as it can go, slamming on the brakes and skidding as close to the edge of a cliff as you can without falling over.

Finishing at 9:30 minutes isn't a particularly fast roast ... it's gonna be tricky trying to steepen the ROR to get it done fast, but still have control. Maybe this one is a candidate for a longer drying phase.

I used a background curve of a Burundi Kibingo DP (Sweet Mariah) that I just roasted that had the same high water activity.

In the end, it went a little hot in the second half. I got to too high a final temp trying to make sure it was fully developed.

I tasted it 12 hours later because I couldn't wait. Chemex pourover. It's good, for sure. Lots of fruit and berry and sweetness. The body was not crazy, but not bad. There was a bitter/astringent thing going on (maybe underdeveloped or finished too fast and hot). Of course, I'll have to see how it does over the next couple of days/week.

This coffee has potential. I just need to dial it in a little bit more. Definitely don't recommend a "minimalist approach"

FYI - my Huky was well behaved this roasting session. I have another thread I'm going to post about Huky problems. I have high confidence that other Huky users could take these settings as a good starting point.

36 hour follow up. Reduced the pourover temp to 203F. It was better. Still a little harshness from astringency. Hope a longer rest will do it good. Body came out a little better.

Also did a shot on the Europiccola this afternoon. Apollo handgrinder. Pulled at a slightly cooler bell temp than usual. Shot felt good... not sure I recomend this as a single origin shot. It was intense! They are good flavors and the acidity isnt over the top (aside from the astringency piece), but it is REALLY loud. It might blend extremely well with a milder, full body Brazil. Maybe a chocolaty roast base will give an amazing chocolate raspberry/cherry tart experience.

Also, the Euro really amps up flavors. This night taste smoother and gentler in the semiautomatic Livia.

Thanks for all the notes. I'll be watching and contributing as I get going with this one.

You said the flavors are good as a SO, but the shot was loud. Are you saying it's a bit in your face in terms of the wineyness? Astringency?

Yup. Although wine isnt how I'd describe it. Its definitely more fruit. It's just a little too much, for me in the shot I pulled. It very well just might require a ightly different approach.

Actually ... I just pulled an almost choked shot on the semi automatic. 16g/32g 60 seconds. It was still really good. Must have just been the Euro effect that made it taste over the top. The good thing about the lever is that you can change the shot parameters to an almost infinite degree.

Excellent coffee awaits us!

I won't be roasting any until later today or tomorrow, but my initial impression is that if Royal's description didn't imply otherwise and they didn't also offer a washed anaerobic of the same bean, I would have assumed these got some anaerobic processing as well. I'm not 100% convinced they didn't. They just seem to match that profile in multiple ways, so much so that I'd like to email Royal about it. The fragrance, color, uniformity, and fragrance are all very similar to other anaerobics I've had in the past year. Does anyone else feel the same?

None of the above diminishes the fact that I'm really intrigued and can't wait to roast them!

I did end up talking to Royal and they mentioned having had the same thoughts, though they did say they'd worked to confirm that the process description was accurate. So, it's a bit of a curiosity - this is a serious anaerobic pretender! Either way, I've now roasted it and can share some impressions and a curve.

I agree with all of Rick's comments. This was a wacky roast for me also. It was hard to get going and then I was worried about slowing it down. You can see both of those in the curve. The background is a Yirg. Worka anaerobic which was more well-behaved (though I didn't like those beans at all in the end). I charged at a higher temp than normal and then waited too long to ramp down the gas. I may have also been a little too aggressive with airflow. Also, I probably should have dropped slightly earlier as well and FC was probably marked a little late. So, a bit of series of blunders. For what it's worth, these were pretty high on the chaff meter. In my opinion, these also roasted a bit like an anaerobic.

As for the post-roast review, there's abundant fruit in the aroma and some pretty significant bean inconsistency. It's definitely not yet as in-your-face as I was expecting, but that could develop ultimately. I jumped the gun and pulled a fairly satisfying shot right away. Quite punchy on the fruit and I did like it but I probably shouldn't offer much analysis until it's had some time. I'll say there's still an anaerobic note, and I agree with prior assessments that it's a more-refined Super Wush element. Really, I'm not the biggest anaerobic fan, and am finding that the things that usually turn me off to them aren't yet going strong in this bean even though it really plays the anaerobic part well in most other respects.

Overall, even though it's a little too early to be saying much, I do quite like it so far and will report back.

I just finished a run and needed a quick drink. I practically choked the semiautomatic again (I guess the Ecuador is degassed). Took a sip ... overextracted and hot. Not what I was looking for after a run.

Dumped the 32g shot into 60g of cold milk ... whew baby!!! It was 100% chocolate milk. Fantastic. Sure it lost all the complexity of a $13/lb coffee, but darn it was good. Chocolate was like a really nice artisanal dark with the distinct chocolate acidity and fruit just poking through. The real hit was the sweetness. I've never tasted a milk drink with such punchy sweetness.

If you're looking for a cold treat on a hot day, I recomend this 100%

Full disclosure ... I get really happy after running and all of these observation might be due to endorphin intoxication. In that case, the recipe involves a fast paced run for 1 hr before pulling the shot.
Enjoy!

I just got my box in the mail today, and roasted a few batches. this one was typical, they were all pretty close



having read this thread I gathered this bean gets hot and doesn't want to slow down, and my experience bears that out. I started off at 100% power (on my quest m3) and let it go a little too long; had to aggressively power down, by 1C power was off and fan was going full. Had a good drop temp (I think, not having had this bean before), but was surprised that weight loss was a lot higher than other beans I've roasted to this temp, more than 15%.

I'm down to my last batch of Ethiopia, so will likely be tasting the Ecuador on 2-3 days rest instead of my normal 4-5. Looking forward to it!

super happy with this bean, the beans are now on about 5 days rest. This one was really complex, some molassess sweetness, a little bit of nutmeg in the aftertaste, a very sweetened bakers-chocolate kind of vibe if that makes sense. Anyway, this one was really good.

Edit: just realized I posted the wrong profile. A more recent one is appended.

A quick update on this coffee. I roasted again and drew things out a little bit to try to smooth the flavor profile. I accomplished this and feel that the cup is better, even if what I'm doing is removing some flavors by "baking". I've been enjoying this as espresso (no milk) and will probably keep it as my main espresso bean until the bag is gone. My wife prefers other things as a pour over.

I think I had a little higher hopes for this coffee. It's good, but maybe my tastes have changed. I prefer things that are a bit more elegant and not so cartoonish. I started out being drawn to naturals since they were so different from the coffee I drank before taking the Home Barista red pill. I guess now, I like a clean cup with well balanced highlights. A nice blueberry bomb is still welcomed, but I like clarity.

The thing that caught my attention in Royal's description was "insane sweetness like smarties" ... I don't get that from this. Not sure if that would even be enjoyable in a coffee. There is good sweetness, body, fruit and some anaerobic tones, but nothing I'd call smarties sweetness.

Not sure if others agree with my assessment on this, or what.

Here's my last profile: