Haiti Savane Zombie

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
Nunas
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#1: Post by Nunas »

Over the years, I've roasted nearly every mainstream coffee from nearly all countries, mostly for espresso. Recently, I was stocking up on greens and noticed a bean called Haiti Savane Zombie. I must confess, I ordered a few pounds merely because of the name :oops: . Now that I have it, I've done a bit of online research and discovered that it is apparently well regarded for espresso. I've a few questions for those who know this bean.

What is your preferred roast level for it? These days, I usually roast most of my beans to the midpoint between 1C end and 2C start.

Do you like it as a SO, or as a blend? If the latter, with what do you blend it? My go-to beans for blending are Brazilian Bourbon Santos, Guatemala Antigua, Sumatra Mandheling, which I usually have on hand.

Thanks!

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drgary
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#2: Post by drgary »

Let us know what you find!

I recently tried Haitian Blue Mountain, and it's a very nicely rounded, low acid coffee that I roasted with a gentle start and very light. People like it darker, but I ran out of green to try it that way.
Gary
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mpdeem
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#3: Post by mpdeem »

I love good Haitian coffee :)

I usually roast to Full City level with a peak (highest temp) of 440-448 F (20-30 seconds). Usually hit First Crack at 7:00-7:15 min with a total roast time of 9:30-9:40 minutes. I try to go dark enough to develope dark chocolate notes but not past 450F.

EDITED TO ADD: I am using a modified popcorn popper as my roaster. Forgot to mention that in my original post.

I have also done a few lighter roasts, with a peak temp of 428F- 430F, total roast 9:20-9:30. The profile becomes more nutty almonds and African like spice notes with chocolate becoming more like coco powder. With a lighter roasts there is a slight leather hide note that reminds me of Yemani coffee...some may find it distracting I do not.

Panther Coffee offered an amazingly light roasted Haitian Coffee a while back. I was lucky to acquire a few pounds. Lovely almonds and nut cream, herbal spice,with only a faint leather note. I was actually inspired to try roasts on Haitian coffee after tasting Panter's example. Wish I still had some ...would have gladly shared some because it was a very light roast...one I would never have attempted - yet tasted divine.

Not sure where you got your coffee - but I find Haitian coffee can have a large number of defects so worth sorting through the unroasted coffee beans before roasting.

Burman Coffee Traders regularily carries Haitian coffees from Singing Rooster. The bean prep and quality is very good for the origin with a smaller number of defects. I highly recommend them - in fact they have a Savane Zombie 17/18, a Baptiste Blue, & Blue Pine Forest currently in stock:
https://burmancoffee.com/product-catego ... gin/haiti/

The Baptiste Blue is excellent a little more dark chocolate notes, thick deep body,& very smooth. The Blue Pine Forest is also good - similar profile but a tad thinner bodied.

Occasionally Burman's gets a Honey Hybrid Processed Haitian in...it is excellent. Here is the archived description:
https://burmancoffee.com/product/coffee ... ter-honey/

The honey hybrid is probably the most approachable for those note familiar with Haitian coffees with slight red grape fruits, spices, and nut cream at lighter roasts, becoming more chocolate the darker the roast. Very smooth and forgiving to roast - at times tastes almost like a blend of a chocolatey Central American and African.

Good luck - feel free to hit me up withh questions. Again I find the source makes all the difference when it comes to coffees from Haiti...plus a little pre roast coffee greens sorting.

buckersss
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#4: Post by buckersss »

Did you order from IDC?

They say it's the same varietal as Jamaican blue. I've had Jamaican blues I like but I did not like theirs. But the zombie was nice I thought. I have only ordered it once, but at some point I will order it again. I'm enjoying a lot of those Sumatrans right now. Haven't blended any.

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#5: Post by mpdeem replying to buckersss »

Not the original poster...but wanted to ask if you have tried roasting any of Haitian coffees from other vendors (Cafe Kreyol. Burmans, Coffee Bean Corral)?

Being a home roaster but limited on caffeine consumption (health reasons) I don't get the opportunity to try a lot of roasted coffee. Would love to hear more about the I Drink Coffee roasted Haitian coffee.....maybe we could start a thread over in the Coffee section of the forum -since this is the Roasting Section.

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drgary
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#6: Post by drgary »

My Haitian Blue Organic came from Coffee Bean Corral in August last year. It was just fine to roast during my IKAWA Home review, and I don't remember tasting any leather. I'll have to retaste. It's fairly high caffeine for an Arabica.
Gary
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Nunas (original poster)
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#7: Post by Nunas (original poster) »

Thanks all for the input. Here are a few comments.

Yes, I ordered from IDC. I saw the Berman offerings, but have not ordered from them since before the pandemic, as they don't deliver to Canada; I used to get a lot of coffee from them and had it sent to ShipHappens for pickup (we're a short distance from the border).

I'm roasting on a Quest M6, not a fluid bed roaster.

I've never roasted a Haitian coffee, but have done a bit of Jamaican Blue Mountain, which is a similar (same?) varietal. If it turns out like JBM I'll be quite pleased.

450 F (232 C) on my roaster would take me into 2C, which I think I'd like to avoid with this coffee. I used to roast into 2C, but over the years my tastes have changed. I usually dump at about 225 C (437 F), which is well short of 2C. I think it's about City+, maybe almost full city.

I've been doing a bit more online reading about this coffee; several commenters liked it as a SO; so, I'll try that first--maybe sometime next week. I can always try blending post roast.

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#8: Post by Milligan »

I was able to take a cupping class put on by Eric Girard of Cafe Kreyol. They pay close attention to Haitian coffees. They had some excellent cups. They sell both roasted and green coffee. A good resource to try their roasted vs a home roast.

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#9: Post by mpdeem replying to Milligan »

I did a comparison cupping of their Haitian coffees alongside those from their counterparts from Singing Rooster/Burman this past winter. This was my first time ordering from Cafe Kreyol, my experience limited to Singing Rooster/Burman.

Overall I found the Kreyol coffees had a distinct carob type chocolate note with more sweetness and required a little deeper roast to bring out flavors. The Singing Rooster/Burman samples had more of a dark chocolate note, a little more fruit/florals, and overall required slightly less roasting.

There was a good degree of variation in terms of bean quality and processesing between the two which made me wonder if the coffees compared were from different batches/harvests and therefore not a direct compairson per se.

Nunas (original poster)
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#10: Post by Nunas (original poster) »

I've finished roasting this coffee. Here are my notes. The first roast was just into 2C. It was balanced, like Blue Mountain, but had a typical smokey roast taste that diminished after it had aged a week or so. It reminded me of why I quit roasting into 2C :wink:. The aftertaste, to me, was more like licorice than the dark chocolate usually mentioned by the vendors. The second roast was about 2º short of 2nd crack. The taste was about the same as the first, perhaps a little sweeter, and the smokey taste was gone. To me, the licorice aftertaste was way in the background and dark chocolate was emerging; one of our guests said it was chocolate, not licorice. The third roast was dropped another 2º shorter. The overall taste was about the same as the previous one, with definite chocolate after-notes. This one was good as an espresso or milk drink, while the other two were better with milk. The first one needed a bit of sugar. This was an interesting coffee, but I'm sticking with my custom blend for everyday use.

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