I don't know. I mostly use roasts from two to twelve days post roast, and I mostly get different tastes, rather than better or worse. I routinely increase the dose as the roast ages (based on taste), and I suspect that many of the contrary assertions about taste to age correlations are from people using different fixed doses.

I do believe that when you have a certain "perfect" taste in mind, there is a correct roast, age, dose, etc. But I doubt this is something for which there can be general rules.

danetrainer wrote:Jim, is there a correlation between elements of a roast profile (lightly roasted bean) and the age when the flavors "peak" for espresso? A recent roast was markedly better as it aged past what we usually assume would still be good (like 12+ days).

I don't vary my roast level very much, so it ranges from my most usual, which is between 2 and 3 degrees F on my drum's bean mass TC, before the onset of 2nd crack, and perhaps as long as 20 seconds into 2nd crack for the odd washed bean that I find doesn't do well stopped before 2nd crack begins. This is a temperature range of maybe 4, perhaps 5 degrees F on my TC, around which the beans turn in my drum.

That having been said, when I do roast on the very light end of my own range, I think that the beans take an additional day to come around.

With very few exceptions I am now finding that the SOs I roast that I personally like the best, largely Ethiopians, seem to become approachable at the 2-3 day mark for espresso. Once they become approachable, I find that they deteriorate markedly by the end of the 4th day, 5th day at the outside. So, for me, I prefer most of my beans from about day 3 to day 7, and start using them in cappas after that point, and pitching them by day 10 at the most.

I have had a few beans like some Yemens, however, that seemed not to come around for several days longer and to last, also, around 4 days after I started to like them.

All of this calls for personal experimentation. No one can tell you or anyone else when your beans are going to taste best to you.

I am now keeping less of my roast product out for immediate consumption, and freezing more of it, in smaller jars than before, in order to try to consume as much as possible of what I roast during the period when I find it the most appealing.

ken

danetrainer wrote: Tim, for a Central to add to a blend, I would suggest this: (Guatemala Huehuetenango)... plus you could add a DP Ethiopian as well!

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm going to roast some of these along with the Brazil Raisin Jim suggested.

My starting point is usually to search the front page of Sweet Marias with a ctrl+F search for "SO". Tom will often mention on the new arrivals that this one or that one is a good SO. Sometimes I agree with him and sometimes I don't but I do more often than not.

brad