mariowar wrote:I received the roaster yesterday and roasted 4 different Colombian beans using the recommended washed generic espresso Medium+++.
I pulled some shots today and they were all grassy and underroasted. The color seems fine.
I imagine that it does not provide enough development time even maxing it out and I see no way of editing a recipe to extend roasting time.
Now, knowing that this is the Generic Espresso Medium +++ I would not even venture trying the lighter and less developed drip recipes.
My only guess would be roasting less, perhaps 80g?
Am I missing something here?

mathof wrote:If I understand you correctly, the beans rested only one day before you tried them as espresso. Try putting the remainder of your roasted beans aside for a week and pull some shots then. Until freshly roasted beans have degassed much of the CO2 generated in roasting, they cannot be properly extracted as espresso.

In order to roast the beans darker, edit your Medium profile with the presets for medium dark or dark, together with +++ development time.

Yup, you absolutely don't need to wait 3-6 weeks like some others are suggesting to determine whether the roast is on the right track or not (regardless of roast degree), but you certainly can't be pulling espresso the day after and make any good conclusions. Wait a few days for a med to dark roast and wait even a few days longer for a light roast and, especially with the light roast, continue to pull espresso and taste over the course of a week if you can.

RyanP wrote: Yup, you absolutely don't need to wait 3-6 weeks like some others are suggesting to determine whether the roast is on the right track or not (regardless of roast degree), but you certainly can't be pulling espresso the day after and make any good conclusions. Wait a few days for a med to dark roast and wait even a few days longer for a light roast and, especially with the light roast, continue to pull espresso and taste over the course of a week if you can.

If that's a response to my comment above, let me make clear that that was NOT a recommendation, but rather surprise that the coffee was still better after a month than it was during the first week. I will certainly give pour-over a try - or Aeroporess with plenty of blooming - to cure my impatience.

Auctor wrote:Hoffman did an interesting video on this subject a couple of weeks ago.

video

Ahh! All is now clear. I'm an espresso drinker, but I think more pour-over and Aeropress are in my future. (Any objection to Aeropress on this count? I've always liked its output and have had less luck with pour-over despite careful temperature and pouring control.)

I would not argue that resting roasted beans do help, however, in my 12 years roasting with my beloved Behmor, I learned that properly roasted/ not rested coffee is 100% drinkable. Yes, it will get better but it will not turn an underroasted grassy coffee into something drinkable IMHO.
Unfortunately, I do not enjoy dark roasts, therefore, the lighter, the better, and one of the reasons I purchase this roaster was to be able to experiment with lighter profiles, including drip.
With the Behmor I can get amazing medium roasts using manual settings, however, I have not been able to get consistent well developed lighter roasts.
Update, I just roasted 80 grams of Colombia El Cortijo Venecia from Burman using the same Washed espresso+++ and it turn out well. I was able to roast 1:30 minutes into 1st crack.
I will definitely try the Medium dark with 100g as suggested.
Thanks

mgrayson wrote:If that's a response to my comment above, let me make clear that that was NOT a recommendation, but rather surprise that the coffee was still better after a month than it was during the first week. I will certainly give pour-over a try - or Aeroporess with plenty of blooming - to cure my impatience.

Wasn't in response to you!

I'm considering purchasing the Ikawa Home Roaster. Is it recommended to keep the 100g batches separate or can you, say, roast 5 batches in the same day and then combine the 500g into one container? Thanks!

It seems pretty good at duplicating roasts so combining should not be a problem, especially if you mix them up so you get a bit of each every time.

Ira

Combining shouldn't be an issue. I combined three 700 gram batches from my Bullet of the Costa Rica Tarrazu Cafetales de Dota I roasted as Christmas gifts and it turned out fine.

You may find that the Ikawa does better at lower than full rated batch size, most roasters do. A lot of the posts I'm reading are mentioning a 75 gram batch size or thereabouts which seems expected based on experiences with other roasters. The Bullet is rated at 1 Kg, but I've found 700 grams to be ideal for my purposes. I was roasting 750 grams for a while but felt that the batch size was a bit too large to be able to steer the roast.

Interestingly, the Ikawa Pro100 says it will take 120g, but that 100g is recommended.

That I did not know, but as you later clarified that's for the Pro and this thread is discussing the Ikawa Home which does list it's roast capacity as 100 grams. That and the fact that 100g capacity is in the title of this thread.