FYI... it looks like its now released. I just received shipping notice for the book (and espresso)!

I've yet to get any notification that mine shipped

Well, I guess they forgot to charge for shipping for the first days orders so I got a message asking for a few more dollars for shipping but I think that means I get a signed one so I'm happy. Then a bit later I got shipping confirmation so mine is on the way too.

Ira

same here.. Happy to pay the $5 to help the author.. Anything to encourage more conversations and resources for our community.

Ditto. Can't wait to read.

ira wrote:Well, I guess they forgot to charge for shipping for the first days orders so I got a message asking for a few more dollars for shipping but I think that means I get a signed one so I'm happy. Then a bit later I got shipping confirmation so mine is on the way too.

Ira

I was talking to Robert the day the book launched. Apparently a few people might have ended up with copies that were of no profit to him ( a loss actually) because the international shipping rates were the same as the price of the book and weren't factored in on a few.

TomC wrote:I was talking to Robert the day the book launched. Apparently a few people might have ended up with copies that were of no profit to him ( a loss actually) because the international shipping rates were the same as the price of the book and weren't factored in on a few.

Hopefully the rest of the 100 or so people that ordered first will pay the extra $5 after the fact..It's not much, but any little bit helps. He did say in the email that he would ship the book even if we didn't go back and pay the shipping.

My copy was in my mailbox today or yesterday, I didn't check yesterday.

Picked up my copy in person today at Nossa Familia in Portland and read it this afternoon - it's a very quick read.

I'm hoping maybe someone can shed some light on this book for me. I found it interesting and quite a departure from Rao's book in style and content. Rao's book is a more general discussion of roasting as it covers everything from coffee beans, process, equipment, to techniques and principles, cupping, extraction, and storage. Hoos's book is singularly focused on affecting flavor through changes in the roast profile. Something that Rao only touches on in a Table on page 65. So I was hopeful that this book would serve as a nice compliment to Rao's book by filling in some of those details.

The gist of can be summed up, I think, fairly simply (like Rao's book in terms of his three commandments) in the following two principles:

• Longer ramp time from yellow to FC (or MAI time as Hoos calls it) promotes body and complexity

• Development is a balancing act, too little development leads to bitter and vegetal flavors, while too much development time leads to bland flavor with low acidity

There are a few other points that are elaborated on but these are the two that seem to be firmly based on his roasting experiments and cupping tests in which MAI time and development time are varied with a few different coffees.

Here are my observations and a few questions:

• I found it interesting that no mention at all was made in the book about airflow and the effect that this can have on heat transfer. This seems particularly strange to me given that he roasts primarily on a Loring roaster which is a recirculation type roaster that involves more airflow. Perhaps he has not varied the airflow to eliminate it as a parameter for his roasting/cupping tests but it is still an important factor that seems like it should be discussed.

• For his roasting experiments all differences are given in time differences from basleline but no absolute times are given for baseline. I realize this will vary from roaster to roaster but this makes it hard for me to interpret and apply his principles. I have no ideas whether my times are on the low or high side of his baseline. Nor are any overall roast times provided. I'd like to see a chart with the actual profiles for each of the roasts he tested.

• Regarding his cupping methodology he states that the tests were blind which is good, but I believe they are based on his taste testing only. It seems like it would help greatly to replicate these findings with others.

• Are his principles at odds with Rao's? A constantly declining RoR would seem to favor a shorter ramp time and longer development time compared to a longer ramp and moderate development time. But then again it's hard to say because Hoos does not provide the curves or times.

• Hoos describes shorter development time yielding bitter and vegetal flavors, which then give way to more pleasing acidic flavors, then to sweeter flavors, and finally to more dull and bland flavors as development increases. My experience and understanding is that darker roasts give rise to bitter flavors. I would tend to describe unpleasant light roast flavors as astringent and vegetal. Maybe this is just semantics. Thoughts?

• Hoos discusses a few other things like how dry time and extent of carmelization contribute to taste but those are not backed up with specific tests.

Overall, I found the book a worthwhile, if quick read for $25, but I'm still not sure yet how to put this into practice, except perhaps to try slowing down my ramp time. I always learn a lot from everyone on HB so I'm looking foward to following the discussion.

keno wrote:

• Hoos describes shorter development time yielding bitter and vegetal flavors, which then give way to more pleasing acidic flavors, then to sweeter flavors, and finally to more dull and bland flavors as development increases. My experience and understanding is that darker roasts give rise to bitter flavors. I would tend to describe unpleasant light roast flavors as astringent and vegetal. Maybe this is just semantics. Thoughts?

I think he might have something here. I've noticed that bitter (and perhaps slightly vegetal) quality in roasts with really quick development times - some Nordic roasters, for instance. I'm not sure about vegetality - that might be straight-forward underdevelopment from not allowing the bean center to equilibrate. Of course, you can get bitterness from longer, darker roasts as well.

If he and I are thinking of the same thing, it's this aggressive bitter, tannic quality.

I'm looking forward to receiving my copy - presumably soon, since I ordered the day it came out.