How to roast better coffee - an interview with Rob Hoos 

In response to question: What are the most important decision for roaster
Hoos cites and details research shared by Morten Münchow (researcher in Copenhagen)
	• biggest drivers of flavor from roaster
		#1	roast color
		#2	development time
		#3	time to 1C
		- biggest change you can make is to change the final color of the roasted coffee
		- whole bean color is primarily about temperature exposure
		- average color of ground beans is affected by length of development time
			◊ short development time -> lighter color (whole and ground bean)
			◊ longer development time decreases the difference between whole and ground
			bean colors. It brings ground bean color closer to whole bean color.
		- development time plays a huge role in flavor of coffee
			◊ +/- 10 seconds for consistency
		- increasing time pre-1C increases body and complexity (caramel, nuts, etc) 
		- increasing time to 1C decreases clarity and floral notes	
	• green coffee has a huge influence on final result
		- "can't polish a turd"
			◊ 80pt green coffee is hard to roast such that it reaches 80pt result
			  with very little room for error
			◊ 90pt green coffee can be roasted imperfectly and still taste good
		- higher altitude coffees tend to be more acidic
		- lower altitude coffee tend to be less acidic
		- processing overrides a lot, giant generalizations are
			◊ natural process overrides cultivar and terroir
			◊ naturals tend to be fruit-forward, earthy, chocolate-y, more body
			◊ washed process coffees tend to be citric and malic, more floral, lower body
			◊ honey-processed coffee tend to be middle-ground between natural and washed
	• differences in roasting natural process vs washed coffee
		- natural process
			◊ shorter development time 1:15 to 1:30
			◊ roast naturals a little bit lighter than washed
			◊ Joe Morroco says "pretend natural process are already a little bit roasted"
		- washed process
			◊ longer development time 1:30 to 2:00
			◊ shorter development time on washed coffee tends toward vegetal flavors
	• generally do not roast below 11% weight loss

Roasting for espresso
	• espresso extracts a lot of acidity
	• espresso tends toward under-extraction. 	
	• stretch the roast to get more or at least different maillard by-products
		- stretch the time to 1C
	• roast for more complexity and more body
	• use longer development time to neutralize some acidity; 
	• roasting darker can help bring balance
	• low-end weight loss for espresso: 13%-14%
	• high end weight loss: sky is the limit, depending on personal taste

Developing even color in a roast
	• stretching development time helps even inside-outside color evenness

Comparing roasts by weight loss
	more than .5% roast to roast delta weight loss means changes in flavor
	.25% weight loss is goal for roast-to-roast consistentcy
	11%-13%	 weight loss = light roast
	13%-16%	 weight loss = medium roast
	16%-18%	 weight loss = dark roast
	18%-22%	 weight loss = extra dark roast

Bean Density
	• how to measure bean density...
		equipment needed
			50ml graduated cylinder
			gram scale that reads to 1/100g 
		technique
			fill graduated cylinder with 40ml water
			tare
			add beans to get to 50ml
			result: know how many grams it takes for 10ml
			multiply that number by 100 to get g/l
	• low density coffee has increased risk of roast defects if fast roast
	• high density coffee - roast as fast or slow as you want
	• low density:	1120 g/l <- soft coffee, be gentle while roasting
	• high density:	1160 to 1200 g/l <- unlikely to push it so far as to cause tipping

Moisture Content and Moisture Meters
	• Good resellers will know the moisture content of the beans they sell. Otherwise
	it is necessary to buy specialized equipment to measure moisture content. Low-end
	meters are around $300.
	• beans with moisture above 11.5% will spoil faster than beans with lower moisture 
	content. As a guess roast that coffee w/in 6 month
	• Higher moisture levels require energy to roast.  Beans with 11% water require 
	more energy to roast than beans with 10% water content.