I am really disappointed by Sweet Maria's Yemen Mokha Matari this year. Anyone else tried it?

I am noticing far more quakers, and the cup lacks sweetness. I get the impression that they purchased a cheaper lot this year but charged the same price. Perhaps the coffee will open up with time.

Dang, I'm bummed to hear this. I just got my 5 lbs in the mail. What level did you roast it to? I haven't tried any yet, I was excited to try it but haven't had the time to roast it yet.

Oh great,

I just ordered a second few pounds cause I thought the reports on this thread included this recent batch.
I stove-top roasted about 6 ozs on the 16th. Haven't tried any yet, cause I'm understanding it needs a wait of a couple weeks. Mine is roasted City+. Maybe I'll try some this weekend or sooner in the French press.

It has given off some interesting aroma, ranging from dried fig to something spicy and earthy.

mkane wrote:Just finished this roast after daily mountain bike ride.

image

Mike,

How'd this one turn out compared to your earlier roasts. This is a full 2 minutes longer.

It's all gone so I must have liked it. Honestly, these days Yemen's are my favorite and it may be because there so easy to get somewhat right, no defects. Earthy, peety, dirty, very different. Banana's with whipped cream if your a dreamer. They roast so well. I'm on the lookout for more.

If any of the roasts are without defects I can taste I'll call them a success. I'm nowhere near good enough to roast for a certain 'taste'.

mkane wrote:Banana's with whipped cream if your a dreamer.

I don't have enough telemetry and automation (yet! in progress) to consistently nail the bananas and cream Yemen roast. But I have before and it's delightful. Yemens are really nice because it seems you get something special and different no matter how you roast it, so long as you don't fully blow it.

Jrodanapolis wrote:Dang, I'm bummed to hear this. I just got my 5 lbs in the mail. What level did you roast it to? I haven't tried any yet, I was excited to try it but haven't had the time to roast it yet.

Tried three different roasts: City+, Full City, and Full City+. The darker roasts tasted a bit better, but none of them impressed me like the prior batches of this coffee. The quakers are especially concerning because that's a more objective measurement. But as I said, it's possible that this coffee will improve with time. I had never tried this coffee so early in the season, so maybe my memory is a bit biased.

Very curious to hear how it works for you! Honestly, I would love nothing more than to hear that you love it and that I'm just trying to be persnickety.

Let it rest more than a few days. I'm having a shot of this 3 days off. There's that banana 3 minutes in. That's a decent descriptor whoever came up with that.

Roasted Yemen Nat this morning and am wondering, what does a Yemen like? Long middle, hot drop or just an overall stretched roast. Charge temp's are dictated by TP.

After a month of illness (not covid) I've finally got back to my coffees and I think I've nailed the Haraaz Fresh AA+

I did a roast before getting sick where I dropped at a lower temperature to stretch out the roast a bit. First crack began at 8:25 and I let it develop for 2 minutes and 25sec probably more than half way to second crack. It rested for 14 days before I put it in the freezer.

It was defrosted a couple of days ago and I dialed in shots that ended up beautifully balanced berry (more a potent dried apricot and perhaps blackberry), mixed spices and chocolate. Unmistakably Yemen. No banana for those who strive for that in a Yemen coffee.

I read somewhere here that VST baskets were not worth the while when flow profiling. I dug up my old Synesso baskets and gave it a try. 202* was best previously so I stuck with that. 17.5 grams ground fine (for that basket) using a Slayer profile and tapering flow at the end giving a yield of 35 gm (2:1) was the best. Zero astringency and what I expected of this coffee. I don't think it matches last years Red A+ or previous Boldjava distributions because IMO it lacks a touch of acidity to give it a better mouthfeel. That might be the balance of more development time with this coffee vs. retaining some undesirable astringency. I hope this helps.

I would perhaps like to start a different thread on VST vs. old style baskets for profiling.