Tree dried coffees

[Javaphile]

I just roasted up several batches of some Brazilian Fazenda Peaberry Tree Dried coffee for the first time and was surprised that I never heard any 1st cracks. Even with my ear close enough to the roasting chamber (I have a Zach & Danis roaster) to almost burn it there was not the sound of a single crack!

Second crack was *barely audible with only a few snaps heard.

Both cracks are usually plainly audible in my roaster from several feet away.

This coffee has a pretty small green bean size but the beans expand a *lot during roasting. Right around the time you would expect 1st crack the beans basicly double in size.

When finished the beans have a very dense and heavy feel to them.

Now for my question. Is this a roasting characteristic of just this bean or of tree dried beans in general? Anyone?

Java "Cant wait to taste it" phile

[Andy]

Re: Tree dried coffees

You might be "on your own" in the tree dried stakes Javaphile.

The Yemen is as close to tree dried that I have gone and it is only partly tree dried. It is SHG SHB (high and hard) coffee that expands very little in the roast.

It sounds like your beans have a rubber more than brittle quality (not taste) that is stopping the crack..... hmmm... did they have a higher moisture level?

Maybe the long contact with the drying fruit softens the hardening bean (more sugar transfer maybe!)

Yes, I would be interested to try tree dried one day.
Ill keep my eyes peeled. :

[Javaphile]

Re: Tree dried coffees

I have no idea on the moisture content of the beans.

On the tasting front I found these beans to produce a very nicely flavored cup accross a wide range of roasts. They had nothing really distinctive in their flavor to set them apart and produced very little crema but oooOOOooo did they make an delicious cup! A most enjoyable medium bodied coffee.

Java "Always looking for new beans" phile

[Andy]

Re: Tree dried coffees

Do you have pre and post roasting weights?

It will give an indication of the moisture loss (13-18% on most of my roasts that I have tested).

[Javaphile]

Re: Tree dried coffees

hmmm..Unfortunately I didnt weigh them post roasting. Ill do that on the next batch.

I was amazed at how much the beans expanded around the 1st crack period. These beans seemed to just explode in size in a much shorter period than usual. Yet there were no sounds of the crack.

A very wierd bean to roast.

Java "Just a bit cracked" phile