Whats in my coffee roaster this week

[readeral]

Yeah I had a popper going, although it was far less on the bean usage front, it wasn't nearly as careful a process as the KKTO that's for sure, so I let it out to a mate who's playing with it. I think partly for me it's getting to know what a "darker" roast actually looks/tastes like. I have a ripper of a roast of one of the Ethiopians from beanbay in the grinder this week and loving it. That one went to 216c (1C at 200c). I'd been roasting to 212/214 and just wasn't developing my beans enough, so I'm keen to push a bit further without worrying 'bout overdoing it.

[Dimal]

I also did a blend using the Ethiopia gambella. 50/50 with PNG Mt Ambra. Still getting the hang of adjusting heat input with the 2 stage heat gun I have so it is faster than I'd like in every stage, particularly between first and second. Photo of screen attached.

Out of interest, is this batch 200g of each equating to a 400g batch?

If so, this might be part of the reason of why you are experiencing such short batch times. Most Corretto roasters seem to do best when the batch sizes are 600g+...

Mal.

[oliverm]

Out of interest, is this batch 200g of each equating to a 400g batch?

If so, this might be part of the reason of why you are experiencing such short batch times. Most Corretto roasters seem to do best when the batch sizes are 600g+...

Mal.

Hi Mal, yep, total batch of 400 grams. Will bump up the batch size next time and also keep better track of depth of heat gun nozzle throughout the roast.
Cheers

[DesigningByCoffee]

Mal, is flying close to the second crack key to beans complementing each other in the mocha java? I roasted a similar (post) blend the other week, keeping it a bit lighter, but it didn't really produce much flavour unless my pour was pretty tight. Would love your thoughts. Al

FWIW I've found some Ethiopian beans seem to work better in a MJ pre-blend roast.
I've found that Gambella, the Geisha Sundried, some Sidamo etc all work reasonably well roasted with a similar profile as you would roast a Indo - but some Harrar, Tanz Uru beans seems to need a far faster ramp to get best results. In this case I'll roast separately, otherwise the Eth bean will end up baked and powdery (you'll notice it in your grind settings!!!) if roasted to suit the Indo, or the indo will lose its wonderful earthiness if roasted more quickly to suit the Ethiopian and the blend will lose a lot of its richness, depth and body. Might still be good for Aeropress or pourover but the espresso based milk drinks will suffer…
Trial and error!

[Dimal]

Spot on Matt...

Have found that some Sidamo origins also require roasting on their own coupled with post blending.
I don't think though, with my particular Corretto setup, that I can get the best out of separate Ethiopian roast batches as with 300-400g batch sizes, the beans barely cover the paddles. This seems to result in roast outcomes that are not always ideal, so have tended to steer clear of Sidamo, Harrar and other varieties as a result...

Mal.

[DesigningByCoffee]

Another round of the Bandit - 400g Yirg and 350g Guatamala. Get a nice smooth caramel base from the central with the Yirgy zing - always a fav as espresso and milk in this house, and one the 'clients' always rave about!

[Dimal]

Blend Details...
Ethiopia Gambella Naturals... 450g
Indo. Sumatra Aceh Wet Hulled... 300g
Roasted Weight... 638g
Moisture Loss... 14.93%

This one is just as gorgeous as previous batches - Simply yum...

Mal.

[sprezzatura]

Sidamo natural process. Behmor 1600+ manual. Winey; toffee; muted berry; dry finish. Beautiful through the V60 - 14g/260g beverage mass @ 96° water (well ... Right off the boil, anyway).

[sprezzatura]

Here's Ardi @ CS9 dark chocolate, fig paste, dark subtle berry. Wine and dryness have gone.

[readeral]

Ok, my first legit post in this thread, cause I'm finally happy with how I use my roaster!

Got a PID controller working on my KKTO, with the goal of reaching 165degC as quickly as possible once I'm halfway through drying phase. And staying there until just before 1C when I adjust the power manually to slow down into post-crack development. Next step is to somehow work out how to reduce my fan speed so I can roast deeper with less moisture loss.

Roast time was 16:25, and was dropped at 216 degrees. Hoping it will be as tasty as my manual roast (which my semi-automatic settings were determined from), can't wait to try it!

Bean: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Special Prep (from Beanbay)
Weight In: 600g
Weight Out: 510g
Moisture loss: 15%

Graph is from Artisan as I'm using a Mac


First photo is under lights, second is in natural light. Next time I'll use a more neutral coloured receptacle!

[sprezzatura]

Yum! Looks tasty!

[Dimal]

Looking good there Al...

Don't forget to come back with your taste impressions...

Mal.

[Dimal]

Yemen Al'Hajj Boa'an with Indonesian Sulawesi Blue

Time for some more brown beans...

Sticking with the pseudo Mocha Java blend but with different components yet again.
Stuck with my slightly extended standard profile which seems to be working very well for this type of blend. Pulled as copious volumes of blue smoke started to emanate from the Corretto and the first couple of 2nd-Crack snaps could be heard, and then immediately cooled.

Once again, aromas coming from the Corretto as 1st-Crack was under way and beyond, were wonderful.

Details of blend below and copy of the Roast Profile with post-roast photos attached.

Blend Details...
Yemen Al'Hajj Boa'an... 450g
Indonesian Sulawesi Blue... 300g
Roasted Weight... 632g
Moisture Loss... 15.73%

Mal.

[DesigningByCoffee]

Another shot at the Harrar Longberry.
As you can see, a much faster ramp than my standard profile to counter the small, soft bean-i-ness. If I roast this like other Ethiopians, this becomes a baked, powdery choker - a disaster in a blend! Got just the right amount of acidity vs sweetness in this batch, though probably could have dropped a little earlier to maintain some more fruit rather than heading into milk based territory. Not a lot of blueberries in this batch, more caramelisation than I'd like - but a superb espresso anyway with good body and great cocoa through milk. Might have another shot next with an earlier drop - maybe 2-3°.

Happy Easter Weekend all!
Cheers Matt

[Dimal]

G'day Matt...

Always loved the end results of Harrar that I roasted in my slightly modified popper. Really 'zinged' the palate with loads of berry fruitiness, nice acidity, sweetness and the dark cocoa finish. These batches were always completed within a 12-14 minute range in the popper with 150g batches. You might be on to something with trying to sharpen the ramp and drop a little earlier...

Mal.