Malabar Blend

[Thundergod]

Re: Malabar Blend

Welcome Topher.

Im a bit confused about what you were trying to say.

First off you seem to be against blending MM and then you finish up saying that you used to work at a place where you liked their 3 bean blend.

[fatboy_1999]

Re: Malabar Blend

Topher,

A good post and fair points, but Im afraid all I can focus on are the beans in your avatar. Are they really oily or is it just a trick of the flash?

[Topher_Roaster]

Re: Malabar Blend

I do not want to come off rude. I hope this will not be taken the wrong way. I am just trying to figure out why you guys are so gung ho on blending MM. Personally I would rather drink Sumatra..it is very rich but does not have that funky scent to it. I am also trying to figure out why you want to blend some great coffees in the first place. Not all coffees that taste good seperate taste good together. Orange juice and milk taste great by themselves but put them together and this was taken from sweetmarias.com ( http://www.sweetmarias.com/blending.html)

Before blending any high-quality coffees you should know the flavors of the individual coffees and have some goal for an ideal cup that cannot be attained by a single origin or single degree of roast. It would be a shame to blend a fantastic Estate coffee ...after all, you are supposedly trying to attain a cup that exceeds the components and its not likely you can do this with top coffees. And given that you have both a reason to a blend and a logical process for doing it, there will be little need for more than around 5 coffees in the blend. Blends with more than 5 coffees are considered to be fanciful, or indulgent, or confused by more than a few expert coffee tradespeople I know.

Another thing is try not to go to crazy with the blending. I used to roast at this one resteraunt and when I started they had a 13 bean blend. After months of pleading my case they started to realize that more is not always better. When I left they had a kick ass 3 bean blend! I hope this helps and doesnt offend anyone. Oh well good luck!!

[Thundergod]

Re: Malabar Blend

Ive got my hands on some MM to try, so will give a SO blend a go as well as putting some with the Costa Rican Hazel gave me the other day.

[Dimal]

Re: Malabar Blend

I have another batch of MM ageing and will try them with other beans and see if theres something it doesnt go well with

Best of Luck :P

Mal.

[Corretto]

Re: Malabar Blend


Very true Mal. Its extremely versatile. With small amounts of the above I blended them altogether and it still tastes pretty nice, although lost some of the chociness though :-?

I have another batch of MM ageing and will try them with other beans and see if theres something it doesnt go well with


Belinda

[Dimal]

Re: Malabar Blend

Mmmm,

Sounds simply divine Belinda ;D. This batch of MM that Andy got hold of is certainly right up there on top of the heap. I dont think Ive ever had a bean variety quite like it before, just seems to blend with practically any other bean and produce a superb cup.... Amazing stuff 8-),

Mal.

[Corretto]

Re: Malabar Blend

Ive found MM makes an excellent :-

50/50 blend with Peru Chanchamayo and also

50/50 with Costa Rican (not sure of specifics) and also

50/50 with Panama Volcan Baru.

Lovely and chocolatey, rich, full bodied and smooth in milk. Very morish. Rather addictive even :

All roasted to 1st crack at 8 or 9 mins to beginning of 2nd crack at around 12/13 mins.

Oh yes, and peak times for all beans seemed to be 1 week post roast to 2 weeks, but still good at 3.


Belinda

[nunu]

Re: Malabar Blend

By the way, malabar makes a delicious SO blend. Should roast another batch myself...

[Thundergod]

Re: Malabar Blend

Hmmm.
I expected better of you.

Discipline man, discipline!

Just think how much better it will taste if you roast batches incrementally so that you can blend them to reach their individual potentials at the same time.

Even if its just 3 very small batches to allow for a short window of post roast perfection.

Dont you just want now to improve on your existing process?

Just imagine how much better it should taste.

[Dimal]

Re: Malabar Blend

So Mal,

do you roast the Malabar first and then roast the others (assuming a shorter waiting time), so you can blend them at the optimal time?

LOL ;D Hi TG,

Yes that "should" be the plan mate but when it comes to great, freshly roasted coffee, Im a horribly impatient bugger when it comes right down to it. All the beans were roasted on the same day and then blended on day 3 post roast. The resulting brews after that blend was completed were unquestionably superb, and then for the following 5-7 days the brews just seemed to get better and better..... Thats my kind of coffee, starts off at the top shelf and then progresses ever higher

Mal.

[Thundergod]

Re: Malabar Blend

So Mal,

do you roast the Malabar first and then roast the others (assuming a shorter waiting time), so you can blend them at the optimal time?

[marcstolk]

Re: Malabar Blend

Sounds good Mal...

One for the books.. when I get some of these varieties

marc "always after moreish"

[Dimal]

Hi All,

Have just completed this blend after waiting only 3 of the recommended 6-7 days for the Malabar to develop (couldnt wait any longer ).

Using a Corretto roaster, the blend consists of the following beans.....

40% Colombian Caracolito Peaberry - Roasted to 30 seconds before onset of Rolling 2nd Crack.
40% Indonesian Bukit Marrante Kalosi Toraja - Roasted to 20 seconds past the start of Rolling 2nd Crack
20% Monsooned Malabar AA - Roasted to the start of Rolling 2nd Crack.

In short, this blend is very more-ish. The Colombian provides a very clean and slightly citrusy base for the blend while the Toraja gives the blend lots of body, mild dark chocolate background and an interesting mix of cardamom and slightly over-ripe blueberries/boysenberries. The Malabar adds an overall sweetness and in some way seems to tie all the flavours together without being overbearing, the sweetness has a light caramel texture to it. The finish is extended but I wouldnt call it cloying as such, probably the Colombian Peaberry is assisting there with a slight acidity and citrus notes.

All in all, a very pleasant and enjoyable blend and one that I am going to make special note of for future occasions. All the best,

Mal.