I've succumbed to blending.

[Yelta]

Yelta - The constant feedback I ve got with the EH is that its really mild ! Have you had the same experience or am I roasting too light and maybe need to go closer to SC. Thoughts? So far I ve tried CS 8 & 9 and both were fairly "mild"

As with most beans I take this variety a few seconds into second crack, not to the point of being oily, big chocolatey viscous pour with great crema, one of my favorites.

[themortalbard]

Been roasting EH for quite some time, really enjoy it as a SO so suspect I will handle 50% without a problem, time will tell.

Yelta - The constant feedback I ve got with the EH is that its really mild ! Have you had the same experience or am I roasting too light and maybe need to go closer to SC. Thoughts? So far I ve tried CS 8 & 9 and both were fairly "mild"

[MikeJones]

Thanks for a great post. As time goes by I find different blends but love the thick pour with the IEH Monssoon. It's my Blender of choice but I need it to be a lesser bean.
More like 35% with Ethiopian Gamballa Sundried. A really nice bean mix.

[Yelta]

Your consistency is what everyone should be aiming for and I'd certainly be disappointed if I wasn't achieving that after 10 years. I'm sure you still learn things as you go.

Yep your right, 10 years is a pretty fair apprenticeship, your right again, one thing I have learned is you never stop learning.

[readeral]

The massive benefit of the Coretto over the KKTO is the unadulterated access to sensory indicators when roasting. Getting your roast down pat isn't big headed, it's helpful to know that's (hopefully) down the track!

[LeroyC]

Not sure how to say this without coming across as a bighead know it all.

I don't have the drama's that others mention, my roasts are always even, I don't do anything special as regards juggling temperature and time, I monitor the roast constantly and am guided by my digital thermometer and the appearance of the beans during roasting as to changes that need to be made.

I roasted 725 grams of La Esperanza as a SO 4 days ago, my second roast of this bean, like the first roast it went very well, without any problems at all, stopped it at the very first snaps of second crack, I'm drinking a lungo made with these beans as I type this, very, very nice coffee, well balanced, big chocolaty/caramel flavours with lots of crema.

Brief pause to make my second lungo.

I still use a Corretto, a converted Breville single loaf breadmaker, temperature probe inserted right through the body of the machine into the loaf pan just above the paddle, I use a cover on top (covers approx 3/4 of the opening) with a hole cut to accept the nozzle of my Bosch variable temp/blower speed heat gun.

I roast in the doorway of a shed with a pedestal fan set up to blow chaff into the garden, the heat gun blower blows the chaff out of the opening in the pan cover.

All of my roasts are of 725 grams, I start all roasts cold/ambiant temp, no pre heat, with the heat gun set at between 500 and 550° C, depending on time of year and aim for first crack at around 14 minutes, almost always spot on 200° C on this setup, once I hit FC my next target is first signs of SC in the vicinity of 225° at around the 19 minute mark, if during the period between FC and SC the beans are showing signs of too much heat (excess smoke) I will drop the temp of my heat gun by about 50°, this slows things down nicely.

At the very first snaps of SC I stop the roast and cool it fast (approx 1 minute) in my cooler, its usually bagged within a couple of minutes of roast end.

Temperatures I have mentioned are obviously unique to this setup, but are 100% reliable for my purposes.

I don't have problems with uneven roasts, tipping, divots or under/over roasting, always seem to be able to hit my target without difficulty.

Been using this device for almost 10 years and estimate I have completed over 300 roasts on it.

Will post some pics below, happy to answer any questions.[ATTACH=CONFIG]12728[/ATTACH]

Not big-headed at all as far as I can tell Yelta. Just a statement of fact really. Your consistency is what everyone should be aiming for and I'd certainly be disappointed if I wasn't achieving that after 10 years. I'm sure you still learn things as you go.

[Yelta]

Much the same as yours mate. Nothing fancy...

Mal.

They seem to get the job done with a minimum of fuss.

[Dimal]

So much for telling easily - just asked my wife which sample was which, the burnt ashy one was my Mexican. Turns out the Columbian was ok.

Labelling the bags takes the embarrassment out of these situations....

Same happened to me shortly after I first started roasting at home, couldn't remember which bean was in which bag. Didn't matter too much in the end though, as both roast batches turned out very nice...

[Dimal]

What type of roaster do you use Mal?

Much the same as yours mate. Nothing fancy...

Mal.

[readeral]

Turns out I didn't get the Columbian roast right. Bummer... I did a (blind) cupping of my 3 coffees roasted the other day, I could tell very easily which was which, and unfortunately the Columbian had a predominant ashy taste. The sweetness in the smell stuck around (marzipan sweetness) which was surprising, it just didn't translate to flavour.


EDIT
So much for telling easily - just asked my wife which sample was which, the burnt ashy one was my Mexican. Turns out the Columbian was ok.

[Yelta]

Never found that Colombian beans required a special approach (not including the La Esperanza), with my standard profile producing excellent results in the cup. Never found them to be particular hard in the past either but apart from the LE mentioned, it's been a while since I've roasted a generic Colombian bean.

One thing that became obvious quite quickly though, was the need to keep them well away from 2nd-Crack otherwise they turned ashy and bitter very quickly...

Mal.

What type of roaster do you use Mal?

[Yelta]

Not sure how to say this without coming across as a bighead know it all.

I don't have the drama's that others mention, my roasts are always even, I don't do anything special as regards juggling temperature and time, I monitor the roast constantly and am guided by my digital thermometer and the appearance of the beans during roasting as to changes that need to be made.

I roasted 725 grams of La Esperanza as a SO 4 days ago, my second roast of this bean, like the first roast it went very well, without any problems at all, stopped it at the very first snaps of second crack, I'm drinking a lungo made with these beans as I type this, very, very nice coffee, well balanced, big chocolaty/caramel flavours with lots of crema.

Brief pause to make my second lungo.

I still use a Corretto, a converted Breville single loaf breadmaker, temperature probe inserted right through the body of the machine into the loaf pan just above the paddle, I use a cover on top (covers approx 3/4 of the opening) with a hole cut to accept the nozzle of my Bosch variable temp/blower speed heat gun.

I roast in the doorway of a shed with a pedestal fan set up to blow chaff into the garden, the heat gun blower blows the chaff out of the opening in the pan cover.

All of my roasts are of 725 grams, I start all roasts cold/ambiant temp, no pre heat, with the heat gun set at between 500 and 550° C, depending on time of year and aim for first crack at around 14 minutes, almost always spot on 200° C on this setup, once I hit FC my next target is first signs of SC in the vicinity of 225° at around the 19 minute mark, if during the period between FC and SC the beans are showing signs of too much heat (excess smoke) I will drop the temp of my heat gun by about 50°, this slows things down nicely.

At the very first snaps of SC I stop the roast and cool it fast (approx 1 minute) in my cooler, its usually bagged within a couple of minutes of roast end.

Temperatures I have mentioned are obviously unique to this setup, but are 100% reliable for my purposes.

I don't have problems with uneven roasts, tipping, divots or under/over roasting, always seem to be able to hit my target without difficulty.

Been using this device for almost 10 years and estimate I have completed over 300 roasts on it.

Will post some pics below, happy to answer any questions.

[readeral]

The LE has been what I've been roasting. It's hard to land it at a good depth between 1st and 2nd. We'll see how this goes.

[LeroyC]

I've only tried 2 generic Colombians so far (Supremo and Excelso, i.e. best and 2nd best). They're certainly nowhere near as hard as the SHB Mexican I have at the moment, but I've still had the most success with a fairly hot start. The last couple of batches were really nice.

[sprezzatura]

LE seems to like a lot of heat early right up to 1C and then drop the heat. Really good before 2C through the Hario.