PNG Kainantu Organic

[DesigningByCoffee]

Interesting beast this one. I love the Waghi (sweet, thick caramel) and thought this may be similar, and this PNG Kainantu Organic does retain a little of that caramel up top. But I find it has less body & sweetness, and is much more earthy than the Waghi, more like an Indo IMHO.

What are others thoughts? Is there something missing in my roasting for this one? I roasted this batch using the same basic profile as I'd use for the Waghi - any thing else to try?

Cheers Matt

[Dimal]

Hiya Matt...

Kainantu is in a completely different geological region of PNG than Wahgi mate. Different soil profiles, much more variable rainfall and greater altitude variation of where local coffee growers are situated. As a result, the coffee flavour profiles are quite different and to get the best out of any particular bean varietal, you will need to experiment a bit.

I have a stash of Gouno Highlands Coffee which comes from the same province but is probably quite different in flavour and required roast profile characteristics of the Kainantu. For what it's worth though mate, I roast the Gouno Highlands beans with a slightly quicker rate of rise up to around 160C, but only maintain a slight increase from this into 1st-Crack and then into the first snaps of 2nd-Crack, such that the overall roast time is never more than 20 minutes and usually finished by 18 minutes. This may not translate well for the Kainantu beans mate since they are grown in a completely different part of the province; hence the suggestion for experimentation.

I do love my Gouno Highlands beans though and yes, they do have an earthy/mushroomy component to them compared to Wahgi beans, but nowhere near as much as Blue Lintong and similar beans from Indonesia - They come from different plant stock anyway so that's to be expected I guess. Anyway Matt, from Andy's notes in BeanBay, it does sound like you should be getting more out of them than you presently are. Have fun with the experimentation mate...

Mal.

[DesigningByCoffee]

Cheers Mal
And thanks for the detailed feedback - lots of food for thought! I might try first to take it a fraction into 2C - it does seem to be missing a little something at the roast depth end. It doesn't taste sour or baked, so I think the basic roast time is OK - but just missing some sparkle. But your notes on the Gouno do sound similar… not super earthy, but a hint of mushroom rings true…

Will play some more with the next batch
Matt