Roast #11: The roasts
T-5 days
Hello friends,
Below are some tidbits about what I've been up to.
note — you can also follow my Instagram for more day-to-day updates!
Before diving into my usual content, I wanted to thank all of you for supporting this project of mine. I would've given up months ago if it wasn't for you all. It's the small notes of excitement, the supportive feedback and suggestions, and the willingness to help a stranger's project that keeps me going. I can't thank you all enough for your support. Here are some quick examples of times when I smiled extra big:
Okay, no more teary eyes. Back to our usual programming.
Coffee Club V2 Logistics:
Some final details. I've been finalizing roasts, doing some last cupping checks, and preparing the boxes for pickup.
As for pickup, I have been in talks with an awesome cafe in Williamsburg that has been gracious enough to consider being open to hosting. It may or may not pan out. If it doesn't pan out, I will do what I did last time and do the pickup from my place in Williamsburg, which is 3 minutes from the Metropolitan Ave/Lorimer stop.
I'll write a final update on Thursday with more details.
As for my schedule this week, what I'll be doing:
Tuesday: Develop some brewing guides / Start handwriting the labels on the bags (oh boy...)
Wednesday: Finish up the blog post on brew guides / Start roasting!
Thursday: Continue roasting/packing the coffees!
Friday: Continue roasting/packing the coffees!
Saturday/Sunday: Pickup!
I'll send out another email on Thursday to provide more details about the pickup.
The Coffee Roasting:
After a lot of roast profiling and cupping, I've nailed down how I'll be roasting each of the beans.
For each bean, I ran around 4-6 different types of roasts. I roasted them in 200g batches. Some of the variables I explored with the roasts:
1. Development time (longer or shorter development time)
2. Initial heat application (soak / no soak)
3. Duration spent during the maillard/caramelization phases
After running through the test roasts, I rested the beans for a few days to degas. I do this to reduce the carbon dioxide buildup in the beans so we can better extract and taste the intended flavors of the roast.
Once the coffee has rested, I proceed to blind cup all the roasts. I’ll put all the cups on the table and tie a roast to a cup and won’t make known the pairings until the end. This way, I won’t encounter any bias when cupping the cups.
I apply a straightforward approach to cupping. I check for how the bloom smells, how the cup tastes at different temps (130C / 100C/ etc.), and if there are any unique textures.
I kinda overload the more standard-specific metrics like acidity and body all into my "taste" metric. There are many cupping sheets out there (ie SCA), but I've found them to be too complex for me.
After cupping, I'll note the ones I like the most and scale the roast up. I'll reapply the strategies used for that roast for a 1lb batch size and re-cup the roast to confirm it scaled correctly.
I'll also test how each bean performs with the V60 and come up with how I best think to brew the beans.
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Roast:
Ethiopian coffee is usually grown in high altitudes, resulting in dense beans. From an initial glance, you'll notice that this bean is much smaller than the other two, and this is due to how high it was grown. Beans grown in higher altitudes mature and ripen slower, containing more sugars and being denser.
Given its high density, I started with a high charge temperature. I applied a short soak to introduce heat into the bean gently, and then ramped the heat up post-soak. With high heat in the system, I went through the drying phase quickly. Once I saw that the beans were yellowing, I cut hard on the heat and started tweaking the fan to slow down and extend the roast.
Then as I got closer to first crack (~197 C), I started dropping the heat to manage the roast through the development phase. From my other test roasts, I found that some development helped curb the end acidity to balance the end cup. Otherwise, you'd get harsh, unpleasant acidity throughout.
Brazil / Anaerobic Natural / Red Catuai Roast
Brazilian coffees tend to be lower in density and grown in lower altitudes, so they will also require a softer roasting approach.
For the start of this roast, I opted a similar strategy as I did with the Yirgacheffe in that I used a soak, though a bit longer of a soak, and tried to go through drying pretty quickly. During my initial sampling of this bean, I found that it contained a good amount of acidity, so I tried to go through drying quickly to try and preserve the acidity.
As I entered first crack, I started to drop the power to prepare to let the roast coast. Although this bean had good acidity, I primarily focused on bringing out the more chocolate and nutty notes. To do this, I needed to ensure the bean had adequate time in caramelization and development. So once I saw that I was hitting 200C, I turned off the power and let the roast coast until ~17-20% development. I opted to turn off the power completely as there was enough residual heat from the drum to bring it to my target drop temperature.
Colombia / Anaerobic Natural / Gesha
This Colombian coffee was an interesting one. I was actually pretty nervous roasting this bean as I've never roasted a gesha bean before, and the gesha beans were... pretty expensive. So to ensure I got the profile right, I reached out to a well-known roaster for tips and advice, and with what he provided, I was able to build up a profile.
For this gesha, my strategy was to start with high heat and push through to first crack as fast as possible (without scorching). To do this, I charged higher than the other two roasts and didn't use a soak. Then at first crack, I opted for maybe 10% development and then dropped the beans.
The result is we ended up with a shorter roast that highlights the floral notes of the bean. The tradeoff of a shorter roast with less development is we lose some of the deeper chocolate-like notes, which is okay as geshas are highlighted for their very floral nature.
And that’s all!
If you are interested in participating in this round, e-mail me (thoughtfulcoffeenyc@gmail.com). I’m mostly sold out, so you’ll be placed on a list. I think I’ll have some extra leftover, and I will reach out if I do.
Thanks for reading!