This Week's Roasts: Mexico, Colombia, and Kenya

This week I finished off the last of the Mexican Pluma Istmo, the Colombian Medelin Supremo, and the Kenya Mchana Peaberry "Lot 405". In each case, the last bit was just a few beans short of a cup. I roasted the Mexican on July 15, 2006, the Colombian on July 17, 2006, and the Kenyan on July 19, 2006.

I roasted the Mexican and Colombian beans using the Sweet Maria's Roast curve, although I set the last stage for three minutes instead of four.

The Mexican bean began cracking at -2:12. I let the roast run the full eight minutes, taking the bean to full city. This is perhaps a bit darker than I had planned.

The Colombian bean started its first crack at -2:00 on the dot. I stopped this roast with :20 left on the clock.

The Kenyan used the Sweet Maria roast profile, but I modified the middle stage by upping the temperature to 420°F. The first crack came at -3:50 but never really did take off after that. I can't say for sure if the second crack ever started, or if the first even finished! This roast reminded me of Sumatran in that respect.

The bean came out noticibly dark looking, but smelling very good, not burnt. Today the aroma of that bean is wonderful, and I am looking forward to the cup. (I am hoping that I can learn to roast a Kenyan I enjoy. I have never enjoyed one of my own Kenyan roasts but I have enjoyed other people's, notably Rich's.)

Both the Colombian and the Mexican were quite good. I noticed a chocolately flavor in the Colombian, especially as it cooled. This is exciting to me because it's the first time in a while that I've been able to identify a specific non-coffee flavor in a cup and it's the first time ever that I've really tasted chocolate. And I do definately taste it!

New Beans

I combined the above roasts because they are pretty much repeats of previous roasts. I just was not inspired to write at length about any of them because I've written about each of them before. However, this pattern may not hold: today an order of coffee came in from my favorite supplier. I got two pounds each of the following coffees:

• Guatemala Antigua Peaberry "Maria Especial"


• Colombia Huila "Palestina Micro-region"


• Mexico Organic Oaxaca "Finca El Olivo"


• Sumatra Iskandar "Triple-Pick"

My current dilemma: which to try first!