This Week's Roasts

This week I have been roasting my new shipment of beans. So far I have roasted one cup of everything and have been using variations of the Sweet Maria roast profile. (The variations all involve changing the amount of time I spend in phase three.)

Guatemala Antigua Peaberry "Maria Especial"

I already reported on this roast in a previous posting. I liked this bean at this roast but will try a little lighter next time.

Sumatra Iskandar "Triple Pick"

I roasted this bean on an unmodified Sweet Maria's 9:00 program and heard the first crack at -2:22. I ended up adding :20 seconds to the roast at the last minute, so the roast went for 9:20. (On my roaster it is actually possible to add time while it's roasting, but it doesn't always work for me for some reason. It's like I have one chance to extend the roast, and if I don't extend it enough that one time then tough luck.)

I ommitted talking about things like the first crack ending and the second crack beginning because this is a Sumatran coffee and the two cracks always run together for me with Sumatran beans.

The recommended roast for this bean is Full City Plus, but Sumatrans always give me trouble and this is no exception. The general rule for Indonesians is that they roast light, which means that they should look a few shades too light for the roast you are aiming for. These beans actually had the correct color for the roast I was aiming for, which means if you adjust for their Indonesian origin then the beans were too dark. Yet when I brewed the coffee it had and acidic taste that I always associate with underroasted coffee. So, should I go by the color (and time!), and roast lighter next time? Or should I go by the taste, and roast more?

Mexico Organic Oaxaca "Finca El Olivo"

This bean I roasted for eight minutes. The first crack came in good and strong and -2:22. There was also an unusual aroma of ammonia during the first crack, especially at the beginning of the first crack.

This bean was delicious at this roast. It has a very gentle flavor that I really enjoy.

Colombia Huila "Palestina Micro Region"

I programmed the roast for this bean with a standard Sweet Maria's 9:00 roast curve. The first crack came at -3:22, the second chimed in at -:40, and I stopped the roast at -:20 so as to achieve the recommended Full City to Full City Plus roast. This coffee is very good at this roast, and I think I nailed the FC+. I am going to try it next time a little lighter, just for grins.