<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> Hello, I don't know if this is considered to be a mélange roast or not, but I like to "test-drive" each bean by roasting it to different degrees, tasting those different degrees separately, then finally blending them together in equal ratios. For example, I roast one type of bean to city, full city, and French (or so) and blend it all together. I like to think that this is giving me the entire spectrum of the bean's flavors in one cup. My question is, in your opinion, am I actually ruining or "wasting" the experience by doing this? Do certain degrees of roast for a given bean negate or mask certain attributes if blended with a different roast of the same bean?! I assume this is fairly common, but I wanted to know early if I am just wasting beans at this point. I roast in a Fresh Roast machine, so one "spectrum" roasting uses up most of my pound of coffee beans. I then decide if it's worth buying more of the same, only perhaps in larger quantities. Opinions? Harry |
H.K. wrote: <Snip> Personally, I don't think so. I used to do this myself, but not so extensively. I would just do a light roast (past first crack or maybe just until the first hint of second) and a darker roast usually about a minute into second. Try them separately and then blended in equal parts. I found it fun and instructional. I've stopped because I've gotten lazy. Now I usually roast per Tom's suggestions, and blend different varieties. But I don't think you are at all wasting your time! -- garyZ Whirley-drip(paper)-black homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast |
Harry, I have fallen into the habit of doing 3 1/2, 4, and 4 1/2 roasts of a new bean in my Fresh Roast as a way of zeroing in on the level of roast I prefer. I've tried several 5 minute roasts on some beans, but never liked the charred results. I can't say I've deliberately mixed them all together, because I usually roast just slightly more than I need for a pot for my wife and myself. However, if you like the results of the blend, you gotta remember that's what all the effort is about. If you can separate distinctive characteristics at each level of roast and find them in the blend, more power to ya. Enjoy, Carl T. homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast |