Well I roasted a half pound of this about 10 - 20 seconds or so into second crack which took about 14-15 minutes (first crack was around 10-11). Endin= g temp on the beans was around 465-475 I think. I let it sit in a valve bag for a day, had some this morning. I noticed a little oil starting to develop on the beans, but the roast was fairly even (SC/TO). A tad finer than what I would use in Drip/FP, and pushed a double through m= y Aeropress. No blueberry at all, and left an ever so slight burnt aftertast= e for a couple of hours. Where did I go wrong? Roasted too long, should I pull before second starts? Did I let the SC/TO reach too high an ending temp? Should I give it another day or two of rest? Maybe it's my grind or the AP? I used abou= t 170-180 f water in the AP. Thanks, james |
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Way too dark. City roast do not allow it to go into 2nd. |
I'm not surre of LOT 19 but with Lot 30 i roasted a batch top full city + and still got WOW blueberry. On 5/15/06, Barry Luterman wrote: <Snip> ). <Snip> ing <Snip> e <Snip> out <Snip> -- "Good night, and Good Coffee" |
This bean thrives at City and City +, at FC you start to lose the high end (where the fruity overtones reside) and replace them with deeper cocoa and wine undertones (personally, I love the balance in the cup at this point in the roast.) At FC+, fruit is very hard to find. At Vienna and beyond (where you ended up) it is time to go back to the drawing board. You should start considering dumping when you are sure 1st is complete and try to never hear the 1st pops of second. (This is like the start of one o= f those bad jokes: "when you hear 2nd crack, turn around, you've gone too far.") Don On 5/15/06, James House wrote: <Snip> ). <Snip> ing <Snip> e <Snip> out <Snip> |
Ok I'll roast some after work on these suggestions. I don't think there is any hope for this weekends batch... Thanks team! ;) On 5/15/06, Don Cummings wrote: <Snip> a <Snip> int <Snip> d <Snip> of <Snip> 11). <Snip> rting <Snip> burnt <Snip> ive <Snip> about <Snip> |
I am fairly new to roasting and my first batch of what I thought was City R= oast was awful. It tasted like hay or grass. I ended up throwing it back = in the roaster (IRoast 1) only to burn it and I threw it in the trash. SIn= ce this experience I am very leary about roasting so light. I do not want = to ruin any my of my precious green beans. Even when I was grinding it in my Zass it smelled grassy and I thought perh= aps the it would taste better brewed and it did not! Do you think lighter roasts are an acquired taste? How can I get myself to= overcome this fear? Thanks for your input. Barb ( not willing to hit the cool button on IROAST 1 for fear of ruining m= y beloved coffee) From: lutermanb001: homeroast:= Re: +Harar Lot 19 ... where did I go wrong?Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 07:35:17= -1000 Way too dark. City roast do not allow it to go into 2nd. |
The vast majority of roasts that I have stopped before the first snaps of 2nd crack tasted grassy to me. I have every reason to believe the many others on this board who note good flavors prior to 2nd crack, but of cours= e they are using different roasters. I use a West Bend PopperyII and my roast curve (temperature over time) is undoubtedly very different from theirs. I suspect if I were able to slow the temperature rise in order to prolong the post-1st-crack endothermic period of the roast (after 1st, before 2nd), my coffees might lose that grassiness (perhaps even long before 2nd) and be delicious. As it stands though, I usually need to hit 2nd crack to achieve = a brew I enjoy. ~TO On 5/15/06, Barbara Leazier wrote: <Snip> y <Snip> ck <Snip> ). <Snip> ing <Snip> e <Snip> out <Snip> |
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. For I-roast 1 city try 325 for 2 min 375 for 3 min 435 for 5 min Hit cool button after first crack ends We all wasted coffee until we got there. Don't worry the learning curve = is steep |
When I started roasting I was using too many beans in my popper and the roasts tended to "race", with first crack blending into second crack. The results was that the beans were burned on the outside and underroasted on the inside, nearly undrinkable. If I could have found moderately good already-roasted coffee at that time I might not be roasting today! With the help of Sm list members I learned how to roast. But, like you, it took me a long time to get over the memory of those grassy roasts! Only recently have I been able to get myself to stop prior to hearing the first snaps of second crack. Frankly, the Huehue etc I'm using now is better to my palate if taken into second, so you don't (or at least I don't) necessarily benefit from lighter roasts. Keep at it, keep experimenting in small increments, keep writing down what you do and how you like the results. Rome wasn't built in a day. Brian On 5/15/06, Barbara Leazier wrote: <Snip> ck <Snip> to <Snip> my <Snip> nd <Snip> ing <Snip> g <Snip> my <Snip> ste <Snip> ts? <Snip> |
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Try toggling the on/off switch to maintain temps. I've gotten pretty consistent longer roasts by getting the timing down on my PI. I can toggle it on/off without moving the thermometer very much. I can lengthen any roast this way. I've roasted about 3lbs of LOT 30 this way and I get a lot of blueberries. Good Luck! From: homeroast-admin [mailto:homeroast-admin] On Behalf Of Tom Ogren Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 4:30 PM To: homeroast Subject: Re: Re: +Harar Lot 19 ... where did I go wrong? The vast majority of roasts that I have stopped before the first snaps of 2nd crack tasted grassy to me. I have every reason to believe the many others on this board who note good flavors prior to 2nd crack, but of course they are using different roasters. I use a West Bend PopperyII and my roast curve (temperature over time) is undoubtedly very different from theirs. I suspect if I were able to slow the temperature rise in order to prolong the post-1st-crack endothermic period of the roast (after 1st, before 2nd), my coffees might lose that grassiness (perhaps even long before 2nd) and be delicious. As it stands though, I usually need to hit 2nd crack to achieve a brew I enjoy. ~TO On 5/15/06, Barbara Leazier wrote: I am fairly new to roasting and my first batch of what I thought was City Roast was awful. It tasted like hay or grass. I ended up throwing it back in the roaster (IRoast 1) only to burn it and I threw it in the trash. SInce this experience I am very leary about roasting so light. I do not want to ruin any my of my precious green beans. Even when I was grinding it in my Zass it smelled grassy and I thought perhaps the it would taste better brewed and it did not! Do you think lighter roasts are an acquired taste? How can I get myself to overcome this fear? Thanks for your input. Barb ( not willing to hit the cool button on IROAST 1 for fear of ruining my beloved coffee) From: lutermanb001 To: homeroast Subject: Re: +Harar Lot 19 ... where did I go wrong? Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 07:35:17 -1000 Way too dark. City roast do not allow it to go into 2nd. |
--Apple-Mail-38--230799821 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset -ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Barb, Here is the profile I use for Harar on the iRoast 1 (on the 2 I use Preset 2 and hit "cool" as soon as first crack stops and there are no more "blond" beans): 345 for 3 minutes, 380 for 4, and 405 for 5--I usually hit "cool" about a minute and a half into stage 3. Never ruined a Harar yet. Of course, my iRoast runs hot, so I use a long extension cord. Also, give it at least a day for the blueberry to develop. ALWAYS take even the lightest City roasts all the way through first crack! Should you still find pale stragglers after dumping, you can winnow them out and finish them off in a skillet or wok (be sure to keep agitating them as they roast). Finally, if you still get baked instead of roasted beans, try roasting 1 cup (2 level scoops, not 160gm) at a time--larger bean mass will retain more heat. But watch it like a hawk. On May 15, 2006, at 3:04 PM, Barbara Leazier wrote: <Snip> Sandy www.sandyandina.com --Apple-Mail-38--230799821 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset O-8859-1 Barb, Here is = the profile I use for Harar on the iRoast 1 (on the 2 I use Preset 2 and = hit "cool" as soon as first crack stops and there are no more "blond" = beans): 345 for 3 minutes, 380 for 4, and 405 for 5--I usually hit = "cool" about a minute and a half into stage 3. Never ruined a Harar = yet. Of course, my iRoast runs hot, so I use a long extension cord. = Also, give it at least a day for the blueberry to = develop. ALWAYS take even the lightest = City roasts all the way through first crack! Should you still find = pale stragglers after dumping, you can winnow them out and finish them = off in a skillet or wok (be sure to keep agitating them as they = roast). Finally, if you still get baked = instead of roasted beans, try roasting 1 cup (2 level scoops, not 160gm) = at a time--larger bean mass will retain more heat. But watch it like a = hawk. On May 15, 2006, at 3:04 PM, Barbara Leazier = wrote: |
Tom and Barbara, I've had a couple grassy tasting coffees form batches that I thought were darker than they turned out being. So I know what you are talking about. Trust me this is not a flavor that those of us who love lighter roasts have acquired a taste for. Nasty nasty nasty. I will say this, the beans that had this flavor were ones that I had roasted very quickly and had a dark appearance. The grassy flavor came from the raw innards of the bean. I have not achieved a very good City + roast in less than 11 mins. The slow rampup ensured that the entire bean cooked at the same rate and was uniform throughout. 1st started at about 9 1/2 - 10 mins and I pulled the roast about 1 min after the stragglers stopped. The way to get over grass-ophobia is to do a very slow rise to 1st crack. Then, when you are sure that 1st is completely finished you can be pretty comfortable pulling at any time without fear of an undercooked bean. So far I have undercooked at least two batches ( I strongly suspect that I just got finished ruining another batch minutes ago in my first test roast on my new SC/TO. Help, James!!!) The occasional ruined batch is well worth it with the victorious efforts. To answer your question Barb, I think roasting light is an acquired skill but not an acquired taste. Hit the right bean right and you will love it. Don On 5/15/06, Tom Ogren wrote: <Snip> rse <Snip> st <Snip> I <Snip> he <Snip> y <Snip> e a <Snip> g it <Snip> f <Snip> 11). <Snip> rting <Snip> burnt <Snip> ive <Snip> about <Snip> |
Barb, Be sure to let light roasts rest longer than dark roasts before deciding they are grassy. In my experience, if I use the wrong roasting profile, I can end up with grassy beans. So, it may not be the roast -- it could be the profile; or the rest. Just some more info for you. |
Barbara, Grassy isn't first crack it is before first crack. You were a good 3-4 minutes before you could even say light city. My suggestion is to follow the profiles on Tom's I-Roast instructions. Take some UGH beans and follow them through 1st and 2nd crack all the way to char bucked and then you will know what you are doing. Roasting when you are afraid of going to far isn't fun! Roasting isn't that hard to do hey I can do it! Les On 5/15/06, Barbara Leazier wrote: <Snip> ck <Snip> to <Snip> my <Snip> nd <Snip> ing <Snip> g <Snip> my <Snip> ste <Snip> ts? <Snip> |
I'm also finding that I like the results I get when the time to 1st crack is a bit slower so that the exterior of the bean is not way ahead of the interior. Getting a light roast done properly takes practice, practice, practice (at least for me). I just did a roast of an organic Peru and was a bit quick getting to first crack. It's a drinkable roast, but I'm hoping the next batch will be an improvement; definetely good beans hampered by operator error :( cheers, ScoTTT Don Cummings wrote: <Snip> |