Dark roasting out of curiosity

[simonp]

Thought I'd try a darker roast this evening out of curiosity. So I found a blend that is supposed to take a dark roast, and is good for cappuccino, which was 66% Lintong, 33% Guat Antigua, I had to use Huehue.

I ran the usual Hotop profile in the popper, but let it run into 2nd crack, boy does this last a long time I think my point that I called rolling has been a little short of it, 2nd really gets going after a bit, much fatser than the the start of regular snaps that I called rolling, have I been misjudging this? I thought I'd ;et the roast run to declining 2nd, but this took ages. I did get some divots, which I have rarely seen before, even going a bit into 2nd.

The roast looks dark, but by no means black or charred, kind of half way between milk and dark chocolate. I also finally saw some roasting smoke, although the beans are dry. It will be interesting to try but the roast was over 1 min 30 sec longer than my usual roast.

I must admit that the beans looked more like some of the roasts I have had from Roberts and Hill & Valley, but I find the colour of the bean from the slow roast in the popper always looks a little lighter than the apparent roast level.

I'm guessing I will get a cheer from Tisri, and a " " from Effoc Don't worry mate, it was only and experiment

[Steve]

as ordered

[tisri]

as expected. Dark is good. Add an extra 30 seconds to the roast and you should be well away.

Seriously, when I roast espresso (either Continental from www.realcoffee.co.uk or the Espresso Blend from www.hasbean.co.uk) I take it well into rolling second crack. Typically the full roast from setting 7 on the Hottop with an extra minute or so added for luck.

Dark is good. Daaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrkkkkkkkkk iiiiiiissssssss ggggggooooooooooooooooooddddddddd!!!

[simonp]

Really dark roasting Hasbean's Espresso Blend, NO, NO, NO Make it a little dark to make sure the robusta is done maybe, but at a really dark roast the Cachoeira will get really ashy and ruined, and you'll lose the lighter tasting beans. For a really drak roast use things like Lintong, Harrar, Celebes etc they change character at dark roasts but still retain some distinctive flavours. Don't forget Steve's blend is designed for his lighter style of roasting so will not work so well as a dark roast.
Definitely don't try dark roasting the Perfeito blend if you get any it will taste awfull.

[tisri]

Heh - I usually roast Steve's blend to about 60 seconds into second crack. It comes out a bit darker than milk chocolate - not black by any means, but noticeably darker than Steve roasts it himself. I must admit I prefer it that way - I got some pre-roasted and roasted some myself and preferred the darker roast.

I've got a couple of kilos of it as green so I'm going to experiment with a slightly lighter roast to come up with my own ultimate roast for it - so far I've only roasted two batches of it so still lots to learn

[tisri]

Forgot to mention - I roasted Cachoeira just into second crack and found it to be most enjoyable. I only had a single batch of it but reordered it so I'll be experimenting with it as soon as the next consignment arrives.

[simonp]

I've been post roast blending recently, which allows me to keep the Cach lighter, then Darker roast things like Lintong, Celebes, and even Columbian, which can handle it more. The big problem with the lighter espresso roasts is that they taste great if your extraction is perfect, but can taste real bad if everything is not perfect.

[zix]

The big problem with the lighter espresso roasts is that they taste great if your extraction is perfect, but can taste real bad if everything is not perfect.

This is also my experience. A darker roast will be more forgiving regarding extraction (since there is less acidity in it, I guess), it´s just that it is harder to make good blends--- if one doesn´t post-roast blend as simonp does, which sounds like a really good idea to me. If only I had enough time to do it...
Don´t know about the rest of europe, but over here in Sweden the roasted espresso blends that you can buy in the coffee/tea specialist shops are usually way too dark (not mentioning too old of course. Ooops, I mentioned it). With "darker" espresso roasts I mean darker than a light espresso roast, but lighter than french roast, if that means anything to anybody.

By the way, if I hadn´t already said that, cetero censeo that dark roasts are what you need for the moka pot. Reeeeaaallly dark.

[simonp]

A darker roast will be more forgiving regarding extraction

I think this is where home roasting can really pay dividends, you can select a blend and roast level that suits your setup. I hav tried some quite light (to the very first snap of 2nd) roasts for espresso, and sometimes they tasted great, and sometimes way too acidic, and sour. Now I am roasting just a little darker (say 10-20s after the first snaps) I get more consistency, but still reatin most of the delicate flavours. By picking a roast level that suits me and my machine I can get the best out of it.
I believe that the longer, slower roasting times of the Hottop etc and my hand profiling with the popper help to adjust the roast level accurately, more like a pro roaster.

[moccafaux]

Simon, halfway between milk and dark chopcolate? Thats what I would call a light roast!
Out of interest and because it could be of help for a beginner: could one publish pictures of different grades of roasts? I have seen this kind of information elsewhere in the net and it could make good reading-stuff here on the frontpage of tmc.

[simonp]

Effoc is working on a roast level article now I believe

I would not call this roast light, dark chocolate is pretty dark. I would say the beans are a dark stained mahogony colour, or perhaps the rosewood used on a guitar fretboard. I would call a ligt roast mor elike the skin round a hazlenut.

[Steve]

The artical will be ready the weekend hopefully, just need to take the photos, and then we will have a european guide to follow, and dump the US ones Will be a real easy guide (subject to Phil's Editorial clippings )

[tisri]

Well folks, I broke my habit and tried roasting something lighter than normal. That's right, I stopped a roast of Hasbean's espresso blend about 15 seconds into second crack. It would have been a little sooner but I wasn't sure whether second crack had actually started, or whether I just had a couple of eager beans

The beans came out a little darker than the pre-roasted version - they are now sitting in a vacuum bag resting, so I'll be able to sample them come Friday night.

Eeffoc - I hope you're proud of me for this one

[Steve]

Welcome to the light

[simonp]

so I'll be able to sample them come Friday night

I find that anything before 36 hours rest doesn't taste quite right, especially anything with robusta in, so don't judge it by your first taste on Friday.

I'll try my dark roast tomorrow, after 3 days of rest.

It's good to see people are trying soemthing different than their usual, in the spririt of experimentation :drink: