Kenya AA Gulmarg Estate

[tisri]

Here's another question about roasting, not dark-roasting this time...

I was trying my first ever roast of the Kenya AA Gulmarg estate. I noticed that for the first 9 minutes in the Hottop it barely changed in appearance. First crack started around 18:15 but was barely audible. After 20 minutes I heard what sounded like a pop of second crack but I'd hardly heard any sign of first. The beans were getting fairly dark by then and as I'd intended to dump the beans as first crack was starting to fade I hit the Eject button.

They're slightly darker in appearance than I'd intended, and I'm confused about the lack of audible cracks. Is this a feature of the Kenyan coffees?

Any thoughts much appreciated

John

[phil]

Kenyans tend to look quite dark for a particular roast level, so I wouldn't worry too much about the colour.

That's a bit of a slow roast - remember my comments about supply voltage.

I have had similar results with the Eaagads Kenya peaberry. Not much of first, worrying that second might start. That's the sort of bean that makes me want to get my thermocouple out.

However - the real issue is how well you like the results.

[tisri]

Update - the results are very tasty. I'll probably leave the setting much the same next time around - perhaps one roast a little darker and one a little lighter to see which I prefer, although it's hard to predict which one it will be from the taste of the current batch.

Unfortunately my Gaggia seems to be playing up so I'm stuck with a cafetiere for a while, so my caffeine intake is likely to drop sharply until the Gaggia is fixed (under warranty)

[Steve]

Hope its fixed soon

[tisri]

The nice people from Gaggia are collecting it tomorrow. They said it would be "about 10 working days" until I got it back. Good job I never got rid of my grinder...

I had hoped they could either loan me a replacement or sell me insurance in case I kill someone while suffering from caffeine withdrawal but alas, no luck there either.