Yirgacheffe questions

[stevenzaat]

I roasted yesterday some Yirgacheffe in my Hottop and have some questions:.

I roasted it 20.28 minutes, hearing the first crack between 17.50 - 19.28. I thought I didn't hear a second crack and my aim was to stop it just before the second crack. Is this the right way to roast it also if you use te coffee for the drip?

Second questions is how long need the beans to rest after the roasting.

Thanks in advance for all the help.

Best regards,

Steven[/b]

[phil]

Yup that's about right Steven. A tiny bit longer wouldn't hurt, but that should be fine especially for a Yirg.

I'd leave it 3 - 4 days, but there's something to be said for sampling the coffee every 24 hours after roasting so you can understand first-hand how the flavour develops and why we say to leave it that long. There are also people who say Yirg is so delicate you should drink it early. I don't know about that myself - but try it yourself and see. Tell us what you think.

[tisri]

I like Yirg roasted just into second crack. I recall getting second around 19:20 and stopping at about 19:30. I usually rest my beans for around two days before using them.

If you've got some Monsoon Malabar I found a blend of 25g of Monsoon to 35g of Yirg quite interesting.

[matts]

I know we have kicked this around a bit before but did I miss something about the Hottop roast profile? 1st crack at 18mins just says 'baked beans' to me...

Matt

[Steve]

Whys that matts? Thats pretty standard on a pro machine ?

[ivdp]

The timing point for a coffee is a personal matter, how dark/light do you want to have your roast. It is useless to ask others how dark you should roast. You have to find out yourselve.
Resting is also a personal/taste matter. Other cannot guide you in this. Some like it old, others . Experiment till you are happy.

BTW one Yrg is not another . .!

Ivo

[phil]

The thing with the Hottop profile is the long slow drying phase Matt. The roast ramps up fairly sharpish once it gets going. I understand that the idea is to dry the beans thoroughly to ensure a more even roast through the bean.

[matts]

I'm not an obsessive roast profiler so can't really give you any data, I take Steve's point that this is a fairly standard commercial timing.

I wonder if it's something to do with coming from a beginning in air roasting, where it's all (too) fast and fruity, and then when you do a typical drum profile it can all seem a little flattened. I would generally go for a slightly faster ramp up to 1st (maybe 13-14 mins) and then look to stretch out the gap between first and 2nd, after some inital less then overwhelming results on longer timings.

I'm half thinking this is all vaguely remembered from numerous Jim S posts on ac about roast profiles but I can't find anything specific just now. I'll try a longer drying phase on the barbie and see what happens.

Cheers
Matt
'where did I put that stopwatch...'

[stevenzaat]

Thanks to all the for the replies, they are very helpful. I would like to react on the thread of Ivo:

It is useless to ask others how dark you should roast

I heard you saying this before, but personally I think it is very helpful to have a clue where to start. When you have this par level, you you can experiment if you like a longer or a shorter roast. It saves a lot of time, energy and beans if you have a good starting point instead of do you own trial-and-error to find the best roast profile without a starting point. Also if there is not just one par level, it is very nice to know what are the specific characteristics of the roast levels so you can start where you are looking for.

This forum gives us the opportunity to make use of other experiences instead of just using your own experiences. If it was not helpful, why have a community as this to share experiences and thought, if you only rely on your own opinion.

So again I would like to thank everyone for their contributions to my perfect cup!

Best regards,

Steven

[zix]

Yirgacheffe is my favourite base for espresso blends, and the favourite single espresso too. Some people (especially on the other side of the pond) seem to think little of it, but for me nothing else even comes close. Antigua, Colombia, a chinese bean I can´t remember the name of, and Malabar come next, but to me, again, they aren´t even close to the Yirg. Now, I wonder why this is? The water? The machine?
Of course, the aged beans are lots of fun too, but only temporarily, and I couldn´t drink them as singles. I always run back to the Yirg.

Next year I´ll have to order from sweetmarias. I´d really like to find some other beans that are as good - I´m sure there must be some out there. Anyone with suggestions for a Yirg lover?

[ivdp]

Roast profile.
Roasting a coffee bean in itself is a very very simple process.
A fire, a pan and some beans, stir till they are dark brown. Probably the most widely used method in the world.
Roasting large amounts of coffee is a very very complex process and need to be monitored very carefully. One needs to influence temperature during the process in order to obtain consistent results.
I do not believe that roasting small quantities, say till 1 kg, need a sophisticated program to obtain good results. The end result is judged by the colour of the roasted bean: light, medium etc, or more poetic descriptions if you wish.
A long or short roast time, will see a difference in cup quality. Now I am talking 5 vs 20 min or longer.
A difference of 1 or 2 minutes in roast time for an already very long cycle is of influence to the final roast color and that is a personal preference.
I do not believe that someone else can tell you what roast color you like or is best for a certain bean or blend.
Of course we should learn from others, but the way to learn roasting and cup testing is a time consuming affair and needs years. for professionals. For the private user, his private preference is the way to go and no one else can help there.
I stick to my motto: don't listen to others . .. .

Ivo

[ivdp]

Yrg lover

No suggestions, you are on your own, no substitute.
I have said before not all Yrg's are the same, so changing your supplier might find you some differences.

Ivo

[Steve]

Thats a very broad brush your painting roasting below 1kg with. Profiles are easy as you say but only after experiance. But true all yirg is not the same, some is good some is fantastic

I choose to listen to others then decide myself, its served me well. Those with closed ears hear no critisism

[zix]

No suggestions, you are on your own, no substitute.

Running the risk of threadjacking, I feel I must make myself clear:
well, I joined this forum for the explicit reason of not being all by myself, alone when wanting to push the envelope a bit concerning coffee. Isn´t that why we joined the TMC in the first place? Good discussions are... good! Sharing, and listening to, knowledge or experiences is also good!
On good forums people learn to moderate their views a bit (I don´t mean to say that you do not do that, Ivo) so we don´t end up in flame wars in every thread. This is a very good forum in that aspect, and I have learnt a lot from many of the members here. I trust you guys enough to ask questions that might look stupid, or might make me look stupid(-er ), and to answer in detail when I have knowledge I can share.

I like Yirg. Yes, there are different Yirgs. But the 15 or so other beans I have tried aren´t even close in taste. But there are so many origins! Now, surely there must be one or other bean that has a character that is closer to the Yirg than those i have tried?
Beans I can buy where I live:
Old Java, Old Brown Sulawesi, Monsoon Malabar, Santos, Colombia, Antigua, Malabar, Kenya, Sumatra Lintung, Ethiopian moka, China Simao, Robusta (India). And Yirgacheffe.

[ivdp]

Closest to Yrgacheffe are probably the other coffees from Ethiopia: Washed Sidamo Grade 2 - Unwashed Harrar Longberry Grade 5. There are some others from ethiopia as well but most of them lacking quality.
A relative from the Ethiopians are the Arabica's from Jemen. You might like to try these as well.

Ivo