Celebes Toraja Kalosi & Monsooned Malabar. What next?

by **Raf** » Mon Jan 05, 2004 9:10 pm

I roasted 140 grams of both Toraja Kalosi & Monsooned Malabar today (thanks, Steve!). I'm fairly sure that I stopped the Malabar just before the beginning of rolling second, because you can clearly hear the cracks in the Malabar. The Kalosi was tougher if not impossible to hear: I stopped when I saw those little round fragments explode from the beans (divots? is that right?), so I guess it was into second, somewhere. Now how do I blend them? And when? Suggestions are welcome.

Note: what frustrates me when using the Imex is that all parameters vary wildly with the batch size, and you can't hear the cracks.

by **phil** » Mon Jan 05, 2004 10:08 pm

Hmmm. Well ideally (IMNSHO) you should taste both separately and then see what that tells you about any blend you might like. Otherwise, since they're both beans you don't know, you'll not know which bits of the composite flavour come from which bean.

Alternatively, if you're feeling impatient, I would reckon somewhere between 50/50 to 70/30, with the 30 being the MM. Depends how much bite you like.

Don't blend until you're ready to grind. That maximises your flexibility. I don't go a bundle on pre-blends. Half the fun is in "playing" and learning as you do. Spot the geek! :oops:

"Divots" is exactly right btw.

by **alans** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 10:04 am

You definatly need to try the Malabar straight if you haven't had it before, it's such a weird taste! You'll notice a pronounced "funky monkey" flavour and then think back to commercial espresso blends you've tasted you'll be able say "that's where they got that weird flavour".

If you like it straight try a 50:50 blend, if you don't 30:70.

by **alans** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 10:04 am

Does everyone blend late? I blend at or just before grinding but often wonder if coffee beans blended eariler would effect each other to give a more "blended" tasting result.

by **phil** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 12:54 pm

alans wrote:Does everyone blend late? I blend at or just before grinding but often wonder if coffee beans blended eariler would effect each other to give a more "blended" tasting result.

Flavour transference? Wouldn't have thought so.

by **phil** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 12:59 pm

BTW I used a 5:2:2 Kalosi : MM : Harrar blend this morning.

Outstanding!!

Up front you get the blueberry fruit of the Harrar modulated by its own funk and the funky bite of the MM, fading to a leathery funkiness on the finish. Not for everyone, but it had my toes curling.

I'll play with this one further. (Must get some more Harrar in sometime, the one I'm using was bought from our less-than-favourite person in Aylesbury, back in April or so, so it's getting a little long in the tooth).

by **alans** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 2:08 pm

That sounds like my kind of blend! How did you come up with that ratio, am I right in guessing 2 1/2 measures to one measure of each of the others, to make two double shots?

I "believe" that coffee is subject to flavour transference but this belief is based on vague memories of someone leaving an unsealed bag of coffee in a fridge and the coffee tasting of rotting vegetables. Actually on the weekend I was making a curry and I wondered if putting a cinnamon stick in a jar of fresh roast coffee and leaving it for a couple of days would give cinnamon flavoured coffee. Of course since I want coffee flavoured coffee I didn't give it a go

but perhaps to prove that coffee is subject to flavour transference I may give it a go.

by **Steve** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 9:11 pm

I pre blend before roasting, but thats mainly down to keeping the roasts down so keeping fresh stock. The times I have speratly roasted and blended it never quite tastes how I expect. I know lots of commercial roasters work post blending but I've always been a little different

by **Raf** » Wed Jan 07, 2004 6:23 pm

I blended them 70-30, like Phil suggested, but I'm a bit disappointed. That's only normal I guess, after a half year of not roasting, but I had hoped to get a better result from them. They looked okay: some divots off left and right, nice colour, not too much chaff left. From what Steve tells me, the beans should have a rather full taste, but my first shot was a bit flat (shot ran through a bit fast, but my Rocky's sort of maxed out already, so there). I overfilled another shot and that tasted a bit burnt, but that, on the other hand, was a too slow shot. Bah!

Tell me Steve, how does your IMEX compare to your big roaster? Is it as marked a difference as what I'm experiencing?

by **phil** » Wed Jan 07, 2004 9:55 pm

Neku (I think I've said this to you before) IME anything with Monsooned Malabar in it needs a very fine grind. My last week's blend was F. Cachoeira/La Manuela Colombian/some old Sidamo that I got from Hill & Valley about 9 months ago. That needed a grind of about 8 on my Rocky. The current blend with around 20% MM needs about 5.

by **Steve** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 10:27 pm

Neku

The ambex ym2 (the smaller one) is great to roast with. Its consistant results is what makes it stand out. But the YM5 is taking some getting used to but I'm getting there and its results when got right are amazing.

But the Imex i use for sample batching and home use and its fantastic machine IMHO . Dont be so down on its results, its not a hottop buts its the next best thing

Celebes Toraja Kalosi & Monsooned Malabar. What next?

Celebes Toraja Kalosi & Monsooned Malabar. What next?

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