My first real attempt at a blend

[Joris]

Ofcourse I've thrown together some rests of greens but never really though about what they would be like in the cup.

Had nothing on my hands this evening so thought I'd try it now, here goes (and don't laugh please, know that I have a battleaxe at hand )

40% Sulawesi Kalossi
- Love the sweet taste and thought it should be prominent in the cup

30% Brazil Bahia
- Spicy and also a nice and long aftertaste

10% Old Brown Java
- Tobacco... well, I stopped smoking 5 weeks ago so couldn't resist As a single origin I think the tobacco is too much in this one but I think in small amounts it might add something to the cup.

10% Kenya AA
- Went for a small amount in hope of adding some freshness to the cup.

10% India Robusta
- Just for the caffeine and the extra kick.... got these beans from Casa di Bella, the owner brought some greens from Italy because I asked for them.

I think I have an idea about how it should taste in the cup but have no clue if my idea is correct... just finished roasting them (all batches seperately) so it has to degass before I can try it. It sure smells nice though


All this whilst sipping from a pour of very nice San Roberto CoE roasted by a certain footy t-shirt wearing Jedi-master of roasts ....

Any comments would be appreciated.....


EDIT: fixed a lot of typos...

[Beanie]

Sounds like a thick, gloopy, heavy pour of a blend there Can't wait to hear your "results" Hope it turns out the way you "planned"

San Roberto CoE? Ooooohhhhh I'm SOOOOOOOOO jealous!! But I'll console myself with the COE (OMG!-250g-is-not-enough) Blend (less than 1/2 bag left in less than 2 days) & the Colombia CoE La Mina (almost finished ) in the meantime Both roasted by the same suspicious person in that shirt you're talking about

[Joris]

Sounds like a thick, gloopy, heavy pour of a blend there

I certainly hope so but it might be wishfull thinking

By the way, here's a picture of the beanies ...

[CakeBoy]

Looking lovely Joris old chap. Tell me, did you roast all of the component beans seperately in the Gene, and if so, what is the smallest batch size you have tried in the Gene?

[Joris]

Yep, roasted them seperately. The total amount of the blend is about 500g so the smallest amount I've ever tried in the Gene is 10% which is about 50grams, went pretty well !

[CakeBoy]

Cool, I've been wondering what the smallest batch that could be roasted might be. Does it alter the roast time?

[BazBean]

Sounds like a lot of thought went into it.... interesting to hear the result

[Joris]

Cool, I've been wondering what the smallest batch that could be roasted might be. Does it alter the roast time?

I was still able to get a roasttime of 16 minutes for the 50 grams Kenya AA to get it at start of 2nd so it doesn't alter the roasttime too much...

Sounds like a lot of thought went into it.... interesting to hear the result

Let's just say that my brain still hurts from thinking this up.... but I have that as well every time I try to remember my name

Will post follow up when tasted... hope it's not a a waste of the coffee though but judging by the smell it will at least be drinkable.

[Steve]

Sounds great, but Kenya I've said it before and I'll say it again keep it for the french press

(For new people here, theres a post around about a year ago where everyone rounded on me for my dislike of Kenya in espresso I'm right they were all wrong Hey lets start another fight )

[GeorgeW]

The beans do look good Joris and the blend sounds really interesting. I can't wait to find out how it tastes.
The Gene Cafe sounds better and better.

[espressomattic]

Sounds good Joris, funny I was talking to Cakey today about OBJ and how it is really heavy for an SO and we echoed your thoughts on accent as well. I love the Kalosi in any blend. I find it gives a real depth and flavour, almost replacing a robusta.

I would suggest thet you try a Yirg or Harrar instead of the Kenyan. The Kenyan may gives it too much of a bright note, I am siding with Steve (Run for the trenches).

Can I make a guess at some flavours here for a laugh?

I think it will be a heavy bodied cup that to look at will produce a very rich, dark crema. In the taste I think you will have a lot of earth tones and earth spices (Cumin comes to mind) and caramel. It will have possibly an acidic after taste due to the Kenyan but the Brazillian may round this off with a nice mellow flavour.

Heck what do i know...can't wait to hear how it is.

Matt

[Joris]

I think it will be a heavy bodied cup that to look at will produce a very rich, dark crema. In the taste I think you will have a lot of earth tones and earth spices (Cumin comes to mind) and caramel. It will have possibly an acidic after taste due to the Kenyan but the Brazillian may round this off with a nice mellow flavour.

I could not resist any more (oh how weak is the flesh ) and thought it would be interesting to taste how the taste would develope during degassing as well.

So, after 20 hrs degassing :

The crema, as you thought right Matt, was darkbrown/reddish but a bit bubbly. A dry mouthfeel and the first taste that hits is tobacco. Second what hit was citrus, a bit too much but it didn't stay long. A bit peppery and a very sublte sweet take over and mixes with the tobacco which still lingers. Very dry aftertaste with still some tobacco (not too much though) and very long lasting (it's been 15 minutes and I still taste it).

So far I would say you guys were right about the Kenya and it could do with a little less OBJ but maybe things improve during degassing.

[Beanie]

What was that? A 12-hour rest? Looks gloopy gloopy thick... with 500g worth of roasted, I suppose you can keep tasting it at 12 hour intervals or even 6 hours to note the developmental changes in flavour, mouthfeel.. blah blah.

Have to ask tho, cause I always gets this with 1-2 day old roasts, did you get a sort of "cardboard" taste too? I remember K7 mentioning that if you extract properly, you can avoid the cardboardy taste thing - but I just so can't do it

[Joris]

No cardboard here as far as I can tell. Mind you, I'm not real good in analyzing the different flavours/tastes. The aftertaste feels real dry, is that what you mean ?

[Beanie]

Heheh... me neither Joris... I may even have the descriptor wrong... but uhm, find a piece of cardboard like the ones on the back of a notepad and taste it Or wet it with some water and smell it. That's what day-old roasts as espresso remind me of. That was a while ago... for a while now, since I made the connection, I haven't been tasting my day-old roasts in espresso. Maybe time I do it again. Must roast tonight as this week's "roasted by HB" treats are disappearing at a very alarming rate. We can't stop ourselves We start rationing tonight else we'll have nothing for Monday

Interestingly for me, I don't get the cardboard thing from day-old roasts in the Eva though. I must try it in the Aerobie too, now that I have it It's probably the intensity of espresso that brings it out for me.