Whats hitting the spot at present!

[Gadders]

Matt can you remember what was in that last blend of yours before you left? Had about 20 different beans in it

Sounded lovely, need to try it!

Btw, what do you reckon is the darkest, earthiest, thickest blend you could legally produce?

[espressomattic]

Hmmm, testing the old grey matter gadders! OK...

Kalosi
MM
Le Fany
Yirg

The quantities escape me.

I reckon a really thick blend would consist of Kalosi and MM 35/35 taken to a niice dark roast then about 30Of Chac Screen dried to give it a lift.

[Gadders]

Haha! you have grey matter?

Merci bucket, ill chuck some of those in the whirley and see what comes out!

Oooh yes, liking the sound of that, ta!

Bueno, pero tengo que volver a mis estudias - porque tengo un examen de Espanol a las dos y media hoy!

[toast21]

breako... the local roasters in perth tended to do the PNG roasts medium but a couple were medium dark (depending on bean).

lately i've been through a few roasts of Brazilian yellow bourbon, OBJ, Yemmen mocha and columbian. So far, the yellow bourbon's my favourite SO - i may have messed up the Mocha and roasted it a little dark

[lastcoyote]

couple of things...
first, where in uk can i order online some decent kenyan beans to try in my cona vacpot?
and second, where's the picture of the lovely hannah already!?

[Walter]

I tell you whats hitting the spot...

40% Cacheoira
40% Finca la fany
20% Yirrrrg

This morning i pulled the most ridiculously viscous, tight, deep brick red, centered shot i've ever had. The smell, indescribable. Hmm.

Thanks for suggesting that1 steve!

Phil

I like that one too, though I did 1/3 of each...

[lukas]

Hitting the spot ... My mother and I visited Bruce yesterday, and he made a really good darjeeling for her and let me on his CMA .... and he had a Yirgacheffe in his grinder ... God I know now what I missed over the last half year or so! Loooooooooovely! Thank you Bruce!

[Gadders]

Yesterday i roasted up the Cach, Fina and Yirg i had left, this time:

50g Cach
50g Finca
100g Yirg

Pulled a shot today, i was in awe for a good 10 minutes after. Don't ask me to analyse the taste cos i can't, just awesome.

[lastcoyote]

this may be a stupid question..but being a non roaster (till the urge becomes too overwhelming) i'm not in the know. so the question is....when you do a blend such as the one above, do you roast each SO bean seperately to it's own roasting profile and then 'blend them up', or do you mix your blend of beans PRE roasting and then roast them together to your desired profile?

[GeorgeW]

this may be a stupid question..but being a non roaster (till the urge becomes too overwhelming) i'm not in the know. so the question is....when you do a blend such as the one above, do you roast each SO bean seperately to it's own roasting profile and then 'blend them up', or do you mix your blend of beans PRE roasting and then roast them together to your desired profile?

The short answer is both. Some beans do lend themselves to being roasted together in that they have similar roasting characteristics, while others don't.
At least that's what I've found and others also.

[lastcoyote]

i wondered if this might be the case.
thing is with pre blends is....ok you may have a 30% this 30% that 40% the other but once they are all mixed up when you go to spoon out your 16g or whatever ammount you use for espresso, your not really going to have those percentages still. you may end up with only a couple of beans of one type and loads of another.
...or am i over thinking things here?

[Gadders]

Stop thinking

[espressomattic]

I guess you are right, especially with smaller amounts of the blend being roasted. But on the whole, as an average, I would say that you are getting a fairly good consistent-ish blend. I have found from experience that as Bruce says, some beans really do lend themselves being roasted together as a blend, whilst others (In my experience, Kalosi & MM) do not, simply because they have and require a longer and darker roast that would incinerate most other beans.

On the whole I have found Africans, South/Central Americans tend to roast very well together.

Oh then this brings on a question....when does a blend become a mix?

[Johnmac]

some beans really do lend themselves being roasted together as a blend, whilst others (In my experience, Kalosi & MM) do not, simply because they have and require a longer and darker roast that would incinerate most other beans.

This makes a lot of sense. I'm drinking a blend of Kalosi, Yirg and Brazil Fazienda this week and it sucks (or "sux" as you will soon be saying ). The Yirg and Fazienda come through but there is very little body. I think you're right - the Kalosi needs more than the others.

[Gadders]

Oh did you roast them together John?

I think it goes without saying u can't really roast a blend together with darks and lights in there. Thinking about it from an SO point of few - each SO has its own roast zone where its really nailed. If you're designing a blend - looking for specific characteristics you want to incorporate in the overall taste, you're always compromising wacking a (eg. kalosi) and a yirg in the drum together - because at the ideal kalosi roast the yirg will be toasted, and at the idea yirg roast the kalosi might as well have factor 50 on.

Therefore it is impractical to roast every blend together. Altho if you have 3 with very similar roast requirements (like the Yirg/Cachoeira/Finca) it works a treat.

Feel free to totally dismiss whatever ive just said as rubbish steve as i am a total novice!