Too Much Coffee

Everytime I think I am a great blending-artist (this happens only when I'm roasting and day-dreaming...) the result is less attractive than I thought it would be. Best results are still made with a single origin roast, or a 80-20% combination... (although 60-25-15 sometimes work to).
But yesterday my luck changed and the Gods were good to me and I fixed the following blend (mainly made from left-overs):

20% Sumatra mandheling (full 2th crack)
15% Zimbabwe la lucie royale estate (very big bean) (full 2th crack)
15% Panama La Torcaza Estate (end 1st crack)
10% India, Mysore (full 2th crack)
15% Brasil Cerrado (end 1st crack)
25% Cuban Turquino lavado (end 1st crack)

And as the Cuban beans are new, I think they are responsible for this heavenly, chocolate, spicey, misterious, soft espresso I was drinking this afternoon and gave that smile on the face of my wife when I handed her a cappuccino.
My learning moment for today was: do not roast to dark or to light... the secret is in the exact roasting time... This may sound obvious, but when roasting beans you roast for months already, you get some sort of lazy and less inventive.
On the other hand, the Cuban beans are surely responsible for the chocolat taste that I appreciate so much.
The seller of the Cuban beans only roast it light, and as I mentioned to him that I wanted to use it for espresso, he replied: impossible. Well, it took me 3 roasts and I think I made the 'impossible' possible.
The second lessen I got from this: roast about 25 % very light, and hope these beans won't be sour or to grassy...

Is anybody else familiar with Cuban beans? Are they all so chocolaty, not winy, not rinse, with medium sweet nuts and almond?

Michel

Lots of people seem to like Turquino for espresso. Hugh and Sunnyfield, I recall that Monmouth have or had some?

Repeat after me "No I really don't need any more greens in my stash I've got far too many already ...."

I thought I was a 'green' collector, but with only 20 kg in the house, I'm a bit of a kid playing with chocolate-money... compared with you. So I will reapeat (but slightly different):
'Yes, I really need more greens in my stash, I've got to little at the moment...'

Michel

Phil, yes it's on their Web site now :
http://www.monmouthcoffee.co.uk/coffees.html

The page doesn't mention green availability but they've never refused to sell me a bean as green.

Cheers,

Hugh

I have some Cubans from Monmouth: Café Cubano Turquino. She hinted these were used in their espresso blends (not too much). And she recommended a DARK roast!!!

Michel, I am intrigued by your blend. Don't you think one espresso tastes differently from the next one? I am asking, because the balance between one bean more or less will be a matter of 3% more or less in the blend, if you see what I mean?

I still only blend occasionally and only 2 types in a blend.

Michel, another question, what coffee roaster do you use?

...Michel, I am intrigued by your blend. Don't you think one espresso tastes differently from the next one? I am asking, because the balance between one bean more or less will be a matter of 3% more or less in the blend, if you see what I mean? ...

Yes they all taste different, but that has not only to do with all the small quantities of beans in the blend... Elektra is not that stable with temperature, so I get different shot's all the time.
But for the blend, I think the 25 % Cuban is tastable in every-cup... Not tasting a bean in a blend is only a problem if the quantity of a bean is less than 15%... (in my experience at least...).

...Michel, another question, what coffee roaster do you use?...

Hearthware Precision Roaster (unpatiently waiting for the new model..!)

...I still only blend occasionally and only 2 types in a blend...

Me too! I like the unblended, although I think that you can make a Sumatra mandheling much better if you add 20% Harrar or Yrgacheffe (the classic mocha-java blend does it very well with espressopreparation to, imho.
The other way around works fine to: 80% Ethiopia and 20 Sumatra (or whatever Indonesian...)

Michel

...Michel, I am intrigued by your blend. Don't you think one espresso tastes differently from the next one? I am asking, because the balance between one bean more or less will be a matter of 3% more or less in the blend, if you see what I mean? ...

Yes they all taste different, but that has not only to do with all the small quantities of beans in the blend... Elektra is not that stable with temperature, so I get different shot's all the time.
But for the blend, I think the 25 % Cuban is tastable in every-cup... Not tasting a bean in a blend is only a problem if the quantity of a bean is less than 15%... (in my experience at least...).

...Michel, another question, what coffee roaster do you use?...

Hearthware Precision Roaster (unpatiently waiting for the new model..!)

...I still only blend occasionally and only 2 types in a blend...

Me too! I like the unblended, although I think that you can make a Sumatra mandheling much better if you add 20% Harrar or Yrgacheffe (the classic mocha-java blend does it very well with espressopreparation to, imho.
The other way around works fine to: 80% Ethiopia and 20 Sumatra (or whatever Indonesian...)

Michel

Eward, can you tell me a bit more about your roasting in the IMEX? Have you learned to like it, or is it still fickle and hard to get right? I'm curious, cuz with the move behind us, I'm a bit impatient to start roasting again (if my green cache is not mouldy yet). Any tricks I should learn? (PID, variac, thermocouple or anything easier? And do you still roast by exhaust temp or by listening to the cracks?)

Very interesting questions. I was thinking about writing a short article on it.

My tips are:
1) 125g of beans
2) just listen, look and smell (forget the thermometer)
3) aim for 10 - 12 minutes (preferrably 12 minutes)

This will give you an even roast with the beans being more even, ie the inside is just as roasted as the outside. Before I used 150g, which gave me a roast in 7.5 minutes, and that clearly didn't work: sour, baked coffee.

Yet my new method still isn't as good as Phil's Hottop!!!

Do write an article. Content is everything for a site, and it would be very useful to me when I start roasting again. Are you still considering a HT?

Not for the moment. I will await the first user experiences with the new Hearthware first. I like the profile feature of the new Hearthware, although I doubt it will give an even roast, but who knows... it may surprise me!