New Year's Blend

[bruceb]

Today I roasted the coffees for my New Year's Blend, which I will serve on New Year's morning (and for the first couple of weeks in the year, assuming we like it).

I roasted the individual beans separately, took them all just into second crack and they are roughly what Tom calls "Full City +". There are equal quantities of each:

Colombia Lot No. 21 Las Cochas
Costa Rica - Cafatalera Zamorana
Indonesia - Sumatra Utara Wahana Estate 100% Rasuna

The basis for the roast is the Colombian and the Central American and Sumatra provide the spice. I enjoy all three of these beans individually, too.

Yes, the Colombian is a CoE. Blending it may seem sacrificial, but I know that it will stand up well to the others.

I will report on the results.

[RobC]

Sounds like quite a special blend, what is the Indonesia like on it's own?

[bruceb]

Well, after drinking quite a few cups I can say that the blend is quite successful. The Colombia is so good that I increased it to 60% and it gives a warm, chocolaty, creamy body. The Indonesian (wet-hulled Sumatra) has a definite clove-spice and earthy character that comes through nicely and the Costa Rica is very bright with a clean citrus fruit and melon note. Together they seem to give a very balanced and exciting cup. We have so far used about 800 grams of the blend, mostly for espresso and espresso-based milk drinks (it has no problem in cutting through the milk) and a few filter and AeroPress cups. It did take nearly 5 days to outgas adequately for espresso.

As an aside, sometime I will write about my experience with Indonesian coffees. They are quite wonderful and can be really exotic and exciting, but they are a bit tricky to roast, or more accurately, you have to really taste them in the cup and not pay attention to way the roasted beans look, or how they look when they are being roasted. It's better to depend upon crack rather than appearance. The smoke also gives important clues as to the roasting process.

[CakeBoy]

That does indeed sound like a lovely blend.

[RobC]

As an aside, sometime I will write about my experience with Indonesian coffees. They are quite wonderful and can be really exotic and exciting, but they are a bit tricky to roast, or more accurately, you have to really taste them in the cup and not pay attention to way the roasted beans look, or how they look when they are being roasted. It's better to depend upon crack rather than appearance. The smoke also gives important clues as to the roasting process.

Interesting, I have also found certain origins appear to have roasted badly - retaining some chaff in the "seam"- but cup excellently.