Drats!

Well, after the latest round of roasting, I have to consider the latest set of experiments a failure. It is actually a great example of how it is important to understand your own particular parameters and not take what the experts say as gospel.

To recap, I have been playing around with dwell times at the start of the roast at a lower temperature than I previously had. The last couple of coffees have been ok, but something has been nagging at me. Sunday I roasted some Costa Rica El Patio, a coffee I have roasted many times before with this new profile. It follows more or less the Costa Rica Vino de Arabia profile from the last posting.

The El Patio is normally a delicate cup filled with milk chocolate tastes. It is one of my favorites. This time around, however, what I found was strong astringency that isn't integrated well with the other flavors. It is really glaring, and not a subtle thing at all. Checking the color of the ground coffee, it is not under-roasted - this is clearly an effect of the profile. In any case, I will be returning to my original roast profiles with shorter drying times and higher temperatures for the middle part of the roast from now on.

It definitely pays to experiment. The theory is still a good one to ponder. It is all about water; there are competing reactions that go on at different temperatures of the bean during the roasting process. The theory says that too much water left in the coffee after the drying stage will lead to the formation of bitter and astringent tastes, so it is important to dry thoroughly before reaching caramelization temperatures. I am going to ponder this some more, but in the meantime I need to roast some coffees with my older profiles so I can get back to the stellar brews I have become used to.