I have been in stash-reduction mode for green coffee for quite a long time. Recently, I finally got around to ordering some more coffee from Sweet Maria's after a long hiatus. Boy, did I forget how stellar the beans are. I buy a fair amount of beans from places like the Green Coffee Buying Club and such, largely because it is inexpensive. It is possible to get good, and occasionally, very good coffees from there, but the coffee from Sweet Marias is uniformly suberb. It is a bit more expensive, but you are essentially paying Tom to be your personal taster and quality-control guy.
This Columbia is a revelation for a fatigued palate. I roasted it inside (Yay! No more freezing garage with the Hottop - more on that another time) and produced a roast curve as follows:
You can see the power levels (the fan was set at 25% for the entire roast) and the boxed area where 1st crack was.
Roasting inside is taking some adjusting in profiles, as the behavior is different from the cold garage. Things were a bit quick at the end, but the coffee was still excellent. It is sweet, sweet grapes all the way in this one. There is a perfect, sparkling acidity, raisins, and an unctuous quality to the coffee that lingers forever. If you like Kenyas and such, you should definitely check this one out. It is an intense coffee, and one of the best Columbias I have had in a while, perhaps since the Cerulean Warbler.
