The coffees from the Poco Fundo cooperative in Brazil have a unique distinction: they are the only Brazilian coffees I like. I have tried many, and they always disappoint me in terms of overall flavor, intensity, and interest. They serve as a nice backdrop in an espresso blend occasionally, but on their own I just don't like them.
Then there is Poco Fundo. This is a dry processed coffee with some great character. In the darker roasts I do with this bean, it is one of the best single origin espressos out there. Nutty, fruity (plums, raisins, etc.), chocolately - Poco Fundo has it all. As drip, it is also a very nice cup, but it really shines as espresso.
Anyway, I had a pound lying around and I thought it would be interesting to roast this coffee to a very light level, something I hadn't done before. Maybe I have been missing something all this time while roasting it past second crack?
Here we go with the light roast:
Brazilian beans are typically not that dense, so I tried to take it easy with this roast. I eagerly anticipated the first pot of coffee. And the result?.... Lousy. This was thin and boring. There was some nuttiness, but the characteristic fruitiness that I love so much in this bean wasn't there. It wasn't a terrible cup, but it wasn't very good either.
Just to prove that I wasn't going crazy, I took the other half pound of coffee and roasted it darker:
Here you'll see that the final temperature was up a but to make sure the coffee entered second crack, and the total roast time was longer. This time the coffee was phenomenal. Low acidity, intense nuttiness, chocolate, and plums. The mouthfeel is unique - creamy and crunchy if that makes any sense. The espressos were just perfect. With this coffee, I will be avoiding the light roasts like the plague.
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