Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joseph Robertson on December 15, 2009 at 8:48am

There are many more on this site with way more roasting hours under there belt. I hope to see there comments here as well.

That said, I was trained as a roaster at a top roasting school in Vermont, USA. I have been roasting commercially for 1 and 1/2 years. Barely a newborn when it comes to roasting coffee.
As I remember we cupped every day after each roast to test our roast and find out how we did. In other words I think you have it backwards. We did not roast for cupping. Cupping was or is as I understand it a way to tell how you came out with your roast or a way to check green beans that your company is or might purchase for inventory.
Now if your talking about a public cupping to show off your coffees that you offer, I would roast the bean to it's optimal point to show off all it's varietal characteristics and flavor notes. Stay away from the dark side. You will tend to loose the best traits of the different greens you showcase..
Joe

--
Ambassador for Specialty Coffee and palate reform.

Permalink Reply by Zechariah White on December 15, 2009 at 10:44am

At Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters in Atlanta, GA, we roast our coffees according to a predertermined profile. After resting, the beans are ground and cupped. If something seems unusual or noteable, we share that info. It isn't like a traditional cupping in which coffees are scored. IN other words, we use a method a lot like Mr. Robertson's.

However, in my experience I have come across another method of roasting coffees for cupping. This method is used to better determine the profile of the roast for a given bean.

Essentially, to accomplish this, one roasts the same bean to 3 or 6 different levels. Usually 3 at first. Light, Medium, Dark, etc. Once this is accomplished, I will roast to several more specific levels within the first level I liked best. In so doing, I begin the process of determining the correct profile.

Joseph Robertson said:

There are many more on this site with way more roasting hours under there belt. I hope to see there comments here as well.

That said, I was trained as a roaster at a top roasting school in Vermont, USA. I have been roasting commercially for 1 and 1/2 years. Barely a newborn when it comes to roasting coffee.
As I remember we cupped every day after each roast to test our roast and find out how we did. In other words I think you have it backwards. We did not roast for cupping. Cupping was or is as I understand it a way to tell how you came out with your roast or a way to check green beans that your company is or might purchase for inventory.
Now if your talking about a public cupping to show off your coffees that you offer, I would roast the bean to it's optimal point to show off all it's varietal characteristics and flavor notes. Stay away from the dark side. You will tend to loose the best traits of the different greens you showcase..
Joe

--
Ambassador for Specialty Coffee and palate reform.

Permalink Reply by Ian McCarthy on December 15, 2009 at 5:15pm

1.5 pounds is going to be quite a bit, considering samples from importers are almost always 1 pound or less.


What is the machine you are roasting on?

is your thermometer probe environment or bean specific?

As a rule, roasts to determine the intrinsic qualities and faults should be quite light. Never into second crack, provided you are looking for faults in the coffee.

As an experiment, try getting to first crack by 9-10 minutes, and dumping 30 seconds after first crack ends, making sure you kill your gas early enough to not roll into second crack. What really matters is that you can find a profile that you can nail again and again. If roasting 200 gram batches on a 30 kilo roaster is not going to work for you, consider buying a sample roaster.

Permalink Reply by Öner Kulbay on December 16, 2009 at 1:43am

I think I've used wrong terminology, I meant to sample-roast in a quick and easy way like the barrel sample-roasters.
I have a new Diedrich ir3 table top (profile pic). If I'm not wrong you can roast minimum of more or less 450 grams. Anyone else with an ir3 experience?

...and thanks for the answers.

Permalink Reply by Joseph Robertson on December 16, 2009 at 9:17am

Oner,
Ahhh Yes, sample roasters, I'm not familar with the ir3. I'm sure someone here is though.
Joe

Öner Kulbay said:

I think I've used wrong terminology, I meant to sample-roast in a quick and easy way like the barrel sample-roasters.
I have a new Diedrich ir3 table top (profile pic). If I'm not wrong you can roast minimum of more or less 450 grams. Anyone else with an ir3 experience?

...and thanks for the answers.