Another Mystery Coffee Bean Exchange!

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pshankstar

BIAB Homebrewer & Coffee Roaster
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It's been long overdue to have another mystery bean coffee swap! Who's in for another round? The info below is copied and pasted from the last round earlier this year.

I'm tagging some players from the last exchange along with others. If I forgot anyone I do apologize, it's nothing personal.
@jimyson
@jammin
@Ruint
@Kealia
@passedpawn
@HarborTownBrewing
@Br3w4u
@Inkleg
@shelly_belly
@applescrap
@MaxStout
@bleme
@TallDan

Who's in for this round?

*************************************
I thought it might be fun to trade some home roasted coffee beans among the group, but with a twist. Here is how it will work:

1. Let me know that you want to take part in the trade. The deadline to join is September 26th. A simple reply to the thread stating you are in is sufficient.

2. On September 27th, I will randomly choose who you will send coffee to.

3. You send a minimum of 8 oz of roasted whole bean coffee (8oz before roasting, there will be some loss). You will need to send another 8 oz of the same beans un-roasted too (green beans) by October 14th. So in theory a full pound, half roasted and half green of the same beans.

4. The roasted beans and matching green beans will need to be identified in a way that the receiver knows they go together, but without giving away any information about the beans. Both packages could be labeled with "???". If you add more that the minimum, then you could label them as "A-???", "B-???" and "C-???" (both the roasted and green beans would have the same label). Just a suggestion.

5. Once you receive your coffee, you will try to figure out what beans were sent to you. Were they African, Central or South American, Island beans, or South Pacific beans. What flavors or aromas did you detect or pickup?

You can feel free to send more green and/or roasted beans or anything else coffee related to make it more fun but it’s not required. The whole point of this is, to roast some coffee and send it along with some of the same beans but green to the person you are selected to ship to. Then that person tries to guess where the beans came from and can enjoy what you roasted but also have a chance to roast some themselves. You may end up with a bean from a region that you normally wouldn't have selected or tried before.

Please post feedback, your guesses, thoughts, etc... to this thread for all to enjoy.

If you can, send freshly roasted coffee.

This is Continental US only.

What do you think? Who wants in?

PS - Also, if you feel like the timeline is too short to buy beans for this, please let me know. It's more of guidelines instead of hard and fast rules. Thanks!
 
Oh yeah I'm in. I've been waiting for someone to put one of these together [emoji6]

Yeah it was long overdue for sure. It’s been my intention to do another one this summer but time got away from me and work is insanely busy now.
Can’t wait to see who else joins this exchange!
 
Sorry for the delayed response. Yeah, I'm out this round, sorry. Just a lot on my plate right now and even though this is fun, I just don't want to add one more thing.

Enjoy all!
 
I entered the names in order of who said they were in for participating this round and put it into a random.org. The results are below. If there are any issues please let me know.

Reach out to the person you are sending the beans to for the trade and let’s get roasting!

@pshankstar sends to @Inkleg
@shelly_belly sends to @pshankstar
@HarborTownBrewing sends to @Ruint
@Ruint sends to @shelly_belly
@Inkleg sends to @jimyson
@Br3w4u sends to @passedpawn
@jimyson sends to @Br3w4u
@passedpawn sends to @HarborTownBrewing
IMG_7173.JPG
 
A little poo won’t hurt you. Hell it might add some chocolate notes. Depends on if the civet ate chocolate I guess.
 
MysteryBeanTrade.jpg


@shelly_belly Wow, just wow!!!! I'm speechless! I wonder if the beans you sent me are great with an Aero Press??? I'll have to try them in the Bonavita Drip, my Delonghi espresso machine and now the Aero Press. :yes:
I have almost pulled the trigger on an Aero Press multiple times! I'm so excited to use it this weekend, but I need to get my beans for @Inkleg roasted first. Well maybe I can drink some coffee from the Aero Press while I roast. The beers are much appreciated too! I haven't tried any of them nor does the brewery look familiar. So excited to try them! Although the sour my wife will want to try it or drink it and let me try it. HAHA
Is it 5 o'clock yet? I want to wrap up work, crack open a beer and clean the Aero Press so I can start using it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! This is very much appreciated!
 
HaHa! It looks like the roasted beans are still giving off gas as that bag was brick hard vacuum sealed when I put it in the box. They were roasted on Oct 1. Enjoy, my friend!

I was wondering if it expanded b/c of the off gassing. I’ll move them into a valve bag before it pops in the cabinet and scares the wife and kids. Haha
Thanks again bud!!
 
IMG_7284.JPG

I moved the roasted beans from the balloon to a bag with a valve. This way the family and three dogs wouldn’t wake up to the balloon popping in the middle of the night. Haha
Wow the smell amazing and the uniformity of the color is excellent!
By the aroma of the beans I’m guessing a South American bean but it’s not my final answer. I’ll brew it in the morning and enjoy it at my daughters lacrosse practice. There I’ll give it some good attention. Can’t wait!
 
@shelly_belly I get a lot of earthiness and wood character from this coffee. After having a few sips while watching lacrosse practice and trying t to stay warm it makes me think it’s an island bean like Sumatra, PNG or others. I’m still thinking it over but that’s my first impression so far.
I’m still in awe of the uniformity of the beans color. They look amazing! How are you roasting these beans?
 
I use a popcorn popper, 3oz at a time. I stir continuously during the roast which can range from 5 to 8 minutes long. I usually sacrifice the first roast for my son's cold brews and to bring the popper up to equilibrium. The second and subsequent roasts are quicker than the first but close to the same. Your batch looks darker than I remember but it's getting difficult to roast light when it's almost 90F in the mornings here. That bean was going from start of first crack to start of second crack in just under 1 minute. There are probably a small percentage of beans in your batch that made it to second crack. Please send the cold weather my way!
 
I have to say I'm kind of struggling to identify my mystery beans. They were all roasted light to medium light and roasted very evenly. They are all very good.

A. Has light to medium acidity, some fruitiness and some spiciness. A little bit syrupy. Overall a classic cup taste.
I guess Columbian

B. This one is more acidic, more fruity and more spicy. It's also more syrupy.
This one seems more like an Ethiopian

C. This one seemed really bizarre as my first impression was mint but that resolved to floral like rose hips. Ive never had one like this.
I'm going to guess Guatemala for this one (even though the small bean size makes me think Ethiopian)

I think I have a long way to go before I get any better at this!

Thank you, @Ruint

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