Another Mystery Coffee Bean Exchange!

[HarborTownBrewing]

I received a nice package from @passedpawn which had two bags of roasted beans and four bags of un-roasted beans.
I know what two of the un-roasted beans are, but the other two bags correlate with the roasted samples he provided.

Today I tried the beans labelled "A". The beans were roasted evenly, it appeared to be a medium-ish roast from the quick look I had at them, certainly in my wheelhouse and fortunately not too dark for my liking. I brewed these in my Chemex with a paper filter with 201 degree water; the beans had a very nice bloom. In the cup I tasted a nuttiness with perhaps a bit of caramel sweetness as it cooled.

Not the most dimensional coffee, but it had a lot of flavor. The next time I brew this, I will up the water temp to 203 degrees and use the Able Kone to bring out more body as I feel the paper filter and low temp were the reason for the slightly thin flavor. I did enjoy the brew though and had drank it all very quickly.

I'm on limited time this week and don't know the next time I can brew it, so I'll take a guess right now that bean A is......Peru.

If not Peru, I would guess Guatemala from the co-op of Manos Campesinas. Perhaps that's a tad too specific though...???

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Today I tried the other roast from @passedpawn,roast B.

The beans had a lot of chaff on them and were a little on the small side. This was a pretty light roast and my mouth was watering by the time I finished brewing it. I made it with a paper chemex filter at 200 degrees.

I didn't get much aroma from it but it had a real nice flavor. Some citrus and fruit flavors. This kind of coffee is right up my alley.

My guess is Kenya for this one. Pretty sure it's an east African one for sure.

So, final guesses:
Bean A) Peru
Bean B) Kenya

 

[Inkleg]

After enjoying @pshankstar coffee all week I’m going to stick with my original guess of Kenyan for bean A and Costa Rica for bean B. Even if I’m a continent off every cup was enjoyed very much.

 

[passedpawn]

Today I tried the other roast from @passedpawn,roast B.

The beans had a lot of chaff on them and were a little on the small side. This was a pretty light roast and my mouth was watering by the time I finished brewing it. I made it with a paper chemex filter at 200 degrees.

I didn't get much aroma from it but it had a real nice flavor. Some citrus and fruit flavors. This kind of coffee is right up my alley.

My guess is Kenya for this one. Pretty sure it's an east African one for sure.

So, final guesses:
Bean A) Peru
Bean B) Kenya

About the chaff, I don't try too hard to get rid of that. After grinding, that chaff sits on top of the ground coffee and looks funny, but I have never detected any flavor from it.

Those are great guesses. You guys are much better at this than I am. Try roasting it yourself and see how it turns out - I have no doubt you will improve on what I sent you.
A: Nicaragua "Caturra" bean
B: Ethiopia (Sidamo region)

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

About the chaff, I don't try too hard to get rid of that. After grinding, that chaff sits on top of the ground coffee and looks funny, but I have never detected any flavor from it.

Those are great guesses. You guys are much better at this than I am. Try roasting it yourself and see how it turns out - I have no doubt you will improve on what I sent you.
A: Nicaragua "Caturra" bean
B: Ethiopia (Sidamo region)

Dang! I was really confident on both of those too.

For A I initially thought it was Nicaragua but they were far smaller than any Nicaraguan bean I had ever roasted.

For B I really thought the acidity was like a Kenyan.

Either way, great job man. I'm looking forward to roasting these myself to see how they compare to your roasts. Thanks!!!

 

[pshankstar]

After enjoying @pshankstar coffee all week I’m going to stick with my original guess of Kenyan for bean A and Costa Rica for bean B. Even if I’m a continent off every cup was enjoyed very much.

Inkleg, great guesses!!!
A - was an Ethiopian bean
B - was an El Salvador bean
I’ll post the details on both later and upload my roasting notes too. Just need to finish this yard work.

 

[pshankstar]

@Inkleg sorry for the delayed response. Attached are copies of my notes from roasting the beans for you.

Here are links to the beans too if you're interested.
Bean A
Bean B

 

[Br3w4u]

@jimyson I have had the blend a few times now and can’t quite figure it out but I will guess that it is Ethiopian blended with either Honduras or Guatemala. Am I close?

 

[jimyson]

@jimyson I have had the blend a few times now and can’t quite figure it out but I will guess that it is Ethiopian blended with either Honduras or Guatemala. Am I close?

Nope. I don’t expect you to guess that one, just figured that I would throw a batch in. The blend is Colombia, Costa Rica, Uganda.

I hope you’ve enjoyed everything.

 

[jimyson]

I had B bean from @Inkleg. The acidity came out more than A bean on this. It was also roasted really well. No one characteristic stood out as an outlier and everything blended nicely.

I’m guessing Guatemala for A and Kenya for B. I’m likely way off.

 

[Br3w4u]

Nope. I don’t expect you to guess that one, just figured that I would throw a batch in. The blend is Colombia, Costa Rica, Uganda.

I hope you’ve enjoyed everything.

I knew it was some sort of South American blend but oh well. I love both of your roasts. What do you roast with and did you take notes on the Ethiopian roast? Thanks again for the beans!

 

[jimyson]

I knew it was some sort of South American blend but oh well. I love both of your roasts. What do you roast with and did you take notes on the Ethiopian roast? Thanks again for the beans!

I use a Behmor 1600+. I’ve been using programs lately. For the Ethiopian, I used 1 pound P1 into rolling first crack where I drop it to manual P3. I cooled it shy of second crack. I like removing some of the acidity with a darker roast and that bean does a fine job at maintaining the berry notes.

 

[Inkleg]

I had B bean from @Inkleg. The acidity came out more than A bean on this. It was also roasted really well. No one characteristic stood out as an outlier and everything blended nicely.

I’m guessing Guatemala for A and Kenya for B. I’m likely way off.

Great guess you know your beans! The Honduras are some of the beans I picked up from Legacy.

 

[jimyson]

Great guess you know your beans! The Honduras are some of the beans I picked up from Legacy.

View attachment 650413

So close on both!! Darn it.

I think I’m going to make a pour over of the Ethiopia now.

 

[jimyson]

Great guess you know your beans! The Honduras are some of the beans I picked up from Legacy.

View attachment 650413

Btw, you’ve really done a nice job roasting these beans. I’m looking forward to seeing if I can get my roasts as good as yours. This cup of Ethiopia has a nice roast level to it that maintains the acidity while providing a slight bit of cocoa bitterness to round it out.

 

[pshankstar]

@shelly_belly I roasted these beans the other week and let them rest for several day. I think I took them to FC and cooled them right at the end of FC. The beans have a nice fruit character to them with an acidic bite. A delicious bean!! Thanks for sending this my way!

 

[shelly_belly]

Your welcome! And now I want some waffles.

 

[pshankstar]

Your welcome! And now I want some waffles.

Come on over. I made extras b/c the kids said they were so hungry! How much did they eat? Not even a whole waffle combined.

 

[pshankstar]

I use a Behmor 1600+. I’ve been using programs lately. For the Ethiopian, I used 1 pound P1 into rolling first crack where I drop it to manual P3. I cooled it shy of second crack. I like removing some of the acidity with a darker roast and that bean does a fine job at maintaining the berry notes.

Do you use the 1lbs program even for 1/2 or 3/4 pound beans? I want to start playing around with the programs loaded on the machine.

 

[jimyson]

Do you use the 1lbs program even for 1/2 or 3/4 pound beans? I want to start playing around with the programs loaded on the machine.

No, I would adjust to a lower weight. The difference is the time added to the profile. Theoretically, you could put a half pound in with a 1 lb program and it would just slow the curve down. Something to definitely try. I’ve been using programs up to FC and then manual to drag it to end.

I reference these quite often.

 

[Br3w4u]

No, I would adjust to a lower weight. The difference is the time added to the profile. Theoretically, you could put a half pound in with a 1 lb program and it would just slow the curve down. Something to definitely try. I’ve been using programs up to FC and then manual to drag it to end.

I reference these quite often.

View attachment 651275

View attachment 651276

Thanks for this. I didn’t know this existed. I have been running the 1 lb program on p5 regardless of weight and then switch to p3 at first crack but I didn’t know they were programs. I thought p1 was a program and the others were power settings like p5 is 100% and p3 is 50% power. I get pretty good results the way I have been doing it but now that I have these charts I will try each program out.

 

[jimyson]

Thanks for this. I didn’t know this existed. I have been running the 1 lb program on p5 regardless of weight and then switch to p3 at first crack but I didn’t know they were programs. I thought p1 was a program and the others were power settings like p5 is 100% and p3 is 50% power. I get pretty good results the way I have been doing it but now that I have these charts I will try each program out.

In manual mode they are power levels. In program mode the provide a variable profile. You definitely want to go back and RTFM! [emoji23]

Seriously, lots of good info in there to help with using programmed settings.

 

[pshankstar]

No, I would adjust to a lower weight. The difference is the time added to the profile. Theoretically, you could put a half pound in with a 1 lb program and it would just slow the curve down. Something to definitely try. I’ve been using programs up to FC and then manual to drag it to end.

Thanks again for the info! Have you been happy with the programs so far roasting a whole pound at once? I may try it, I haven’t done more than 339g (about 3/4 lbs) in manual mode and have heard/read people not being happy with the Behmor roasting a full pound.

 

[pshankstar]

I’ll try to go through tomorrow (or the next day) to see if everyone shipped and received from this trade. I’ve been slacking on doing that. Sorry for the delay.

 

[pshankstar]

Thank you everyone for participating! From what I can tell everyone shipped and received their beans. Thankfully no chaff lickers (aka cats) were lost, harmed or shipped to another state. LOL I'll look to setup another trade after the holidays, unless there is a demand to do one sooner, say in-between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cheers everyone!

 

[jimyson]

Thanks again for the info! Have you been happy with the programs so far roasting a whole pound at once? I may try it, I haven’t done more than 339g (about 3/4 lbs) in manual mode and have heard/read people not being happy with the Behmor roasting a full pound.

Yes, for my taste and laziness, the 1lb programs work great. I’m sure there is plenty of room for improvement, but that’s ok by me.

 

[pshankstar]

Yes, for my taste and laziness, the 1lb programs work great. I’m sure there is plenty of room for improvement, but that’s ok by me.

I did a full pound of El Savador Peaberry Natural beans with the 1lbs P1 program. Near the end of the original timer I had to increase the time to the max. With about a minute left first crack started very slowly and ramped up when the program ended and started to cool. So I left the door shut so it would continue to develop. Normally I will try to open the door and run the shop vac to speed up the cooling. Anyhow, the beans look good and I plan to give them a few days rest before brewing any of the beans.
I'll probably do another 1lbs batch of beans tonight, maybe the Legacy Farms Honduran beans.
Thanks @jimyson for the feedback!

 

[jimyson]

I did a full pound of El Savador Peaberry Natural beans with the 1lbs P1 program. Near the end of the original timer I had to increase the time to the max. With about a minute left first crack started very slowly and ramped up when the program ended and started to cool. So I left the door shut so it would continue to develop. Normally I will try to open the door and run the shop vac to speed up the cooling. Anyhow, the beans look good and I plan to give them a few days rest before brewing any of the beans.
I'll probably do another 1lbs batch of beans tonight, maybe the Legacy Farms Honduran beans.
Thanks @jimyson for the feedback!

Hitting FC at the end of the original programmed time is perfect. That means you used the intended profile curve. You also have the ability when starting the program to hit one of the letters to increase the total time of the program. For instance:

1>P1>C>Start
Or
1>P1>C>+>Start

These would net different roast times but use the same profile.

Also, when I go into rolling FC towards the end of my program, I go into manual heat mode and hit C to give me additional time on the clock to finish the roast. This is different from hitting the + within a program.

 

[pshankstar]

Just roasted the last portion of the beans from @shelly_belly to enjoy later this week.
I’ll look to start another mystery bean trade in January after the holiday rush is over. I’m already itching to do this again.

 

[Br3w4u]

@jimyson I just finished the last of the beans you sent. I like roasting this one by the half pound on P5 and I add 2 minutes to the roast. Thank you again.

 

[pshankstar]

@shelly_belly I am enjoying a cup from the last of the beans you sent that I roasted this weekend. It is an amazing cup of coffee. I think I roasted it a little lighter than you did but not too light. I get a nice smooth cup with a slight acidic bite but not overpowering. I get a citrus character too with a slight woodiness that sits on the tongue. Assuming that makes sense.
@Inkleg we all hope you get some roasts under your belt with your new roaster, so you're ready for the next round.

 

[Ruint]

@HarborTownBrewing...that is a picture of the "bonus" beans you had sent with the mystery beans. Just now roasted them! I am guessing they are Ethiopian just by the way they roasted!!! LoL!!!