After a couple days and four batches, I've got some notes on the coffee
@pshankstar sent me. He roasted these on a Fresh Roast, which I'm not familiar with but was very excited to see how they tasted. There is something really fun (to me) about brewing coffee you didn't roast but know will be good.
1) Peru Dry Process El Palto: I brewed this in the Chemex via the Able Kone to try to keep some of the oils. First sip - chocolate city! It reminded me of a chocolate tootsie pop actually. It was interesting because I usually notice chocolate flavors once the coffee cools, but this one gave me the chocolate as it was hot. As it cooled it had some fruit flavors that came through. I noticed a little bit of a "green" flavor as it cooled and the more nuanced flavors came out, so I wonder if it didn't roast just a little too fast. It's tough to be critical of, because the roast was really quite good, but if I were to offer a little constructive criticism, it would be to try to slow down the roast just a tad so the inside of the bean develops a tad more. That would take this roast from great to exceptional.
2) Colombia La Galunga Don Jose: Brewed via Chemex/Able Kone as well. This one tasted to me like a typical Colombian, with some nice cocoa flavors. Maybe a little thin, I see he noted about 16% development - could probably be stretched to 20% to give it a tad more body. Very good coffee though, and it disappeared before I knew it ;(
3) Ethiopia Guji Gigesa: This was without a doubt my favorite of the bunch because it was soooooo smooth and fruity. Maybe the fluid bed roaster helped really bring out the fruit flavors - I'm not sure. But the soft fruits were so luscious, and the coffee had a really nice amount of body to it. Really well done - I liked this one a lot.
4) Malawi Sable Farms Peaberry: This is a bean I would never buy because I have quit on peaberries, but I have to say I might be missing out. This was really quite good. I love beans from neighboring areas, so I don't know why I never thought about Malawi, but to be fair the description is a little funky (seaweed salad is mentioned by SM's). I brewed this with the Able Kone and it brewed a bold cup with some really nice dark fruit flavors. I didn't get the seaweed flavors, which doesn't bother me, but mostly chocolate. I'm going to try this as an espresso in the next few days because I'm pretty curious how this turns out as a shot.
That's all I've got for now. I'm going to keep playing with these a little bit over the next few days so I'll update if I get any other things to say.
@pshankstar you did a great job with these - really really nice work. I enjoyed each of these, and this was a nice selection with very different flavors from bean to bean. Keep up the good work sir!!!