Hipster Coffee

[expat]

The roast it super light revolution has come to Ireland. Personally I am not a fan. The coffee just tastes too 'grassy' to me.

I understand that this originated in the Scandinavian countries somewhere and is called a 'Scandinavian roast' but I call it 'hipster coffee'.

One of my coffee shop customers bent my arm enough that we finally gave in and roasted him some . . . . .and he likes the taste! My head is spinning.

One complaint is that the aroma, in his words, 'is too thin'.

We roasted this coffee just to first crack then dumped it, stirred it for a minute or so in the cooling tray and then turned the exhaust fan on. So on the next roast I can only think to roast fractionally longer to enhance the aroma but don't want to go too much longer and kill the hipster flavor.

Any suggestions? Any experience with hipster coffee?

 

[ensoluna]

hey expat,
I have never heard of "hipster coffee" and would love to know more about it.

BTW, can you explain to me how the beans got roasted IN DETAIL? what kind of coffee (SHB pacamara (which is very hard and dense), or Yemen moka (very small) or Maragogype (the biggest bean and relatively dense)....etc) you have roasted?
also, how many pounds in what capacity roaster?
and how many minutes to reach the first crack?
and temperatures roasting in different stages?

also, when you say "Super light", what # Agtron?

thanks Expat.

 

[topher]

It is driving me nuts as well! I go to all these new roasterys and they are roasting their coffee super...I mean SUUUUPER light and fast. I am talking 7 to 9 minute batches. The coffee is borderline waxy when you bite into it. All you taste is grass.

 

[expat]

Ensoluna, I call it hipster coffee because it seems the demographic drinking it are the 'hipsters', the young trend setters. Last year they were wearing tight jeans and sneakers and a three day old beard. This year they look like Victorian era with a new millennium twist.

For better or worse -- probably better since I'm having to get out of my comfort zone and try something new. But I digress . . . . . back to your questions.

10 kg roaster / 9 kg Ethiopian Sidamo / Didn't notate the time but I'd guess about 10 minutes / didn't notate the temp as this was our first time roasting this and The Lovely & Talented Roast Mistress just followed her nose and her experience roasting thousands of kilos of Sid on the same roaster.

Not sure this info will reveal too much but we'd love to hear your thoughts (and anyone else out there as well) .

 

[ensoluna]

well... I can not really say that Hipster coffee (super light roasting) will be a new trend, instead of being fad.
Personally, when the coffee tastes grassy, I do not enjoy it.

however, food/drink is an acquired taste. if you eat drink long enough, you will acquire the taste for it.

anyway, I will be in Guatemala by end July.
I am planning to roast Very Lightly with my sample roaster and try them out. if time allows, I will even post every process in this forum. and even bring few other people in our industry to drink and evaluate them.

it could be interesting.

 

[ensoluna]

hey Expat,
I just talked to Siv at Solberg & Hansen in Norway. (one of my customer in Europe, but honestly, never bought a single bean from me yet. he is very famous for rejecting samples. I have sent samples numerous times, but .... few times came close, but never made a sale. well...someday, I will keep on trying). Siv Sandven is my contact there and he is the buyer.

he said about Hipster coffee (ultra light roasting) because he sells to most of famous roasters/cafes in Scandinavian companies.
"hipster coffee (probably not the right term to begin with. well, this is my opinion) is not about ultra light roasting. it is all about finding the flavors intrinsic in each unique coffee varietals. and try to avoid the flavors added by the roasting process"

And I asked him about "tasting Grassy".
if the coffee taste grassy, then, it wasn't done properly because "grassy" is not a varietal profile.

WELL, EXPAT, I completely agree with Siv.

 

[Musicphan]

It sounds like your referring to Nordic/Scandinavian style roasting - basically ultra light. I've tasted two roast defined as this at a local roasting event... neither I would say is grassy. Super light and not my preferred style - YES. If your interested - check out the Nordic Barista Cup website... they have their videos from roaster forum from this year and past. Some of the recordings aren't the best...

 

[AdventureCopan]

I roasted some of our coffee the other day and accidentally ejected the beans very quickly after first crack.
Since I didn't want to waste it we drank some and gave some to family. It tasted ok, but too light for my taste and I'm not a fan of dark roast either. Didn't seem grassy, but did seem barely roasted. I was thinking it was more like a blonde roast as Starbucks calls it. Anyway thought I'd chime in.
-Daniel Kent

 

[Cafeciteaux]

Try drawing out the drying phase just before the malliard reaction to enhance the body. But also, what coffee are you using, it may be on the thin side to begin with.

 

[John P]

Yes,

There is a distinct difference between Nordic/Scandanavian Roast and the Hipster-doofus coffee thing.
We just call it (Nordic) a varietal roast profile. If you are sourcing top tier Specialty Grade Coffees, to introduce roast flavor into them is to take away from their varietal flavors. That being the case, there was no reason to source that quality of bean in the first place. Under-roasted coffee is just as unpalatable as over-roasted coffee.

 

[FirstCrack]

Is this hipster coffee as light as this coffee ?

 

[ensoluna]

that is a ginger tea from Korea!!! Just kidding. just looks like it.

 

[FirstCrack]

Yea for me thats not coffee, but I know it from Arabs Bedouin culture, they roast very light and add the cardamon for the aroma and to reduce the aciditiy in order to not get thirsty ... Living in a desert area made them consume smaller watery amounts!

 

[jeremy8810]

I think one of the most popular roasters that adheres to the Scandinavian / Nordic method in the States is Supersonic. I've had a couple of their coffees, and they were ok.

This is the level that I'll usually roast my Ethiopians, Burundis, or coffees similar to those, and some of my accounts love to use it as a pourover option. It's definitely a love/hate kind of thing, so I always have to have a Sumatra or Espresso-type roast available. I have a 10 kilo and I couldn't imagine roasting these beans in the 7-9 minute range somebody referenced. I try to stretch it out and get it to go about 13 or more minutes if I can.

 

[Hankua]

I just got a bag of Tim Wendlebow's coffee from my neighbor who was is Norway. It's a light roast without roast notes or underdevelopment. Underdevelopment is the biggest problem with light roasting, and mine have this defect often.