Blending for a Dark Roast

Jar

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Apr 4, 2006
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Hello
Im new to the forums here, and new to roasting in general.

Quick background :
I just got interested in home roasting, useing a popcorn popper to do it. I think its awesome, my wife is considering having me commited.

I like espresso, she likes drip. She prefers dark roasts. She currently buys JJ Beans Doppio Torre Fatto. They describe it as a Dark French Roast. Previous to that was seattles best post alley.

Anything I've roasted and put into her drip machine, she's said has lots of flavour, but tastes weak. I NEED to find a blend that she prefers over her coffee shop boughten ones. So instead of having me committed, she'll not question my wanting to spend more money and time into this hobby :D

The current green beans I have in the house are :

Brazil Santos
Sumatra Mandheling
Papua New Guinea organic
Yemen Mocha
Peru Organic

I was going to also purchase soon some ( but dont have yet)
Harar
Ygercheffe
Peabody Tanzania
Costa Rica

So heres the main question.
With the beans I currently have, Which ones will take a vienna or french roast. With the total selection above, what recomendation of blend at dark should I try?

They all taste awesome to myself at full city, or just into second crack. But without me going thru a lot of time and cash worth of beans, i'd prefer to rely on others experiance as to what will make the best frnech roast.

All help appreciated
 

ElPugDiablo

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You can use your Sumatra and Yemen to do a variation of the oldest blend Mocha Java. If you roast both into second crack, try 50 - 50. Let it rest at least 48 hours. If you have Harrar, you can use that instead of Yemen. With Yemen or Harrar, the ligher you roast, the less the ratio in the blend, but because both are known to have a lot of defects, you might want to roast to at lease second crack.

I would not roast Brazil, Paupa New Guinea, Tanzania , Yirgacheffe much into second crack, if at all.

For more info on home roasting and blending, if you have not been to sweetmaria.com, you should visit the site.

BTW, can you ask jjbean exactly what do they mean "double roasted"?
 

Jar

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I'll be sure to ask them about 'double roast' next time :)

From all I can research there is actually 2 meanings. Originally it was used just as a term for any roast taken well into 2nd crack (french roasts). But then apperently some people who seen the term but didnt research it, actually started 'trying' to roast, cool, then re roast, with.....varying results :/


Back to my bean problem.

I'll give the moka java thing a wirl.
I guess what im most in need of, is a list of which beans do well taken to a dark roast.

From what i've been able to research so far:
Any of the celebes, yemen, sumatra, sulawesi, yirgacheffe will hold flavour well at a dark roast.

The only american beans that seem to do well at dark from what i've read is guatemalan and costa rican.

I'll just have to buy all of them and give it a whirl :)

For those who have made good french roast blends, is it usual to each of the individual origins to dark? Or is it customery to use a dark base and add some lighter roasts in small portions?

The seattle's best post alley says its a central american and sumatra, so i'll try a guatemal roasted dark and a sumatra also roasted dark.
 

cawi

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Apr 7, 2005
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dark roasts

Dark roasts:
Costa Rica
Colombians
El Salvador
Guatemala
Kenya
Mexican
Nicaragua ?
Panama
Zimbabwe

Talk to your supplier and ask their recommendations for the spacific varieties you bought.
 

Jar

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Re: my .02

NW JAVA said:
"week" well try adjusting the grind and the amt, before junping off the " man what's wrong with the blend" ...my $$$$$$.02

Increasing the amount of coffee doesnt help me much. I can use the weakest body coffee around and just triple the volume per set dose of water. But thats not really helping me in finding origins that have full body and hold some semblance of origins at a darker roast. Im not talking burnt, but to where oil is starting to show on beans rested after a day. Like 1/2 oil covered as compared to a full sheen of oil.

Using a set known grind, and set known volume, I'm trying to find what origins work well for us. Of the above list, taking all to start of second crack, only the sumatra had enough body to not taste weak.

So im now working thru the list provided by Cawi to see which we like. Trying some nicaraguan now. Will try guat, costa rica, and zimbabwe next, also was interested in trying uganda.

Maybe a better way for me to have asked would be to ask which origins from each region make the best dark roasts.

Americas: guatamala, nicuragua, costa rica
Indonesion : sumatra
African : zimbabwe, uganda

That list sound right ? Any othe rsuggestions as to which are the best dark roasts from each region?
 

wag

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Oct 1, 2004
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I think that is purely personal prefrence.
I love dark rpast, into 2nd crack and beyond. I love bittersweet and this is a great way to get em. Most oft tHe S.American and C. Americam typically do well. I do not like high fruit or floral coffees such as Yirgacheffe and Harrar taken into 2nd crack. I do like Sumatra dark, But this is my opinion,
 

Jar

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Ok, heres my current problem. I guess im roasting too...timid.

Just yesterday I made up a batch of nicaraguan and sumatran. Roasted each individually. Took them well into 2nd crack. Timing was 2nd crack starting at 6 min mark, and i went to 7:30 , so a goodf 90 seconds into 2nd. My digital thermometer held in the bean mass was reading 470 for what its worth.

The beans had a lot of divets (or whatever their called) coming off the beans. Was definatly smoke coming off them. The beans were covered in a sheen of oil. Not great gobs, but a sheen over the whole bean.

So i put them in my mason jars, and about 3 hours later when i looked, they show no oil other than a very few spots.

Is this commmon for the visibile oil to soak back into the beans and for them to then appear dry after a day? Is a vienna or french roast even farther roasted?
 
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