Eldub,
Thanks for the reply but I'm looking for more than an inventory--I want to learn some coffee roaster strategy from you and the other folks who, hopefully, post to this thread. There are several pro roasters on this forum and they all started somewhere. They may now have the luxury of having 20 or more varieties of beans but What was the genesis? What was the evolution of that first bean order? And why?
From your two bean lists I'm looking for more context. I'm wondering why you started with the first list and then on the second list, are those replacement beans because you're not continuing on with the first list, or is it in addition to? Or, if you're keeping some and jettisoning others from the first list what is driving your choices between what you're keeping and dropping?
What was your thinking behind the first list and now the second? And are you blending or just roasting S.O.?
For instance, after looking at our market we knew we wanted to roast a Mocha-Java so that drove the purchase of the Sumatra and Ethiopia. Then a roaster aquaintance in New Zealand suggested his all day blend as a winner. That drove the purchase of the Brazil and Kenya to which we also added the Ethiopia. We bought the Robusta, not because of any grand plan but because it fit in our budget and someone told me to "season" our new roaster with a couple of really dark roasts of beans we could throw away (interesting the reason why people decide things, isn't it!?!).
The MJ has been a great seller. The all day blend did well but wasn't nearly as popular as the MJ until we tweaked the recipe and dropped the Brazil in favor of the much more flavorful Colombian. Now it too is a favorite. The robusta just sat there till I came across an espresso recipe that I liked and toyed around with until Buzz Bomb was born and it is doing quite well. The Ethiopian just happens to be the The Lovely and Talented Roast Mistress' favorite, so that became our first S.O. And, because the Colombian is so good (The L&TRM roasts multiple roasts, each to a different level, each roast bringing out a different flavour profile in the bean) that it is going onto store shelves as an S.O.
And as to bean #6 we're thinking of a Limited Edition, "when it is gone it is gone" bean that we change regularly based on what is really unique and flavour packed and most important available from the importer. Our first #6 was an El Salvador Santa Barbara Bourbon that was absolute joy in the cup but when the importer only got a few bags, and everyone wanted it . . . Since then we've cupped a lot of what we were hoping would prove to be bean #6 but so far none have been outstanding enough to meet our "Limited Edition" criteria. But we're having fun continuing to evaluate new crops.
So I hope that gives you an idea of what I'm hoping to see--reasons why. Selfishly I want to know so I can learn and gain insights and hopefully others can too.
