What is the best way to roast a medium Brazil Cerrado and Dark Roasted Coffees

[argudbrandson]

Hello Fellow Coffee Roasters,

I was wondering if anyone could help me understand the best way to roast a medium Brazil Cerrado coffee these days. I have played around with a few different roast profiles but am having difficulty getting that smooth, nutty, chocolate flavor I've had success with in the past. Tasting notes lay either too smokey and slightly baked or on the flip side, under-developed and slightly sour. Hints of Chemically, metallic notes are present in my cup as well.

Any ideas?

 

[argudbrandson]

hi, can you first tell us what type of roaster do you have? and How have you "played around with a few different profiles"?
also can you tell us bit more about "brazil Cerrado"? as I know, this coffee is rather softer side of coffee because it is being cultivated around 3000 feet of altitude with Catuai & Mundo Novo varietal mixtures. Varietals & altitude play a huge role in roasting, so please give us more info about the coffee.
thanks

Hello, thanks for the reply! I roast on a 12kilo USRC. I have tried to roast this coffee to varying degrees of "medium" roasts and for varying lengths of time. (i.e. same drop temp. differing lengths of time OR different drop temp at similar lengths of time). I've tried high charge temps and lower charge temps. But what I am finding is that most often I am achieving more of a "roasty" burnt taste rather than that smooth, rich chocolately finish that I know is possible with this particular coffee.
The Cerrado is in fact a softer coffee grown right around 1000m above sea level. It is a combo of natural and mechanical processed coffee.

Hopefully that helps a little.

 

[Musicphan]

A) Have you been successful roasting that exact coffee to the flavor profile you wish? It may be the actual coffee B) What is your first crack temp / what is your drop temp / what is your development time (from first crack to drop)?

 

[Musicphan]

Yup, Mike! I think that you might be the perfect person to give him some good advice.
PS: I have tried some coffee from Mike (encore coffee) and they were some of the best ones around from forum roasters. :+)

Thank you for the shout out!

 

[argudbrandson]

A) Have you been successful roasting that exact coffee to the flavor profile you wish? It may be the actual coffee B) What is your first crack temp / what is your drop temp / what is your development time (from first crack to drop)?

Hi Musicphan, I have been successful in the past, but it’s been a little while since I’ve had a really nice Brazil. Currently, my first crack temp is right around 385F and I’m dropping my coffee at 428F. Which normally works out to about 2min or so after first crack begins. I don’t have the profile in front of me currently, but my total toast time for the last Brazil I roasted was about 10:45seconds. Thanks for the input in advance!

 

[Musicphan]

Well, from what I can tell you roast pretty aggressively/fast. I have a USRC 12K as well - my typical FC hits about 384 and FC ends roughly 400, I hit 2nd crack roughly 432-434. Certainly every machine is diff but that gives you comparison points.

My typical milestones are 5 minutes dry / 10 minute to FC / 12 min drop for City roast profile (say 402-6 degrees)... that gives me roughly a two minute development time which I use for Single Origins where I want to highlight fruity/sweetness/acidity. The faster I push on those numbers the more acidity and under development, notes get brought out in the coffee. I personally find that roasty notes start to occur about 420 degrees, the only thing I take darker is my "dark roast" which I drop at 430 which causes just a touch of the oils to come out of the beans. My suggestion is to slow down your roast a good solid two minutes... the longer you are in development will smooth out the acidity. At least give a shot and do a comparison cup against your 10:45 roasts.

 

[Musicphan]

I also highly recommend Neil's process to determine your end drop temp... you need to move fast though when triaring out samples. Have your cups ready and right by your machine. You will be shocked to see diff coffee taste at various temps.

https://youtu.be/sct2FWVkmDw

 

[argudbrandson]

Well, from what I can tell you roast pretty aggressively/fast. I have a USRC 12K as well - my typical FC hits about 384 and FC ends roughly 400, I hit 2nd crack roughly 432-434. Certainly every machine is diff but that gives you comparison points.

My typical milestones are 5 minutes dry / 10 minute to FC / 12 min drop for City roast profile (say 402-6 degrees)... that gives me roughly a two minute development time which I use for Single Origins where I want to highlight fruity/sweetness/acidity. The faster I push on those numbers the more acidity and under development, notes get brought out in the coffee. I personally find that roasty notes start to occur about 420 degrees, the only thing I take darker is my "dark roast" which I drop at 430 which causes just a touch of the oils to come out of the beans. My suggestion is to slow down your roast a good solid two minutes... the longer you are in development will smooth out the acidity. At least give a shot and do a comparison cup against your 10:45 roasts.

Thanks for the input, I will give it a try and let you know how it goes! I appreciate the help.

 

[DanielStauffer]

Brazilian cerrado coffee beans taste great when they are darkly roasted but care must be taken that they should not be bitterly roasted. You may have to adjust the roaster for accuracy.