2 Versions of Guatemala

While I keep a scientific log of each batch that I roast, I've decided to skip the painstaking details and only list the highlights and individual lessons. On the December 22 I roasted 2 batches of Guatemala Antigua - Finca Retana Yellow Bourbon (click for a link to the detailed description on Sweet Maria's site).

Here are the highlights from the first roast:

Weight
150 g start/115 g final

Roasting Profile:
325 degrees for 3 minutes
400 degrees for 2:30 minutes
460 degrees for 5 minutes (I knew I wouldn't take the roast this long, but wanted enough time to ensure that I could manually cool the beans when I had the desired roast.)

Roast Notes:
The iRoast took about 2 1/2 minutes to get to stage one temp, but kept rising and eventually surpassed 325 actually getting to almost 360 degrees by the end of the first 3 minutes and continued to be a little hotter than the profile I outlined above. First crack started around 4 minutes. I saw external smoke at about 5:30. I manually started the cool down at 6:30, the beans were dark and exceptionally oily. By the time the cool down was complete, I felt like the beans still looked too dark.

Tasting Notes:
I waited about 18 hours to brew the first pot. The coffee was not as acidic as I expected, but had a very nice aroma. A bold cup with a faintly sweet finish.

Guatemala Antigua - Finca Retana Yellow Bourbon take 2. Still in search of a lighter roast, this time I commit myself to stopping the roast before the beans are dark and show signs of oil. I remind myself that the beans will continue to roast a little once the cool down cycle has begun.

Weight
150 g start/123 g final

Roasting Profile:
325 degrees for 3 minutes
400 degrees for 2:30 minutes
460 degrees for 5 minutes (I knew I wouldn't take the roast this long, but wanted enough time to ensure that I could manually cool the beans when I had the desired roast.)

Roast Notes:
I was showing the my new toy to a friend, so did not take temperature or notes of the roasting process, but started the cool down cycle at about 5 minutes. The beans had moved to a rich brown color, but still much lighter than the previous batch. There were no external signs of oil on the beans.

Tasting Notes:
I waited about 12 hours to brew the first pot. Wow! Home roasted coffee is something to experience. It is coffee on steroids, the flavor just erupts in your mouth and doesn't die down. The coffee had an incredible bright and sharp acidic start. Followed by subtle fruit/pear flavors. Probably the best roast so far.