I’ve been roasting and learning on the R2 Pro for a few months now - 350g batches of washed Ethiopian Gerba Hechere.
I’ve made slight adjustments to the Aillio 350g sample profile and decided to try at a lower charge temp (200C). The roast profile (to me) reads a light roast, but after doing a few pour overs and French press, it seems more like a diner cup of coffee - is this due to the lower batch size and charge temp?
You’re saying you expected a “light roast” but got “diner coffee”?
Can you say more about what the difference means to you?
397F and 1:45 DT is definitely on the less-developed end of the spectrum, but what did you expect to get that you didn’t get (or got that you didn’t expect?)
Thanks for the reply, morgan.
Trying pour over and French press, I’m getting body, sweetness, and some roasty flavors. I guess what you’d expect from a standard cup of diner coffee - missing any delicate tea-like notes, fruit, floral, acidity.
Solely doing 350g roasts, my FCs are around 195-196C with a drop temp around 196-198.
With this particular roast, I lowered my charge temp 20c (200C) to stall FC (which I did) and to drop around 205C - City temp range. I was hoping the longer Maillard would help with complexity, but it seems I’ve gotten more complexity with my higher charger temps (230C) and lower drops (198C).
Compared to your previous roasts, you’re changing a couple of very impactful variables at the same time. Generally, this roast was quite a bit longer in relative terms, with the most impactful difference being a longer development time, and the next being a longer time to first crack.
Those are two of the most powerful levers on flavor; charge temp is important, but less so. Opinions vary on this, but probably its greatest impact is the effect it has, in combination with burner settings, on FC time.
It would probably be instructive for you to attempt a longer FC like this roast, combined with a shorter DT like your prior roasts. My suspicion is that a shorter DT will bring back a lot of the things you’re missing-- there’s a big difference between 1:45 and 0:55, and that difference is reinforced by the longer FC time.
Another important factor is that you’re ending at a similar temp, but after a much longer roast. This means a higher “roast degree” in the sense of the action of heat on the bean throughout its mass. I’m sure you noticed the moisture loss was about a point higher on the posted roast → more internal development, less acid, fruit, and floral qualities, all other things being equal.
Might check out Morten Munchow for more. He offers a free class for Bullet owners, the link is elsewhere in this forum.
UPDATE: found the post with the Munchow class link: Roasting numbers seem off - #21 by braca19452f9m
Thanks again, morgan.
This makes sense. I’ll look to incorporate in my next roast to see if a prolonged FC with a shortened DT will help highlight the more nuanced notes.
I’ll also check out Munchow’s class offering - thanks for sharing!
