Colombia Narino Buesaco roast-along

[bradm]

Anyone interested in a roast-along thread? Something a little new for this forum, but could be really fun. The idea is that everyone shares their insights in this thread as we all develop and fine-tune our roasts of the same particular bean. This is especially easy for bullet roasters since we can access each others profiles on RW.

I propose starting with the Colombia Narino Buesaco that Happy Mug recently added. It is fresh, modestly priced, and the description mentions that this bean works well over a wide range of roast levels. Check it out here:

Colombia Narino Buesaco

I just ordered 7 lb, which I plan to divide into 5 batches of ~640g.

Full disclosure: I have no financial interest or affiliation with Happy Mug. But I really respect proprietor Matt’s ability to select good lots of coffee, and find his descriptions accurate and useful.

[billc]

Count me in Brad.

I think that this will be fun and educational.

I just ordered 10 pounds.

I too, have had good dealings with HM.

[jimmybulletroaster]

I’ll join in, if you are willing to swap roasted results too. I’ll send you some of mine roasted to your profile, as well as a profile I modify, if you do the same for me. Although, we may try to stick to people in the same regions, but being able to taste the results of the same green and roast profile would be very interesting.

[bradm]

Ok so here is the first roast:

This one is at the light end of what you might expect the range to be for a Colombian, with a drop temp of 210C but a generous 2:00 of development time that allowed FC to finish completely.

The bean roasted similarly to other Colombians, with perhaps a little more chaff. The aggressive power cuts at the end of the roast worked somewhat to avoid a flick. Didn’t observe any scorching around Yellow, and only a few beans showed tipping in the pan.

With two days rest, the roast has a promising dry aroma of molasses and yellow butter cake mix. In drip and pour-overs, the hot cup has mild acidity and bitterness with green apple peel and lemonade. Thin body with almond hints. Fully developed, but not very interesting yet. More to come…

Update #1, day 5: Just opened a fresh box that has been sealed with 1-way valve. Nice transformation! Hot brewed cup opens with cocoa and a mix of fruits. Green apple peel has become red apple, now with cherry and kiwi. Nice light acidity, low bitterness. Body still thin and slightly astringent (maybe brewed too weakly / ground too coarsely). Good caramel sweetness that strengthens in cooling, adding hint of tobacco. Good cup, very complex. Three stars.

[billc]

I also did a roast on March 17th. (using a recipe that I made from one of Brad’s profiles)
My recipe’s development time was 1/2 minute longer than Brad’s and I dropped at 418F.
I brewed a cup yesterday morning with a Hario Switch (used like a Clever Dripper) 15g of coffee, 225ml of third wave water. (RO water with a packet of Third Wave minerals added in. No chlorine or iron tastes, that you might see with regular tap water) 1.3 TDS. -Total Disolved Solids-

Good body, mild acidity, I have allergies right now so my taste buds are off.

I did two more roasts yesterday evening and extended the development time as an experiment.

The March 17th roast had an Agtron of 52 -2.5 minutes development time.
The March 19th roast #1 had an Agtron of 50. -2.7 minutes of DT.

the March 19th roast #2 had an Agtron of 46. -3.25 minutes of DT.
I dropped a few seconds after the start of Second Crack at 420F.

I am sipping on a cup of the 3.25 minute DT roast now, even though it has only been 12 hours since roasting. 1.33 TDS.
Getting more chocolate as expected, but allergies are still blocking taste.

The aroma of the green beans when opening the bag is very nice. There ia a sweetness and a little spice on the nose. Definitley fresh beans. Happy Mug just got these in. 2024 crop.

[blacklabs]

Love reading about this adventure from you two (the best!)

[billc]

I did two more roasts using an entirely different strategy.

I built a new Recipe based upon a Roast from a Royal, Columbian, Crown Jewel, Pink Bourbon.

These roasts were 500g. The first one I took to 403F. the second I took to 418F. I miscalculated the power and fan settings for the end of the 418F roast and my rate of rise was off what I wanted.

The 403F Roast:

The 418F Roast:

Now I’ve got to wait to taste.

I am going to have coffee for the neighbors. they will be happy until:

[billc]

The 403F had an Agtron of 61 light/medium.
The 418F had an Agtron of 48 medium/dark.

The 403F did not get out of first crack before dropping, but it was slowing down.

I am sipping on 2 different brewings of the 403F Roast this morning.
I used my Hario 18g of coffee, 250ml of water TDS=1.33
I also pulled an Americano shot with my Jura Z5. 18g of coffee, 250 ml of water. 32 seconds for the shot.

Both had 1.33 TDS

On the nose:
The espresso had cinnamon with a faint lemon aroma
The Hario was very different: The aroma reminded me of candied crabapples.

Initial taste while hot:
Both were pretty vibrant with medium acidity. I got some lemony flavors.
There is a lot going on, but I am having a hard time describing it.
Both were smooth, light body.

After cooling to warm:
The Hario was smoother, rolling it around on the tongue and slurping to add oxygen: still getting some lemon, but not tart. The Finish or aftertaste was smooth with nothing notable.

The Esspresso, was still brighter, but very similar.
The Finish had just a touch of ash, but not enough to hurt the experience.

At room temperature:
The hario was about the same.
The Espresso was about the same.

I didn’t experience major changes in flavor at different temperatures like I do with Ethiopians and Natural processed coffees.

Overall: this is a very nice cup, very drinkable at this roast level.

I’ll have to wait for another day before cupping the 418F, I am getting over caffeinated.

[blacklabs]

Cupping notes just like a wine taster would do it

[billc]

This morning I am sipping on the 418F (with the flick on the end)

It has been 2 days since roasting and the unground roast beans have a very nice aroma when I open the jar. Sweet, fresh, not over roasted.

I brewed this morning’s cup in my Hario. 18g of coffee and 240ml of 195F water.

On the nose, I am getting some sweetness, some apricot/apple notes.

First sip while very warm: sweet, good mouthfeel, low acidity, a touch of chocolate, a hint of background citrus. It has some complexity.

As it cools, I am not tasting much difference.

At room temperature, I am starting to get some caramel notes.

This is a very smooth roast.

The finish leaves a pleasant chocolate note on the back of the tongue.

I don’t think that this would stand up well to milk added drinks.

For me, this could be a great daily coffee for people who like lighter roasts, even though it is medium/dark Agtron. No burnt flavors at all.

I know that my brew ratio is pretty strong. 13.3:1 with a medium fine grind, but that is where I like it.

[bradm]

Hey Bill -

Your roasts from the 17th and the 19th (first one) are very similar in development time, drop temperature, and weight loss. One big difference is that you cut power sharply at the end of the 19th roast. How do these compare in the cup? Is the one from the 19th any less bitter?

My roast from the 17th has improved nicely. See update #1 above.

[billc]

Hey Brad,

Now that they have rested for a while, I will go back and brew both at the same time and compare.

I like this kind of experimentation.

i wonder if I added too many variables:

[bradm]

Yes rest seems to have a strong effect on this bean. This experimentation is really interesting. Curious to hear if we really need to be concerned with that flick, especially since allowing it to continue is an easy way to head toward SC, where I’d like to go with the next roast.

[billc]

For the reduced ROR roast, the second crack is where I was trying to get.

i achieved that, and gave the Bullet 5 more seconds into the second crack.

One of the things that I have been curious about, but have no way of verifying is: How long does it take for the heat that is being measured on the outside of the beans with the IBTS to reach the center of the bean?

Common sense should tell us that if I drop at 420.2, the internal bean temp should continue to “coast” into a higher final temperature after it drops into the cooling bowl. (That is why it is important that the beans cool quickly)

Flattening out the ROR at the end of the roast increased my development time by almost a minute. I worry about the beans getting “baked” when doing this.

I built a special bean temp probe to try to eliminate the lag of what temperature the beans were acutally at vs what the probe tells us.

I left the bead of the thermocouple expsed and potted it in a stainless tube with high temp silicone so that the heat wouldn’t have to pass through the sheath/casing before the actual probe would be exposed to the beans.

The lag was still way too high to answer my questions.

I am reminded of Plato’s allegory of the Cave:

“In the allegory of the cave, Plato asks us to imagine the following scenario: A group of people have lived in a deep cave since birth, never seeing any daylight at all. These people are bound in such a way that they cannot look to either side or behind them, but only straight ahead. Behind them is a fire, and behind the fire is a partial wall. On top of the wall are various statues, which are manipulated by another group of people, laying out of sight. Because of the fire, the statues cast shadows on the wall that the prisoners are facing. The prisoners watch the stories that these shadows play out, and because this is all they can ever see, they believe that these shadows are the most real things in the world.”

Ultimatley, the lags aren’t that important. We, as roasters, need to get enough experience to be able to “predict” where we need our profiles to be to get the roast flavors that we want. These “predictions” come from experience and experimentation which is kind of the point of this Roast along.

Okay, way to much introspection.

How bout them METS? lol

[billc]

Okay,

I am comparing these 2 roasts this morning:

Brad: Is the ROR one the one that you were asking about? or the other 3/19 419F drop?

Anyways:

The 3/17 roast has more vibrance and acidity. Some light fruitiness. Apple and very light raspberry. A touch of Baker’s chocolate on the back of the tongue.

Body is good. Brew ratio is 13.3:1 (18g coffee, 240ml water, both had 1.33TDS)

The ROR roast(5 seconds into second crack) cup has less acidity, no
bitterness.

More chocolate in the first sip. less fruitiness. Less complexity.
Good body.

As it cools, I am getting a bit of the red apple and a little caramel, and more complexity.

Overall a good cup.

I still prefer the March 20 418F with the little flick on the end. But they are close.

I will go back and taste the March 19, 419F drop and check for bitterness.

[billc]

Sipping on the March 19th, 419F roaast

Great nose. I am getting a little fig and anise and maybe a touch of honey. Who would have thought?

While hot: Vibrant, medium acidity. No bitterness.
Softer fruits. Kiwi, rapsberry, fig. Not much chocolate.
Smooth mouthfeel. Decent complexity. (I am trying to figure out what I am missing)

After cooling:
Chocolate notes on the backcof the tongue.
Very similar to the March 17th roast. Not much sweetness.

[bradm]

I was thinking of comparing the March 17 418F with March 19 419F, the latter having the sharp power cuts at the end. Sounds like neither has much bitterness?

I sometimes get a dark roast that is just excessively bitter, which I tentatively attribute to too much post-FC heat too quickly. Sounds like your March 17/19 comparison sheds no light on this.

[billc]

Sorry for the confusion.

I didn’t detect any bitterness from the 3/17 418F or the 3/19 419F.

[ajchetram.DRyl]

Hi I’m new to roasting and just finished my official first roast on my bullet. I would love to

join the roast along party. I will be purchasing 10lbs from Happy mug,

[bradm]

My second roast was much darker at 218C drop temperature (SC is usually around 223C). The flavors are milk chocolate with good caramel toffee sweetness. Some faint cherry fruit nuance vanished after day 2. This one is still excellent on day 11, a super drinkable cup although not much complexity, just like the HM description. Here is the profile:

I’ve been having pretty good luck with darker roasts using a steadily declining RoR all the way through FC, then going ahead and letting RoR increase to reach target drop temperature. Anyone else like this method?