I like to roast quite light, but I often find that the roasted beans come out very dense and hard — so much so that it sometimes stalls my grinder. Also when brewing as espresso, I have to grind really fine and it still often comes out quite fast with a fair amount of channelling. Some beans have this issue much more than others (e.g. I’ve noticed it a lot with a washed Peru and washed Guatemala that I’ve had).
The workaround I’ve been using is to roast a little darker than I’d like (usually a slightly longer dev time which results in a slightly higher weight loss).
I’d like to know if there are any techniques for increasing solubility/porosity and reducing density, without ending up with a darker roast?
For reference, I’m roasting on the R2 Pro and usually roast full 1.2kg batches. Typical weight loss is between about 11.5%–13% (depending on the bean).
Here’s a typical example roast (this is a washed Peru):
