So I did this roast a while back, I was really distracted during it, I watched the graph and not the actual numbers, misjudged some points and it felt like I had failed(or so said my inexperience on proper roasters)
The cup however, turned out quite nice. Smelled like bubblegum, had a nice fruity taste and was pretty good in general.
My question is, looking at the graph below, any advice on how I can make this cup better?
(what should I change to enhance the flavours?)
Since you like the flavors in the cup, call this one a win! I like your bubble gum flavor descriptor, couple of my fruity Ethiopian roasts have brought the same thought to mind.
If you’re looking for something different to try, you could speed up the roast a bit, especially in the last half. Notice how the fan increases killed the RoR starting around the 6:00 mark? Try using just one fan increase, from F2 to F3, and using power changes to control the RoR. There is some lag time before the power change takes effect in the curves, maybe 30 seconds, so you have to anticipate problems and then be patient to see the effect of your change. If you keep the RoR a bit higher in the last half and shorten the roast by a minute or two you might see some brighter flavors and more acidity.
For larger batch sizes you may ultimately need higher fan speeds. I like the advice of using just enough fan to clear most of the chaff by the end of the roast.
Thank you @bradm , Just the kind of input I was looking for! I’ll try to shorten the roast next time and not fiddle with the fan too much and see how it goes. (need to order more first)
I got the bubble gum descriptor from Lance Hendrick, once he put it in to words it all just clicked for me
Cheers!
EDIT: I have no clue where I read this or if I read this but should I try to flatten the IBTS/BT curve between yellowing and FC? or am I just confusing something with something else?
“should I try to flatten the IBTS/BT curve between yellowing and FC?”
There are many schools of thought on what the shape of the curves should look like. Search this forum for Scott Rao and/or Rob Hoos and you’ll find several discussions and book references. Since the flavors in the cup are such a personal preference, and the techniques apply differently from one bean to the next, I think the best thing to do is order relatively large batches of the same coffee so you can play around with several approaches. Then maybe you can tell us what you’ve found that works best?
