Coffee Question

[KatDad]

I've been touring the world of green coffee and learning to home roast courtesy of beans from jgbutler. Also have received great advice from James and Mad Dawg. It's been fun and delicious.

What I'm drinking now is some Galapagos Islands Bourbon roasted to city. It's great tasting but POW, what a smack of caffeine. I'm a strong coffee drinker, but this took me to a new level.

My question is, would a darker roast dissipate at least some of the caffeine? I know it will effect the flavor, but my guess is this bean wouldn't be adversely effected as long as I don't go too dark.

Any input from the experienced roasters is welcome.

[Mad Dawg]

Huh. I didn't find that Galapagos to be that high in the caffeine department.

Anyway, to answer your questions: Yes, roasting the beans darker will reduce the caffeine content of the coffee you brew, because high heat causes the thermal decomposition of the caffeine molecule. Yes, a darker roast will change the flavor of the coffee, but as I recall, this bean did pretty well at the darker roasts, so by all means, give it a whirl.

In addition, what I'd recommend you try is blending it with a lower caffeine bean, say a Colombian, as a way to tone down the jolt without needing to go very dark in the roast. You can even blend it 50/50 with a decaf, if you have any. My dentist (who I got started roasting coffee) does that, as he's pretty sensitive to caffeine.

---Sidebar follows---

The highest caffeine arabica coffee bean I've ever roasted was the outstanding Rwanda Masaka that came out 3-4 years ago. POW! That stuff would definitely wake yo sleepy azz up!

[KatDad]

Interesting. When I roasted this batch last Sunday, I had to roast in front of the garage because the deck was covered with snow. As a result I had to run an extension cord from an outlet in the garage rather than plugging the popper directly into an outlet. The ambient temperature was in the upper 20s and breezy. Even sheltering the popper in a large box, the roasts took almost 50% longer than the previous three I'd done.

Maybe that had something to do with it.

[ronin]

Cold will affect the roasting time.

[Mad Dawg]

In addition to the cold, it's likely that the extension cord cut the power being delivered to the popper by a good bit, thereby reducing the heat in the chamber. I don't know the rating of the model you're using, but my OP pulls 1500w, and I just can't use extension cords with it unless they're appliance rated. Did you feel the cord when you were done? I'd bet it was warm to the touch...

In any case, a City roast (stopped at or near the end of first crack) would not significantly degrade the caffeine content of the bean. Try going to the first snaps of second crack (Full City) with the Galapagos. That roast worked better, to my tastes anyway.

[KatDad]

Will definitely take it into 2nd crack next time. I'm sure you're right about the extension cord. I was using the really long one I had run out to the front porch for the Christmas lights. My popper is 1200 watts and I'm certain I wasn't pulling even that.

As always, great advice and insights, Thanks!

[Mad Dawg]

It's right at 37 degrees here now, and I just finished roasting a batch of the Rwanda I got from SM's. Eight minutes, and I wasn't even into second crack. During the summer, I'd have gotten there in pretty close to five. That's with a 1500w unit right at the outlet with no extension cord...

[jgbutler]

Originally Posted by Mad Dawg

Try going to the first snaps of second crack (Full City) with the Galapagos. That roast worked better, to my tastes anyway.

This is the same roast that I liked best with the Galapagos as well John. I just didn't really care for any lighter of a roast with that bean.

[Emmo]

Don't know if plugging the popper into a variac at the end of the extension cord would help or not.
You could try the old cardboard box over the popper to shield it from the wind and cold air.