Cigar Weekly

Mad Dawg · 11-03-2003, 09:22 AM

I've heard people talk about "varietal flavors" and "roast flavors," and I think I understand the general concepts, but I'm still working out how they apply to my own coffee roasting setup. I've heard people say that beans roasted too dark wind up giving you a flavorless cup, and I more or less stumbled over that phenomenon this weekend. I took some Sulawesi Toraja and Yemen Mokha Sanaa'ani into second crack, to the point where the beans were dark and glistening with oil, then made up a 60/40 blend. I thought I'd remembered having good results with that roast and that blend before. Not this time: bland city!

So last night I backed off the roast just a bit with the same beans - stopped the roast just as second crack started and before the beans started showing oil on their surfaces. The difference in roasting time for each bean type was less than a minute, but the difference in cup is astounding - this coffee is very bright and flavorful, deep and rich, with the flowery nature of the Yemeni coffee shining through.

OK, so what I want to ask, oh Mentors of the Bean, is this: what do you consider to be "roast flavors" as opposed to "varietal flavors?" I'm dead certain that the floral notes in the coffee I'm finishing just now are varietal and are from the Yemeni beans in the blend, and I've been able to distinguish between unique flavors in different coffees before. How would I recognize a "roast flavor" as such?

Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom.

MD

11-03-2003, 09:22 AM	#1
Mad Dawg Administrator Herf Dog Herf God Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 34,199	Roast flavor vs. varietal flavor I've heard people talk about "varietal flavors" and "roast flavors," and I think I understand the general concepts, but I'm still working out how they apply to my own coffee roasting setup. I've heard people say that beans roasted too dark wind up giving you a flavorless cup, and I more or less stumbled over that phenomenon this weekend. I took some Sulawesi Toraja and Yemen Mokha Sanaa'ani into second crack, to the point where the beans were dark and glistening with oil, then made up a 60/40 blend. I thought I'd remembered having good results with that roast and that blend before. Not this time: bland city! So last night I backed off the roast just a bit with the same beans - stopped the roast just as second crack started and before the beans started showing oil on their surfaces. The difference in roasting time for each bean type was less than a minute, but the difference in cup is astounding - this coffee is very bright and flavorful, deep and rich, with the flowery nature of the Yemeni coffee shining through. OK, so what I want to ask, oh Mentors of the Bean, is this: what do you consider to be "roast flavors" as opposed to "varietal flavors?" I'm dead certain that the floral notes in the coffee I'm finishing just now are varietal and are from the Yemeni beans in the blend, and I've been able to distinguish between unique flavors in different coffees before. How would I recognize a "roast flavor" as such? Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom. MD __________________ Gone, But Never Forgotten. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ That which does not kill me....has made a grave tactical error.