Cigar Weekly

Mad Dawg · 01-13-2005, 12:00 PM

Question for the home coffee roasters: which varieties that you work with expand the most when you roast them?

It's always struck me as kind of strange that any Kenya I roast seems to expand much more than any other bean. On the other hand, the Yemen Mokha that I roast (the Hirazi from SM's) seems to expand the least.

I'd be curious to hear observations from the rest of the home roasting crowd.

MD

<----Kenya AA Mweiga Estate this morning

sevenmag · 01-13-2005, 03:22 PM

To be perfectly honest, I've never paid one bit of attention to that.

I guess I'm just not very observant.

The local guy had some nic beans ONCE and he's never had them again. (that was two years ago) They were absolutely huge when they were still green. Once you roasted them they'd barely go through the damn bur grinder on it's coarsest setting.

Not only were they friggin big as hell, it was some of the best coffee I've ever had. I've bugged the hell outta him to look up all the particulars on it but he finally told me he doesn't remember and didn't keep any info on it.

spiny norman · 01-13-2005, 04:15 PM

Beans bigger then Nic Laguna Verde?

Mad Dawg · 01-13-2005, 05:16 PM

Those Laguna Verde beans run up to an honest half-inch, maybe a bit more, when they're roasted. Never seen a bigger bean, and they never run through my Solis Maestro Plus properly.

Still, relative to starting size, the Kenyas expand more.....

sirreal1 · 01-14-2005, 03:56 AM

Funny you should bring this topic up Doug... I was thinking about this last weekend roasting up a couple batches of Kenyan Peaberry Kumanje... those beans nearly doubled in size when I roasted them! Nothing else seems to plump up nearly as much as those beans

BobH · 01-14-2005, 01:40 PM

I have to shake the heck out of my grinder to get those Nicaraguan Laguna Verde beans to keep feeding in. They are the biggest post roasted beans I have seen so far.

01-17-2005, 10:11 PM

Those beans are Jules Verne big! But the flavor! Damn.

Mad Dawg · 01-18-2005, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElkTwin

Those beans are Jules Verne big! But the flavor! Damn.

Drinking some this morning, in fact!

renoles · 01-18-2005, 06:35 AM

Monsooned Malabar tends to expand a good bit for me. I have to back waaaaay off the batch size and the stuff still jams up when it's cooling. Need to roast some and add it to the rotation.

Mad Dawg · 01-18-2005, 08:15 AM

Batch size is the real implication, and the reason I first noticed the difference in expansion between varieties. I'd put a standard 1/3 cup of beans in the Rosto, and the roast would start out just fine. But 3 minutes later, the volume of beans was sufficiently increased that they were no longer circulating properly in the airstream. Had to back off with the Kenyans to get an even roast.

01-13-2005, 12:00 PM	#1
Mad Dawg Administrator Herf Dog Herf God Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 34,199	Expanding beans Question for the home coffee roasters: which varieties that you work with expand the most when you roast them? It's always struck me as kind of strange that any Kenya I roast seems to expand much more than any other bean. On the other hand, the Yemen Mokha that I roast (the Hirazi from SM's) seems to expand the least. I'd be curious to hear observations from the rest of the home roasting crowd. MD <----Kenya AA Mweiga Estate this morning __________________ Gone, But Never Forgotten. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ That which does not kill me....has made a grave tactical error.

01-13-2005, 04:15 PM	#3
spiny norman Contributing Editor Herf Meister Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: The Cross Timbers forest of TX Posts: 9,563	Beans bigger then Nic Laguna Verde? __________________ In memorium of Ed Geuvera aka Cubano67. May he rest in eternal peace.

01-13-2005, 05:16 PM	#4
Mad Dawg Administrator Herf Dog Herf God Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 34,199	Those Laguna Verde beans run up to an honest half-inch, maybe a bit more, when they're roasted. Never seen a bigger bean, and they never run through my Solis Maestro Plus properly. Still, relative to starting size, the Kenyas expand more..... __________________ Gone, But Never Forgotten. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ That which does not kill me....has made a grave tactical error.

01-14-2005, 03:56 AM	#5
sirreal1 Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Left Coast Posts: 430	Funny you should bring this topic up Doug... I was thinking about this last weekend roasting up a couple batches of Kenyan Peaberry Kumanje... those beans nearly doubled in size when I roasted them! Nothing else seems to plump up nearly as much as those beans __________________ "What's your name? Are you a cigar smoker?" --Rodney Gwinn

01-14-2005, 01:40 PM	#6
BobH Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Findlay, Ohio USA Posts: 195	I have to shake the heck out of my grinder to get those Nicaraguan Laguna Verde beans to keep feeding in. They are the biggest post roasted beans I have seen so far. __________________ Smoke 'em if ya got 'em

01-13-2005, 03:22 PM	#2
sevenmag Contributing Editor Herf Meister Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Charleston, SC. USA Posts: 9,864	To be perfectly honest, I've never paid one bit of attention to that. I guess I'm just not very observant. The local guy had some nic beans ONCE and he's never had them again. (that was two years ago) They were absolutely huge when they were still green. Once you roasted them they'd barely go through the damn bur grinder on it's coarsest setting. Not only were they friggin big as hell, it was some of the best coffee I've ever had. I've bugged the hell outta him to look up all the particulars on it but he finally told me he doesn't remember and didn't keep any info on it.

01-17-2005, 10:11 PM	#7
ElkTwin Guest Posts: n/a	Those beans are Jules Verne big! But the flavor! Damn.

01-18-2005, 06:35 AM	#9
renoles Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Metairie, LA USA Posts: 428	Monsooned Malabar tends to expand a good bit for me. I have to back waaaaay off the batch size and the stuff still jams up when it's cooling. Need to roast some and add it to the rotation.

01-18-2005, 08:15 AM	#10
Mad Dawg Administrator Herf Dog Herf God Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 34,199	Batch size is the real implication, and the reason I first noticed the difference in expansion between varieties. I'd put a standard 1/3 cup of beans in the Rosto, and the roast would start out just fine. But 3 minutes later, the volume of beans was sufficiently increased that they were no longer circulating properly in the airstream. Had to back off with the Kenyans to get an even roast. __________________ Gone, But Never Forgotten. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ That which does not kill me....has made a grave tactical error.