High-altitude coffee

[Mad Dawg]

Not grown at high altitude, consumed at high altitude. I just returned from a week in Colorado. This is an annual trip for Mrs. Dawg and me, but this year I tried something different: Instead of roasting up a week's worth of coffee ahead of time and taking it with me, I took my roaster and did batches every other day.

I did 3 different Ethiopian nats that I've been digging (Saris Abaya from SM's, Konga and Gedeo Worka from Klatch), and drip brewed each. Roasts were stopped at the first suggestion of second crack. I split each batch in half, so rest times were 12 and 36 hours for each roast.

Summary of results: Different.

None of the coffees tasted the same as they did back home, generally not even close. Most of the fruitiness was gone, and the coffees all seemed a touch more acidic. I've been trying to think of why that might be, and several things come to mind.

1. At the elevation where we stayed (7000ft), water boils at 198 degrees. That's got to affect the brewing part of the equation.

2. Ambient temps are lower than normal Houston temps.

3. I had a very robust electrical outlet, so roast times were actually shorter despite the lower temps.

4. The air is very much drier in Colorado than it is in Houston...like 9% vs. 90% RH.

I think the humidity is the big factor. After just a few hours, I could feel discomfort in my sinuses as they dried out. That had to affect my ability to pick up on subtle flavors. And it is uncomfortable.

In any case, just a few observations for discussion.

[fvfanmc]

Doug, was the water in Colorado have anything to do with this?

[Mad Dawg]

Possibly another factor, Mike, but small, I think. The water in both places is very good.

[Bobbystbob]

Funny, we switched places, as I am in Houston now and from CO Sp
I think what we need to do is, when I get back to CO, we each roast some of the same coffee to the same roast, and send it to the other and see if we can taste the difference altitude makes in roasting

[fvfanmc]

Doug, it looks like the altitude affects more than coffee:

Al Gore says altitude to blame for Obama’s debate ...

[grtrx]

From my limited experience roasting, the variations seem to come from ambient temp and ambient humidity. roasting times vary with the weather and even at close to same degree of roasting there is variance in taste.

Don't discount the effect altitude has on you and your senses - less oxygen and lower humidty (in this case) and perhaps dehydration all crimp your taste buds.

Or so I think

[lfg2nrg]

Originally Posted by fvfanmc

Doug, it looks like the altitude affects more than coffee:

Al Gore says altitude to blame for Obama’s debate ...

Al is high

[Mad Dawg]

Hey...you knuckleheads do NOT want to bring politics into one of my threads about coffee. Not even in jest. Capisce?

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Originally Posted by grtrx

From my limited experience roasting, the variations seem to come from ambient temp and ambient humidity. roasting times vary with the weather and even at close to same degree of roasting there is variance in taste.

Don't discount the effect altitude has on you and your senses - less oxygen and lower humidty (in this case) and perhaps dehydration all crimp your taste buds.

Or so I think

That's what I think as well, most especially the dried-out sinuses thing.

[BigJohn]

What you said about the lower boiling point of water.
That's the trick right there.
Remember, roasting expands the bean by heating the moisture in the bean. All of this happens FASTER at that altitude, and will certainly impact the coffee roast...
you did not have a Robust Outlet, you had a lower roasting time due to the moisture in the bean geting hot faster.

[Mad Dawg]

Really interesting thought, John. I hadn't considered how the boiling point of water thing played out in the roast itself, but that makes perfect sense.

When I ultimately move up there full-time, I'm going to have to find a way to slow down the roast, or maybe go to a drum roaster.