Saturday, February 14, 2009

hot air popper roasting 3

Wanting to try the Espresso Monkey at a lighter roast than the stovetop popper roast, and not having tried the hot air popper for a while, I gave it a go this morning with 2.05 ounces and a pre-heated popper.

I heard the first pop at 2:10, then at a rate of one every few seconds at most, often with nothing audible for many seconds at a time. At 6:00 the beans were approximately cinnamon colored, at 7:00 approximately milk chocolate, then I removed at 8:00. There was still an occasional crack and jump in the bowl. Cooled in the freezer for a few minutes. Spreading in a thin layer on a sheet of foil works great.


I certainly got the lighter roast I was looking for. I ended it at the point where I wasn't sure it would get much darker and was concerned that it would just bake into flatness. Roasted weight was 1.69 ounces (82%). Particularly since the quantity is so small I'm going to let this rest until tomorrow before tasting.

Update: After resting for 25 hours I pulled two shots. There's subtle fruitiness and sweetness but with a surprising amount of bitterness as well. It's a somewhat chocolate-like bitterness, but there's also something harsher to it. These may be the "shart unpleasant notes" one is told may be possible if it rests for less than 36 hours. It seems somewhat muted, overall, without the dynamic range I'd expect from the lighter roast. That may be an artifact of the method. I'll be interested to contrast it with the second attempt using the stovetop popper.

Update 2: Another day of rest didn't improve it. The lingering aftertaste has a solvent quality that I dislike.

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