Tanzania Nitin Estate AA

Beans: Tanzania Nitin Estate AA
Varietal: Kent
Elevation: 1600 masl
Process: Washed
Retailer: Sweet Maria's
Pre-Roast Weight: 230 grams
Roast Attempt: 37th
Roast Date/Time: July 4, 2021, 0730 CDT

Roasting in the back room at my in-laws' means that on a day where the temperature was going to get up into the 90s, I needed an early start - the climate control isn't super great back there, plus I open the back door to get some ventilation.  So since I was up, I decided to get a roast going at 7:30 in the morning.  The beans I chose were part of my most recent order - sure I still have seven or eight pounds kicking around from orders I placed months ago in Kansas, but I was desperate to get my hands on some Yemeni green coffee before Sweet Maria's sold out of it, and my minimum order is four pounds at once to justify the shipping cost.  So in addition to the Yemen, I ordered a Tanzania, a Kenya, and a Papua New Guinea.  It was the first of those three I decided to roast this morning.

As usual, I started the roast on the manual setting for one pound, giving me 18:00 on the timer, and with the power set to P5, 100% power to the heating element.

Chamber Temperature

16:00 - 141
14:00 - 221
13:00 - 248
12:00 - 269
11:00 - 287
10:00 - 282

The temperatures were pretty comparable to the last roast - which is to say, a fair bit cooler than pretty much any historical roast I've done.  At this point I was expecting that, and so my plan was to keep the heat at P5.  At this point I'm not sure I'll ever do another roast in that room where I lower the heat to P4 at any point - anything less than full power just doesn't feel like enough.  The good news is that the comparatively slower heating process gives me a little more control; I think it also cuts back on the risk of a runaway roast like I saw a few times in Kansas, where a particularly chaff-heavy bean would overroast a bit because the heat moved quicker than I was expecting.

So I didn't change the heat, but I did hit D on the roaster to increase the drum speed once the beans were at the yellowing stage, which despite the lower heat still looked to be about 10:30 on the timer, 7:30 into the roast.

Exhaust Temperature

10:00 - 197
9:00 - 276
8:00 - 316
7:00 - 339
6:00 - 354
5:00 - 366
4:00 - 374

The comparison between the heat gain for this roast and the Rwanda honey process is interesting, because at first they were almost identical even though I didn't lower the heat this time.  I'm no scientist, but I assume that it must be a case of the P5-level heat escaping at first, and then the heating curve slowing more on a roast where the chamber was then down to P4-level heat.  From 10:00 to 7:00 the readings were basically identical; this time, though, they didn't dramatically slow their rise after 7:00.  First crack started at 5:15, 12:45 into the roast, with the A temp in the mid-360s.  I planned to send the roast into the cooling cycle right at the end of the taper, but with the A temp still only in the low 370s I decided to push the roast slightly even after first crack ended around 4:15.  At the 4:00 reading it was still only 374, so I let it ride, checking the thermistor every five seconds or so.  At 3:30, with the A temp at 379, I figured that was good enough and hit cool.  The A temp nudged up to 381 but then went down again.  I intended to slow the drum right when I started the cooling process but forgot to do so until I opened the door 90 seconds into the cooling cycle.

Complete Roast Time: 14:30
Post-Roast Weight: 196 grams
Loss Percentage: 14.8%

That's a skosh higher than I would ideally have been shooting for, although beans with that percentage have been solid mediums for me on several occasions.  And it's worth noting that as AA grade, these are HUGE beans, which you should be able to tell from the photo.  They had a little more weight to spare, or at least I'm hoping that's what it is.  If not, I guess I know not to wait the extra 45 seconds on the second run.

Tanzania Nitin Estate AA

These were the beans on Wednesday, three days off roast.  Absent context I suppose it's hard to tell just how big they are, but they're pretty big!  The color came out pretty nice, I thought - a rich brown but definitely not overdone, with no oils on the bean surfaces.  The aroma of the whole beans was fairly rich and intense.  As I'd already made a full pot of coffee with the Ethiopian beans (see next entry), I took just 20 grams of the beans and made myself a V60 pourover, using the 5/6 medium-coarse grind setting.  With 333 grams of water, I got about 10.5 fluid ounces of brewed coffee.

TASTING NOTES: This was a very interesting coffee and not necessarily what I was expecting.  The acidity was mild (perhaps not surprisingly given the relatively low elevation for an East African coffee) and there was very little fruit on the palate at all; I picked out what I might consider to be a pomelo-like note in it, that sort of mild, less bitter grapefruit suggestion. But beyond that, the coffee's flavor was dominated by nut and spice notes.  There were hints of cinnamon and nutmeg and even a sort of black pepper top note, along with a bit of marzipan.  Further down in the cup I did pick out a bit more fruit, kind of like a red grape.  The bass note was a bit on the earthy side, but not in an unpleasant way.  The body was a little lighter than I might have expected based on the other flavors but not weak.

VERDICT: Looking around online, people can't seem to agree whether the Kent varietal is more closely related to Bourbon or Typica, but based on both the historical description (it originated in India, and the line that became Java Typica did as well) and the flavors I would be inclined to say Typica.  In my experience, Typica coffees are more nut/spice-forward and less fruit-forward, and that's definitely how this one came off.  But in any event I think it roasted out quite well, and this is a profile that would stand up nicely to some dairy - it would be a good afternoon coffee, if you're the sort of person who drinks coffee in the afternoon.  You don't have that morning coffee brightness; it's a little richer and earthier.  Overall I'm pleased with it!