Mahal Coffee Roast Log Blog

Beans: Ethiopia Bensa Asefa Qonqana Varietals: Ethiopian Heirloom Elevation: ~2000 masl Process: Washed Retailer: Sweet Maria's Pre-Roast Weight: 227 grams Roast Attempt: 86th Roast Date/Time: May 14, 2022, 1900 CDT Going back to a washed Ethiopian, I decided to once again try the Sweet Maria's suggestion for how to roast them light - instead of hot and fast, start the beans off lower and slower, like you would for a low-altitude coffee, and then punch them into first crack by pushing to peak heat late in the roast.  The first time I tried this it didn't quite work; the second time I pretty much nailed it.  But was that luck?  How easy is this process to achieve for any given batch of beans? I started things on P4, 75% power, with 20:00 on the timer and of course manual control in place. Chamber Temperature 19:00 - 93 18:00 - 122 17:00 - 150 16:00 - 177 15:00 - 199 14:00 - 219 13:00 - 233 12:00 - 222 When the vent opened at 12:30, I increased the drum speed but le...

Beans: Laos Paksong Typica Varietal: Typica Elevation: 1200 masl Process: Washed Retailer: Sweet Maria's Pre-Roast Weight: 230 grams Roast Attempt: 85th Roast Date/Time: May 14, 2022, 1730 CDT My last order from Sweet Maria's, which I had been sitting on for a couple months while I tried to clear my green coffee backlog, was motivated by this batch - coffee from Laos!  I've said it before and I'll say it again, but I am just a massive sucker for provenance, and I've only seen Laotian coffee on offer a handful of times before, and never green.  The ability to try it for the first time out of my own roaster was way too tempting to pass up, and while I knew I wasn't going to want to roast it right away while I was working through the backlog, I had to order it when I did or it would sell out, so I did.  And now here we are. Because the elevation is comparatively low relative to most non-island coffees I roast, I decided to try starting the roaster on P4 (75%...

Beans: Rwanda Milles Collines Peaberry Varietal: Bourbon Elevation: ~2000 masl Process: Washed Retailer: Sweet Maria's Pre-Roast Weight: 230 grams Roast Attempt: 84th Roast Date/Time: May 14, 2022, 1630 CDT For a while I had been running way ahead on coffee.  Then all of a sudden I was nearly out - I roasted only one batch for myself in the previous month-plus, and I had gone through the coffee I'd brought back from a trip to Hawaii.  Fortunately, I had three full bags of green coffee that I could finally get around to roasting.  Less fortunately, this did mean that I would have to turn around and drink one of them the day after roasting it, which is sub-optimal.  This was the first of three roasts I did on May 14, so it was also the first one I brewed, on May 15.  I started the roast with 20:00 on the timer, manual control, and on the P5 setting (100% power to the heating element). Chamber Temperature 19:00 - 93 18:00 - 132 17:00 - 172 16:00 - 204 15:00 ...

Beans: Papua New Guinea Kuta Waghi Varietals: Arusha, Bourbon, Typica Elevation: 1600 masl Process: Washed Retailer: Sweet Maria's Pre-Roast Weight: 230 grams Roast Attempt: 83rd Roast Date/Time: May 1, 2022, 1015 CDT After finally getting almost all the way through my backlog of green coffee, I finally cracked into one of the batches I bought most recently (two months ago at this point).  Although it was beans from Laos that spurred this most recent order, I decided to start with a batch from PNG that my dad also purchased and had been raving about.  As usual, I started the roaster on P5, 100% power to the heating element, with manual control and 20:00 on the timer. Chamber Temperature 19:00 - 87 18:00 - 129 17:00 - 168 16:00 - 204 15:00 - 231 14:00 - 255 13:00 - 275 12:00 - 258 Back when I used to get hotter temperatures, I would generally change settings when the beans hit the yellowing phase.  Nowadays I've been doing it at 12:30 on the timer, when the exhaust ...