Ethiopia Bensa Asefa Qonqana

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 left the heat at P4 for now.

Exhaust Temperature

12:00 - 185
11:00 - 258
10:00 - 293
9:00 - 312
8:00 - 325
7:00 - 336
6:00 - 345
5:00 - 352
4:00 - 357
3:00 - 365
2:00 - 374

At 5:00, with the A temp over 350 and acridity becoming noticeable in the exhaust smell, I pushed the heat to P5 (100%).  Acridity got quite prominent at 3:00, and first crack started at 2:30.  After 15 seconds I dropped the heat back to P4.  By 1:30 the crack was tapering and I didn't want to push this batch, so I sent the roaster into the cooling cycle.  There was a decent amount of smoke escape around the edges of the door as well as some flaming chaff embers; nothing concerning, but more than I'd seen in a while.  A temp peaked at 384.

Complete Roast Time: 18:30
Post-Roast Weight: 197 grams
Loss Percentage: 13.2%

A bit more than I'd like for a light, but certainly within range for a good roast.

Ethiopia Bensa Asefa Qonqana

These were the beans on Tuesday morning, two and a half days off roast. I was irritated to note a couple of oil spots, but individual beans can always be weird. The overall batch certainly resembled a solid medium, perhaps even medium-light, although I would say definitely not a total light.  I ground 32 grams of beans and brewed them with 533 grams of water to produce just under 17 fluid ounces of brewed coffee.

TASTING NOTES: As of this writing I've actually made this coffee twice.  Both times I picked up a lot of chocolate, much more than I was expecting.  But oddly, the first time I found the acidity to be pretty mild up front, whereas the second time I was hit with the mouth-cleansing lemon acidity and tannic character that Sweet Maria's description had indicated.  First time must have been a fluke, or maybe I drank it too soon after eating something else.  Behind that was a decent amount of florality - it can be hard to pinpoint exact floral notes but I'd go with jasmine - and hints of mango and peppery spice.

VERDICT: This is a good coffee, although I don't think it's among my favorite Ethiopians I've had.  But I do feel like I did a decent job roasting it, which is the more important concern for me over how much I personally loved its flavor profile.

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