Poaquil Guatemala roast tweak

#1

Hi everyone, I’m new to Ikawa and received my roaster a mere week ago. Very excited to join the community and really hoping to see and participate in discussions/tips on roasting.

I’ve decided to start with this coffee, and roasted my first batch using the espresso profile. After extracting at 94C, 17.5 in 28g out, I do get some of the flavour notes of brown sugar, but also quite a bit of dark, chocolate notes. Body is medium, and crema is a little thin, but not a big issue. The beans look dark compared to other specialty coffee that I get from other roasters, and am wondering if ikawa profiles tend to roast darker than other roasters.

I just roasted another batch with development time reduced by 10s, and will see how it tastes in a few days. In the meantime, does anyone have any tips or suggestions?

Cheers,
Paul

#2

You do not say how long the beans have rested for, so if you are pulling your shots under 7 days (for an espresso) then being able to get decently distinct flavor notes is good so resting of the beans should help, and you should wait before dialing in the beans or the window will keep moving. From what I’ve seen there are two distinct color changes from when the beans are wrinkled and when they are smooth so if its dark and wrinkled is lighter roasted then smooth light brown. Crema comes from getting at least into the smooth bean realm because those reactions that create the gas for crema to form is the same that puff out the beans outer surface. Crema is not flavor, if anything during those reactions the bitter flavor can develop more strongly. Generally letting the profile run for longer can help if everything else before was ok, but if you are dropping the beans and they taste hollow or thin then extending the profile won’t help, you’ll have to adjust the profile in the beginning stages and/or the heat at the end so the beans are neither underdeveloped and taste green or beany or overdeveloped and taste like wood/burnt caramel.

#3

Hi Deven, thanks for your suggestions. The beans are 5 days old at this point, so I guess I should wait for at least a week next time. I’ll do that before adjusting the profile further then. Thanks!

#4

Hello & Welcome.
What Deven said :slight_smile:

Hardest part when starting to roast is waiting.

I roasted a batch of new beans yesterday and can barely contain my excitement.

#5

What beans, may I ask?

Deven, you are right. The shots are more flavourful now after a week, though I still think it’s roasted on the dark end of the spectrum. More burnt tastes than fruity ones.

#6

Drima Zede from Ninety Plus. It’s a heavily fermented caturra grown in Panama. The sample of their roast I tried was phenomenal. Hope I can do it justice :slight_smile:

#7

Sometimes for espresso the peak can begin the 14-21 day range. It all depends on how you roast it, when it peaks, and how your roast plan is laid out. Sometimes I just roast a couple off, sometimes I do like 9 batches to cup out and see how I roasted changes the flavor. It’s up to you how you’d like to plan what/how to roast and when to drink. There is no goal that is universal to us all, so you’re going to have to take in the information and apply it. Like you say they taste more burnt and I can think to myself, well you could have altered the grinds and brewing parameters for your espresso or keep resting it out. Unless the beans are heavily charred they should reduce in that flavor over time.

#8

I had that Drima Zede by ninety plus but I bought from a roaster in Ireland called Imbibe. Looking at how well they roasted the beans was something else and the smell was amazing. Still one of the nicest coffees I’ve had this year.

We’re you able to roast them on the ikawa and get that plum smell and nice colour?

#9

Also depends on the espresso machine you have. I find on the sage barista pro that the beans need 7-10 days rest and need to be roasted on darker side of medium. Also the higher altitude beans are very hard to brew as espresso I find. You need good flow control or better machines

#10

Ask me in about a month :smiley:

I roasted 2 batches, one on my baseline profile and then a second with a slightly shorter development time. They are resting now, so will be ready to taste next week. It normally take me 3-5 roasts to start getting a flavour I am happy with. Sometime I get lucky though.

I also ordered 100g of roasted, and it was mind-blowingly good. Most intense coffee experience I have had. So I know what I am aiming for.

#11

Which profile did you use?
Shortening the roast time will make it lighter. If it wasn’t too off, try shortening 10s~20s at a time.
I also like clean and fruity espresso, without any burnt tastes.
711 245 and 801 242 profiles here on Ikawa blog,


Were pretty good, both giving 3rd wave espresso style roast degree.

#12

I always start with my Baseline profile, and then work from there.

I have a feeling we enjoy very different styles of espresso :slight_smile:

There seems to be a current trend for light bright espresso. I prefer a deeper richer experience with more roast flavour. Still very much third wave, but early third wave. That is the joy of home roasting, we can find our own personal sweet spot. I enjoy finding that balance of a deeper roast, but without destroying the complexity of the more delicate flavonoids.