Behmor Roast Profile Ethiopia Coffee

Roasting Our Blend Ethiopiques 2.0 for Espresso

For those of you who are unaware, Sweet Maria’s Ethiopiques Version 2.0 is the fruitier version of our ever popular Ethiopiques espressoA small coffee beverage, about 20 ml, prepared on an espresso machine where pressurized hot water extracted through compressed coffee.: In its most stripped-down, basic form, this is... blend. Unlike the all wet-processed coffee ingredients of the latter, a good chunk of Version 2.0 is dry-process coffee, which among other things, adds darker fruit tones in more developed roasts to layers of velvetyA mouthfeel description indicating elegant softness, refined smoothness: A mouthfeel description indicating elegant softness, refined smoothness. See Silky as well. chocolateA general flavor or aroma term reminiscent of chocolate. But what type? Usually described with more specifics.: Chocolate is a broad, general flavor or aroma term reminiscent of... roast tones. And on top of this, dry processDry process coffee is a method for taking the fruit from the tree to an exportable green bean. The whole intact coffee cherry is dried in the sun... coffees tend to have amazing bodyAssociated with and sensed by mouthfeel, body is sense of weight and thickness of the brew, caused by the percentage of soluble solids in the cup, including all..., a vital component to any espresso blend.

My goal for this BehmorA popular electric drum roaster designed for home use, with variable batch sizes (from 1/4 pound to 1 pound) and a smoke-reduction system. It has been modified and... roast was to maximize chocolate roast tones without introducing ashyThe smell or taste of ash, such as an ashtray, cigarette smoke, or fireplace. Often a roast defect.: A quality in aroma or flavor similar to that of... flavors, and to retain as much of the fruitedIn some coffee taster’s lexicon, “fruity” means the coffee is tainted with fruit, and “fruited” means a coffee is graced by positive fruit notes. We don't exactly see... highlights as possible without creating an ultra bright shot that comes with roasting too light. In order to achieve these goals, I planned to bring the roast up to 1st crackAn audible popping sound heard during roasting. In coffee, one refers to "first crack" and "second crack," which come from two different classes of chemical reactions.: An audible... (“1st C”) at full power, tapering heat just before the beans start to fracture in order to slow down the tail end roast leg. My thought was that extending the time from first crackFirst crack in one of two distinct heat-induced pyrolytic reactions in coffee. It is distinguished by a cracking or popping sound in the coffee, and occurs between 390... to finishSimilar to aftertaste, but it refers to the impression as the coffee leaves the palate. Aftertaste is the sensations gathered after the coffee has left the mouth. We... would dull a potentially acidic edge that some of the Ethiopian components are capable of producing.

I should mention that this roast was performed with the Behmor 1600 Plus in manual mode, where heat and drum speed are controlled manually with the buttons on the front panel. I won’t go into too much detail here about manual mode as we have plenty of resources on the Behmor 1600 Plus product page. I selected the 1 LB batch size option when starting my roast in order to take advantage of the extra time on this setting. My overall roast time was still only 13:30, but I like to make sure I have that leeway at the end should the roast go longer than expected.

Behmor Roast ProfileRoast Profile refers to the relationship between time and temperature in coffee roasting, with the endpoint being the "degree of roast". Roast profiling is the active manipulation of... EthiopiaEthiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia, or a coffee cultivar: Ethiopia, or more specifically the Empire under Haile Selassie,  was known as Abyssinia. The name is Latin, derived from... Coffee: My batch size was 200 grams, or roughly 1/2 LB. I find a 1/2 LB batch size fairly responsive to changes in heat input, which proves especially handy when you near the dreaded high temp “Err2” shutdown error that occurs when the machine gets too hot (for me that’s a bean probe reading of 325F, but I’ve heard others say 330F). Larger than 1/2 LB batch sizes can get away from you more easily once the coffee becomes exothermicA term applied to thermal reactions, referring to one that releases energy. A classic example is burning. Most parts of the coffee roasting process are endothermic, but first..., so even lowering your heat input at 315F like I did for this roast might not be enough lead time to slow down the rate of rise sufficiently and can mean blowing a roast batchOne of the most important variables in roasting coffee, the weight or volume of the coffee being put in to the roaster will dramatically affect the outcome of... (I waited until 320F on my first batch which proved to be a little too late to avoid the over temp error – check out those roast defects!).

I kept my heat input at P5 (100%) all the way up until 315F, where I dropped it to P2 (25%) in order to keep from hitting the “Err2”. 1st C happens with the heat setting at P2, but with bean temp dropping, I oscillated power between P4 (75%) and P3 (50%) in order to keep the roast from stalling. I don’t go back to full power though as I didn’t want to risk speeding through the last leg of my roast and winding up with a burned tasting coffee.

Looking at my roast data above, time markers are a little confusing since I report in the countdown format that the Behmor 1600 uses. In the 1 LB setting the time clock counts down from 18 minutes. In terms of time passed, I hit the yellowing stage at about 5 minutes into the roast, 1st C at 10 minutes 47 seconds, and hit the cool button roughly 3 minutes later. I let the roast cool for 30 seconds in the chamber then finished cooling the coffee in a Quest M3s cooling tray for about 3 minutes more. If I had another shot at this, I’d probably go another 30 seconds in the roaster before starting the cooling process as I didn’t quite get the Full City roastA coffee that has been roasted to the brink of second crack.: A coffee that has been roasted to the brink of second crack. The internal bean temperature... I set out to achieve (the roasted coffee lost 29 grams, or 14.5% weight loss).

Even at a shade north of Full City, my roast proved to be chock full of bittersweetBittersweet is from the language of chocolate, and describes the co-presence of positive bittering compounds balanced by sweetness. It is directly related to caramelization, but has inputs from... roast tones and showcased fruited sweetnessSweetness is an important positive quality in fine coffees, and is one of five basic tastes: Sour, Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Savory (Umami). In coffee, sweetness is a highly... without being over the top. I tend to go for shorter shots of espresso and enjoy the intensityWe have a simple scale to rate intensity in our coffee reviews, from Mild to Bold. Low intensity does not mean low quality!: We have a simple scale... of the tightly distilled flavors of a ristrettoA smaller version of espresso where extraction is restricted is called a Ristretto. While espresso averages 20 ml, a ristretto is 15 ml. pull. My ratio of coffee to yield for the two shots I pulled were 15 grams of ground coffee to about 18 grams of espresso.

The roast tone flavors take on characteristics of semi-sweet chocolate chips and roasted nibs. A fruited sweetness is apparent up front, as is a sweet lemon note but without the acidic bite – fruited, but not sharp in any way. I think roasting any lighter than this will yield a citric, puckering espresso shot.

The texture of the liquid is silkyA mouthfeel description indicating a delicate, light, elegant softness and smoothness. Usually refers to a lighter body than terms such as velvety, or creamy. which certainly lends to a long aftertasteAftertaste refers to lingering residual sensations in the mouth after coffee has swallowed. It might be distinguished from "finish" which is the final sensations of the coffee while.... The flavor matrix of the short finish is centered around dark chocolate, berry and citrus to a lesser extent, moving into a more bittering baker’s cocoa powder flavor in the longer finish.

In closing I’ll say, that while my roast was a little short of my Full City goal, I still really enjoyed the resulting espresso. It had all the sweetness I’d hoped to to develop, and I think drawing out the last leg of the roast helped to mute the potential citric high notes. I also managed to keep from roasting too dark, which maintained the fruited undertones afforded by the dry process component. Chocolate roast tones were definitely a focal point, but I think I’d prefer to let the roast roll another half-minute or so to further develop pungentRefers to an aggressive, intense aroma or flavor, often related to spices (pepper) or roast tastes. Pungent foods are often called "spicy", meaning a sharp or biting character,... chocolate flavors that would be more conducive to a cappuccinoAn espresso-based beverage with steamed silky milk on top, averaging 150-190 ml: Cappuccino is an espresso-based beverage with steamed silky milk on top, averaging 150-190 ml..

-Dan