by Chris Schooley,
2/28/17
High grownHigh Grown, or HG, is a coffee designation that can mean different things in different countries. : High Grown, or HG, is the highest quality Mexican coffee designation... washed Central American coffees are practically the control coffee when it comes to roasting, the coffees that roast just like they should. They take the heat up front, change color evenly, charge into 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... with gusto and with a definitive 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.... On top of all that, they are perhaps the most versatile as far as roast level and roast development, with a plenty of exciting and intensely sweet characteristics expressed from City to Full City+City+ roast is an ideal roast level that occurs roughly between 425 and 435 degrees Fahrenheit in many coffee roasters with a responsive bean probe where First Crack.... They also have a lot of room to move the characteristics across the palate and create a 3 dimensional profile.
The number one fundamental of washed Centrals in my mind is 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... and the way that you can present the whole range of development of that sweetness. Some washed South American coffees also share this trait and you can include them here, especially Colombians. African coffees often have the vibrant and exotic fruit and floralFloral notes in coffee exemplify the connection between taste and smell. Describing the taste of a specific flower is near impossible...we always default to “it tastes like it... attributes, and Indonesian and Pulped Natural coffees have the more rusticA general characterization of pleasantly "natural" flavors, less sophisticated and less refined, but appealing. : What is Rustic? This is a general term we came up with... Dried... type of sweetness, but when properly roasted, it’s washed Centrals that are deeply and expressively sweet in a truly remarkable way.
Lighter roasts without that much sugar development show more of the malty sweetness, which also expresses itself as graham cracker or wafer cookie. Developing the roast a touch more moves into an intense candy-like sweetness, followed by the more 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... sweetness like that found in cherries and other stone fruits, unique citric and malic fruit tones. Continuing to develop the roast leads to flavors of fruit-infused 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..., with mild bitterness from caramelizationA reaction involving sugars that occurs during coffee roasting. A caramelized sugar is less sweet, but has greater complexity of flavor and aroma. Caramelization is slower than Maillard....
This is the sweetness development path of most coffees, but I feel like washed Centrals showcase this development in the clearest possible way. And of course they can be floral and more exotic fruit too depending on the coffee, but it is this sweetness that is integral and can be counted on for most of the higher grown offers.
The other side of that coin is balanceSuggests a harmony and proportion of qualities, and implies mildness since no one quality dominates.: Balance is both an obvious and slippery taste term. It implies a harmony.... If this is your goal, you want to develop the roast so that there is as much balance between the acidityAcidity is a positive flavor attribute in coffee, also referred to as brightness or liveliness. It adds a brilliance to the cup, whereas low acid coffees can seem... and mouthfeelHow a coffee feels in the mouth or its apparent texture, a tactile sensation : A major component in the flavor profile of a coffee, it is a... as possible. That balance best showcases the clarity in a well sorted and processed coffee, which in turn allows the sweetness to be the star of the show. Because the acidity can be so brilliant and crystal clear there is always a temptation to roast the coffee light in order to highlight brightnessA euphemistic term we use often to describe acidity in coffee. A bright coffee has more high, acidic notes. : A euphemistic term to describe acidity in coffee...., but there’s something to be said for sweetness developed in equal measure, even if that means dialing back the acidity just a bit.
In the Stretching out the Roast article and the Cuptoberfest 2013 video I talk about the architecture of a coffee. What I’m referring to is mostly where on the palate you taste/experience the acidity of a coffee. This location has a great impact on how the coffee tastes and feels. If you experience the acidity on the very front of the palate, usually the result of underdevelopment, there is an immediate 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... but then the finish is dry and vapid, not very sweet at all.
If the acidity has been flattened out by over-development then the coffee feels undefined and without architecture. While sweetness may be present in this profile, the lack of any other dimension fails to feature it at its best. My goal with washed Centrals is to develop a 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... where brightness in only one part of the sum of the coffee’s prime attributes, a cup that’s sweet from front to back, and a range of cup characteristics across the palate providing depth of field.
What’s your approach?
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