I have an unusual roaster with a perforated drum and mostly pay attention during charge to ET. I then do a 1.5 minute soak. The aim is to drive in a lot of heat without flames scorching the beans through the perforation. From there I'm attending to both temps. The roaster had been preheated for 20 minutes. Do you suggest a shorter soak or eliminating that, and what effect could it have? I'm open to trying things differently.

As of late, I've been charging hotter keeping the gas very low until the turn. I then up the gas to 50% of my burner's max. Then attenuate after dry.

Before we use to charge cooler, about 50° cooler and step on the gas @ turning point. The darn gas was so high I had to micro-manage the rest of the roast.

Heck, the roasted beans look better with the new approach. More even in color, fatter, and they taste better. I used to dis-like Kenyans and now there a favorite. I can even roast a natural without tipping.

Our machine is a solid drum.

I can certainly experiment, one variable at a time, starting with a shorter soak to accelerate drying. But it won't be with this bean because my standard load is currently 750 gm and I don't have another full load. (It's all right; this is being shared with friends and will be brewed for a gathering.) It seems to be a matter of finding the sweet spot of one's roaster and then fine tuning within that zone. Turning point can also be off instrumentally. Anyway, enough roasting talk here because we're discussing this particular green. If you want to we can DM about roaster adjustments and such.

Boldjava wrote:Disappointed with the number of defects culled.

I have noticed a significant uptick in quakers and defects in general lately, especially from Africa, but not exclusively. I had to return a bag of Ethiopia Natural Aricha to my importer due to 2-3%+ floaters. The replacement Yirg was much better, but still not what I've been accustomed to the past 7 years. If I have to incorporate culling labor into my process...oh boy.

Got pictures of the defects? When we were in Nicaragua a few years back the farmers were having a heck of a time with coffee plant disease.

I'm drinking a cup of this coffee 3 weeks off roast. But it's spent part of it's life in the freezer. It's still delightful. It's smoothed out so to speak, well balanced, and is usually my first cup in the morning. Then I'll switch to something different.

mkane wrote:Got pictures of the defects?

I'm drinking a cup of this coffee 3 weeks off roast...

Glad to cull the next time I roast it and take a photo.

I have been blending this with a washed Sumatran from Bodhi. 40 Sum/60 Ecuador. Good blend, almost a Mocha Java with a tail.