Why Colombian roasters, roast the coffee different that roasters in the US?

[justocoffee]

Hello,

I recently imported 1,000 lbs of supremo coffee from Colombia, (500lbs roasted and 500lbs of green). I had a local roaster sample roast few lbs here in Dallas and the way they roasted is completely different than those roasted in Colombia. Dallas roast taste more sour when brewed and lighter in color.
I'm just curious to know what causes this?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[topher]

Did the coffee look similar in color? I find that a lot of the "new school" roasters are roasting way too fast and this tends to make the coffee taste grassy sometimes sour. What kind of roaster was used in the US and what was the roast time? Are you located in Dallas?

 

[expat]

I asked the Lovely & Talented Roast Mistress what her thoughts were and she echoed Topher's comments (and he's the senior roaster by far). She goes through a lot of Bucaramanga and Huila, roasting it at all different ranges - light, medium, darker. And her roasts are l-o-n-g roasts. So it would be good to see how your Texas boys are roasting the coffee. If they've got that hipster vibe going then it could easily be just as Topher said.

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

You may not get a civil answer if you get an answer at all, but if I were you, I'd ask your Colombian supplier for a roast profile in addition to information about the roaster used.

 

[wmark]

Funny, I am in Colombia now trying to get a roaster to show me his profile(s). Colombias are supposed to be best roasted light but I am drinking some light roasted coffee that has a little bit of sourness to it.

The best cup I ever had was in Peirera where I thought I was drinking orange marmalade

 

[justocoffee]

I asked the Lovely & Talented Roast Mistress what her thoughts were and she echoed Topher's comments (and he's the senior roaster by far). She goes through a lot of Bucaramanga and Huila, roasting it at all different ranges - light, medium, darker. And her roasts are l-o-n-g roasts. So it would be good to see how your Texas boys are roasting the coffee. If they've got that hipster vibe going then it could easily be just as Topher said.

Thanks for your comment. The roaster I used, as you and Topher mentioned are the new school "hipster" roasters and they do roast fast and the color is a bit lighter. I spoke to some coffee shops "hipster coffee shops" and they all prefer that type of roast since they are marketing it as "craft coffee".



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[topher]

It's sad that people consider under roasted and under developed "craft coffee" I met a guy at the last SCAA show. We had corresponded for a couple of weeks before the show. When we met you said "sweet now you can now finally taste my coffee." I said I would as long as he wasn't one of those 9 minute new school roaster. He looked down at his feet and said , " I know I was trained to roast longer...but I find that if I roast quicker I can get more done and finish work quicker." So he is sacrificing quality for quantity. I would rather put in the hours and put out a superior product. It's sad too. It reminds me of when I was making drinks at the casino I roasted for. I had a guest ask for a cappachiny. I made him his drink and he took one sip and said ewww...this don't taste nothing like the cappachiny I get at circle K. I took the drink back and added 6 pumps of vanilla. He said it was great but was $3 more expensive than circle K. The point is even though we all know that a circle k "cappachiny" is no where close to the quality of a freshly prepared drink...but in their minds the one from circle k was the best because that was what they started with.

 

[wmark]

If anyone is interested. The coffee federation teaches everyone to roast a certain way. No where did I see a 9 minute roast. The fast roast they teach is 11 minutes

 

[topher]

Just my opinion...11 minutes is still too fast.

 

[wmark]

Yeah, the fastest I think I've ever done is about 13 1/2 minutes.

The Colombian federation also taught a 15 minute curve. Incredible that they are turning out roasters all over the country roasting the same way

 

[expat]

The Lovely & Talented Roast Mistress's roasts are probably closer to 20 minutes. While it would be nicer to turn out more roasts in an hour . . . to what purpose? Echoing Topher again, don't you want to sleep good at night because you did the best job you could and turned out the best product you could? Maybe that way of thinking is old school but somehow I think it will win out in the end.

As to hipster roasting that was really big here in Ireland last year. We turned away some business because we wouldn't 'blonde roast' for customers. The feeling was since our heart wouldn't be in it then there'd be no heart in the coffee. It seems the tide is starting to turn. There are still some hipster cups to be had but I'm thinking that fad is on the down slope. My friend is Ireland's biggest espresso machine dealer. His take is that 'at the end of the day I think 95% of people just want a good cup of coffee. Why let 5% of the market drive your business?'

 

[JohnD18]

If these hipster roasts are coming out grassy, that means they're certainly underdeveloped. However, I have many roasts I drop on the light/light-medium side that are very balanced and don't have sourness or grassy notes. I find I can bring out very pleasant citrus, fruit and even black tea-ish notes by roasting lighter, but giving it sufficient development. I usually end up dropping them between 13 - 14 minutes. Attached is a great washed Ethiopia Gera. Light and flavorful, but definitely no sourness.

 

[Seb]

This discussion about the roasting duration is interesting. I just read a very interesting paper that talk about this and the effects of duration and process of the green coffee on the quality attibute while cupping. Check this and please let me know what you think:
http://www.resjournals.org/JAFS/PDF/2014/Mar/Sualeh_et_al.pdf

 

[JohnD18]

This discussion about the roasting duration is interesting. I just read a very interesting paper that talk about this and the effects of duration and process of the green coffee on the quality attibute while cupping. Check this and please let me know what you think:
http://www.resjournals.org/JAFS/PDF/2014/Mar/Sualeh_et_al.pdf

Interesting article, it seems to correspond with what I have observed in regards to roasting time and how it affects the different flavors. So, it seems to show that generally you have more intense flavors (for better or worse) in shorter roasts, and less so in longer roasts. I have found that even if I drop the beans at the same temperature, but stretch out the development time too long, it tastes more flat, and just like "coffee" in its more basic sense. All of the outstanding flavors go out the window. Not "baked" though.
If I drop too early, the inherent flavors (acidic, fruit, nut, earthy, etc.) are much too strong, and if it's dropped really early, you get the grassy flavors which is essentially the bean not being developed enough on the inside. I measure the development time as a percentage of the entire roast, comprising the time after first crack to drop time. I have found certain sweet spots that seem to work well among many coffees.

 

[Musicphan]

The Lovely & Talented Roast Mistress's roasts are probably closer to 20 minutes. While it would be nicer to turn out more roasts in an hour . . . to what purpose? Echoing Topher again, don't you want to sleep good at night because you did the best job you could and turned out the best product you could? Maybe that way of thinking is old school but somehow I think it will win out in the end.

As to hipster roasting that was really big here in Ireland last year. We turned away some business because we wouldn't 'blonde roast' for customers. The feeling was since our heart wouldn't be in it then there'd be no heart in the coffee. It seems the tide is starting to turn. There are still some hipster cups to be had but I'm thinking that fad is on the down slope. My friend is Ireland's biggest espresso machine dealer. His take is that 'at the end of the day I think 95% of people just want a good cup of coffee. Why let 5% of the market drive your business?'

Are you dropping within FC?