Gene Cafe Delivers for Christmas

Well, between last weekend and this weekend, I have really put the Gene Cafe through it's paces and it delivered flawlessly for all of the Christmas roasting. On the 17th, it roasted 19 consecutive 300g batches, on the 23rd it roasted 16 consecutive batches (226g-250g) and today the 24th, it roasted 18 consecutive 250 grams batches. All of the roasting was done with the profile on this site (or some variation thereof) and it is simply amazing how easily one can duplicate a roast with this machine. Below is the list of coffees that were roasted (all from Sweet Maria's); I will be posting the roasting and brewing logs; to view, click on the coffees that are underlined.

Africa Highlands WP Decaf
Brazil Cachoeira Yellow Bourbon
Columbia Excelso 13556 ("to die for" per the mail lady)
Costa Rica La Magnolia SWP Decaf
Ethiopia Natural (DP) Sidamo WP Decaf
Ethiopia Organic Idido Misty Valley DP (my favorite coffee thus far)
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe - Moledina 3993
Guatemala "Blue Quetzal" Bourbon (this is an exquisite elixir)
Guatemala Fraijanes - Finca Agua Tibia
Mexico Organic Nayarit Terruno (excellent for giving the palate a break)
Rwanda Migongo Bourbon (creamy semi-sweet chocolate with cedar)
Sumatra Organic Gayoland WP Decaf
Timor FTO Maubesse (smell the forest in the aroma, hint of butterscotch)

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!! My family and I do exchange gifts, but more importantly this is the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Kenya AA Auction Lot 764 - Ndaroini Nyeri

This is a very good Kenyan coffee with some striking fruit flavors like pink grapefruit and lemon; the coffee had a great silky mouthfeel with good body. I'm sorry I did not order more of it.

For detailed information about the coffee and the roasting and brewing log, click here.

Gifting Coffee for Christmas

Today, I gave out some 1/4 lb bags of Ethiopia Organic Idido Misty Valley DP as Christmas presents. People's faces sure do light up when you give them fresh roasted coffee. Everyone was squeezing the bags and sniffing the valves ... lots of ooooohs and aaaaahs!

For the Roasting and Brewing Log, click here.

Gene Cafe Profile & Preliminary Results

I spent a good portion of my day Saturday working on this and roasting coffee. I don't have definitive, time-tested results yet, but with only 24 hours rest, the results are very promising; I tried three of the coffees I roasted (I roasted seven pounds).

In brief, this is what I did:
1) Preheat the Gene Cafe and let it do it's cool down.
2) Load ~230 grams of coffee
3) Set the Gene Cafe for 30 minutes (arbitrary, you will stop it when it is done), use a stopwatch or timer to track time.
4) Set the Gene Cafe for 300 F, hit start and let it run at this temperature for 5 minutes.
5) At 5 minutes, raise the temperature to 435 F
6) At 10 minutes and 30 seconds raise the temperature to 456 F for the remainder of the roast
7) Stop the roast at the desired level
8) Cool immediately external to the Gene Cafe (I use a Wearever Cushonaire Pizza pan on the back of a fan that pulls the air down through the beans; room temperature in 30-60 seconds)
9) Return drum to Gene Cafe, hit start then stop and allow it to run through a normal cooling cycle.
10) Repeat for next batch

I roasted the following coffees, all from Sweet Maria's:
El Salvador - The Juan Francisco Project
Guatemala Fraijanes - Finca Agua Tibia (for blending with the Columbian 50/50 great with 12 hours rest
Honduras Pacamara - Santa Marta Estate
Brazil Fazenda Brauna
Columbia Excelso 13556 (for blending with the Guatemalan 50/50 - great with 12 hours rest)
Ethiopia Organic Dry-Process Sidamo
I also roasted a Nicaraguan coffee that someone just brought to me from Nicaragua.

Preliminary Results:
Honduras Pacamara - Santa Marta Estate (24 hours rest)
I got exactly what Tom describes in his cupping notes. This coffee is similar in flavors to an Indonesian, but much more refined and sweet. It does not slam itself down on the palate, but rather offers itself up in a very inviting manner. In the dry aroma, I got a very distinct mint aroma, but in the cup it was ever so subtle, just a nuance that laced together the more earthy flavors. It does become more rustic as it cools, but right at the very end, there is a very subtle, almost imperceptible taste of chocolate as the coffee becomes more creamy and buttery.

At 48 hours rest, essentially the same, a little more mature and a little more body. Stick your entire face in the cup and let your olfactory senses drink the aroma ... it is intoxicating!

El Salvador - The Juan Francisco Project (24 hours rest)
The aromatics are nutty (toasted almond?) with grape skins and sage. The taste is very much as Tom describes, with a cornucopia of fruited flavors, some pulpiness and some fruit skins right at the end for just a hint of tart. Tom, please do keep working on this project!

At 48 hours rest, it is essentially the same, but I am detecting a bit of green apple.

Brazil Fazenda Brauna Peaberry (24 hours rest)
A hint of the orange brightness, but very pronounced nuttiness with good, but not overpowering chocolate. I have never had the nutty aroma or taste before with this bean.

Basis for Profile:
Recently, Les wrote the following, "In my Popper roasting if I wanted to slow a roast down, I would do it when the beans turned the straw color and you got the grassy smell. I don't know if you can see the beans in the Gene, but if you can that might be the place in your profile to slow it down a bit. This is where the bean really expands and getting heat in at that point in the roast is critical for a nice even roast. By slowing the roast down at that place in the profile, it allows the heat to get into the bean before the carmalization begins to insulate the interior of the bean."

Recently, miKe wrote the following, "I've found the early pre-tanning stage just as important as the start of 1st to end of
roast stage. Too short time before tanning can lead to grassy/green aftertaste while too long inhibits good caramelization latter on I believe. I use about 4min drying stage (to my 300f). Then there's the main setup ramp tanning through browning. It's amazing how varying the ramp rate will alter the cup, same total roast time. Have done many comparison roasts in the past. Most Kona I've settled in on about 25f/min ramp tanning to start of 1st. Now I slow it down to 15f/min for a couple min then 10f/min final ~minute and a half my ~445f end of roast usually about 11:30. (which is about 5f before anticipated 2nd). Unless it's Kona Peaberry then a different overall faster profile usually about 10 to 10:30min. Cooling target 2min to 125f or less."

I was trying to get the heat into the bean by adapting miKe's profile to the mannerism of the Gene Cafe. By this, I mean that I don't have to constantly change the temperature on the Gene Cafe because of the way it operates. When I bumped the temperature from 300F to 435F it took 3.5 minutes for the roaster to get to that temperature and the beans will languish behind somewhat. This may need some perfecting, and tweaking for different beans, but the results thus far are very promising.

Hope this helps and certainly feel free to comment, suggest and / or critique. I will post more results as they are available.

Respectfully,

Eddie