The Espresso Roast Is Almost There...

Just pulled a shot of my latest blend... Still a lil' bittersweet. It's a 40/40/20 blend of Brazil Santos, Columbian (Tres Santos), and Sumatra. Tasting like hazelnut and chocolate, the blend is just leaning more towards bitter rather than bittersweet. It seems like I stopped the roast a tad too late. One thing I've experienced with my iRoast is that the temperature settings cause a higher roast temperature. For example, a 350 setting would cause my roast to peak at 375. This is the opposite of other peoples experience. Perhaps it's the 100 deg. Days we have in the San Fernando Valley. Gotta watch those temps.

Intelly Sumatra

Roasted 5oz. of Intelligentsia Sumatra last night. I followed the instructions on their website-roast to where little splotches of oil appear. On a 15 minute ramp up, hit the cool button at 2:38 left. Again, we'll see in 2-3 days.

iRoast2 -- The First Roast

Well, it's been over a year since I posted, but I plan to post more frequently. My equipment has increased. I now have a Saeco Aroma Espresso Machine, a Rancilio Rocky Grinder, and now just purchased an iRoast2.

My first roast was 5oz of Intelligentsia's Tres Santos. I made my first attempt to program the unit, a total of 15 minutes of a ramp up from 400 to 425 to 450 deg. F. After following the instructions programming the unit, I hit roast button. The fan goes on, the beans started to move. All of the sud smellswonderful!den I notice that the fan speed changes. Then my son, reading the display, starts saying, ...4 minutes, cool, 3:58, cool, 3:56, cool. It was then I realized that I had programmed the iRoast2 for a mere 15 seconds. Whoops.

After the cooling cycle ended, I used the 2nd preset on the roaster, then watched the the beans roast using the tell tale signs I have read about: First, it smells like the sack; Second, it smells like bread; Third, it starts to crackle. At this point, I just watched it until the it got to the color of a monk's tunic. I then hit the cool button, waited for the cycle to end, then dumped the beans into a mason jar.

I'll see what happens over the next 12-24 hours

(March 15, 2007) -It's been two days since roast and the coffee smells wonderful!!

Hooked On Coffee

Well, this is the start (or restart) of my journey into coffee. I'm taking it to another level, since I now have the economic means. This evening I just recieved my Baratza Virtuoso Grinder, as well as some Tres Santos from Intelligensia...I didn't know that coffee can taste this good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!