2nd Huky Roasting Competition Discussion

[hankua]

HukyForum is on the radar? 

[Chert]

I received my sample pack from Demitasse.  4 little bags of 6 ounces each.  Very promptly delivered and roasted Nov 23!  Great service, guys!

I think the beans look to have been dropped a bit cooler than my sample.  dry fragrance is sweet, wet aroma is floral (in a good way,  ) flavor is sweet caramel, rounded mouthfeel.  Every bit as pleasant cupped as my roasts were as pourover as espresso, but better than my competition entry tasted cupped (especially after the contest was over,    )  I will freeze one sample and cup it against my next effort and enjoy 162 grams that remain in various brew methods.  Danged if I get "strawberry, grapes, pears, sweet tea" though.  Wait a minute, maybe it's there in the lingering pleasant aftertaste...  For me, the lingering aroma after grinding and brewing is the best part of coffees that I otherwise enjoy tasting or some I don't enjoy.  The aroma that lingers with this one is no exception.  DELICIOUS!

 I think the experience is more about my palate.

yours in over-thinking an experience,

Flint

PS  HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!  I hope yours is as full of tasty treats and good moments with friends and or family as mine promises to be.

[Gregr]

I got super fast shipping too. This morning I pulled shots with their Uganda. The beans are light and heavy. No surprise that the shots are immensely sweet. There's some citrus/fruit sweetness but it's mainly a very strong sugar kind of sweetness. I'll go as far as to say I've never had a roast this bright and sweet before. The body is slim so the acidity is way out front but that's not a negative in this case. I'd love to be able to duplicate that delicate balance and have a few bright Africans to try it with. It's an amazing espresso and if anyone likes their shots bright and sweet this will make you very happy. I'll add that it needs an extremely fine grind and took me several shots to get it right.

[JavaBuzz]

Chert, on the Guat:

Strawberry: Focus on the acidity with this... I never detected a flavor I would categorize as strawberry (in my roasts or theirs; maybe a very fleeting flavor in the aftertaste). However, I think the strawberry was primarily a reference to the "taste" of the acidity, if that makes sense. They alluded to this in the cupping, and I could see this being possible in the roasts I did and in their coffee/roast.

Swee tea: in both their roast and mine, this came across to me more as a "Lipton tea with raw sugar added to it" flavor. I believe my roast tasted like it had more raw sugar added (but not to the crazy level that sweet tea can have) I think "sweet tea" was a more succinct way to describe this flavor, so that's why they used it.

Grapes/Pear: In both my roast and theirs, I noticed these flavors, but they were more in the background. I would say pear, green grape, and apple flavor. Depending on the temp of the coffee and way I brewed it, the flavor might switch between one of these flavors (generally didn't taste these all at the same time; one sip might taste like pear, another sip like apple, etc).

I hope this is helpful to you (and possibly others).

[JavaBuzz]

Hi Chert, another thing...

Do you know the ratio for how strong you are brewing the coffee? Brewing on the strong side tends to bring out the "heavier" notes and hide the "lighter" ones. This is also possible with brewing very weak.

I personally usually brew coffee around 15-16:1 ratio of water:coffee (15.5:1 my typical starting point). Nothing wrong with stronger (or lighter), and some coffees will taste even better outside this range, but if you're brewing very strong, it might be harder to detect various flavors.

The above is what I use for 1-2 cups of coffee (pourover/Presse). Might need further adjustment for larger amounts. Water temp and water type are also a factor (among other things).

[Chert]

Chert, on the Guat:

Strawberry: Focus on the acidity with this... I never detected a flavor I would categorize as strawberry (in my roasts or theirs; maybe a very fleeting flavor in the aftertaste). However, I think the strawberry was primarily a reference to the "taste" of the acidity, if that makes sense. They alluded to this in the cupping, and I could see this being possible in the roasts I did and in their coffee/roast.

Swee tea: in both their roast and mine, this came across to me more as a "Lipton tea with raw sugar added to it" flavor. I believe my roast tasted like it had more raw sugar added (but not to the crazy level that sweet tea can have) I think "sweet tea" was a more succinct way to describe this flavor, so that's why they used it.

Grapes/Pear: In both my roast and theirs, I noticed these flavors, but they were more in the background. I would say pear, green grape, and apple flavor. Depending on the temp of the coffee and way I brewed it, the flavor might switch between one of these flavors (generally didn't taste these all at the same time; one sip might taste like pear, another sip like apple, etc).

I hope this is helpful to you (and possibly others).

"sweet tea, grape, apple, pear"  flavor directions I see often in Guatemalan coffees descriptions and I can imagine the sweet notes I appreciate might fit those labels.  Some ethiopian, or the naturals of Yemen or Mexico come closer to "strawberry" in my opinion.  I'll get to a pourover and espresso with demitasse soon and see what think.

I think those comments are helpful as far as focussing ones effort to analyze the cup so thanks.

Hi Chert, another thing...

Do you know the ratio for how strong you are brewing the coffee? Brewing on the strong side tends to bring out the "heavier" notes and hide the "lighter" ones. This is also possible with brewing very weak.

I personally usually brew coffee around 15-16:1 ratio of water:coffee (15.5:1 my typical starting point). Nothing wrong with stronger (or lighter), and some coffees will taste even better outside this range, but if you're brewing very strong, it might be harder to detect various flavors.

The above is what I use for 1-2 cups of coffee (pourover/Presse). Might need further adjustment for larger amounts. Water temp and water type are also a factor (among other things).

I don't know the brew ratio the contest used.  I use 1:16 or sometimes 1:17.  I went as low as 1:14 but not with this coffee.  SCAA suggests as dilute as 1:18 in their cupping manual, which could have a palpable or palatable difference especially in mouthfeel but also flavors don't you think?

[JavaBuzz]

Hi Chert,

Cupping (SCAA) is (all approximate...):
8.25gr coarsely ground coffee
150gr water at 200F
Immersed for about 4min (3-5m) before breaking the crust.

So it's basically an 18.2:1 (water:coffee) ratio. I personally have found this ratio does work really well and taste really good for cupping, but doesn't scale well for larger pourover or non-cupping immersion brew methods (usually tastes weak and water-downed to me). Most likely Demitasse was using something very close to the SCAA cupping protocol.

I'd definitely recommend trying out cupping (though it's a bit messy)!

I often find my best-tasting and most nuanced (easiest to detect flavors) brew attempts are actually cupping brews (that follow SCAA guidelines). It's pretty rare that I brew a cup of coffee using another method and it tastes better than a cupping brew of the same coffee. If it wasn't so messy, I'd probably brew coffee this way all the time.

[jyalpert]

I agree.  I am constantly trying to reproduce in brewing the flavors I tasted in cupping.  I almost never get there.

[Chert]

I agree.  I am constantly trying to reproduce in brewing the flavors I tasted in cupping.  I almost never get there.

I am quite interested to read that experience.  I've been cupping quite a lot since getting back into roasting now 80 batches ago.  The brew or espresso is consistently more enjoyable and flavorful than cupped, although I haven't used the 1:18.2 ratio.

[jyalpert]

I'm pretty sure I'm just a shitty barista.  And especially since I roast pretty light (usually City, max City +), it's difficult to dial in the extraction.

If I do everything manually and use my kitchen scale, I can get my light roasts to taste as good as cupping if I do pour-over.  But pour-over is such a hassle and only yields one cup.

[Chert]

For the record more on the roast of Santa Ana by demitasse:  I want to post that the strawberries, sweet and mild fruit flavors I can appreciate in the pourover I am having right now. 

So thanks, demitasse, for giving me a roast skill to aim for. 

Nice finish, too that is where I taste the slight tea note.

[Chert]

I've been roasting with alot more heat these days.

I pulled the Santa Ana out of the deep freeze and tried another City roast: