New toy

I have been wanting a moisture meter for some time and just picked one up. Moisture meters measure the moisture content in green coffee, typically ranging from 10-12%. This one is easy to use and provides quick results. It will be interesting to measure the moisture of a coffee over time to see how it loses moisture and impact on flavor. As green coffee ages it loses moisture and develops woody flavors and loses acidity. I hope to do some home experiments of measuring various coffees over a years’ time stored in various packing material- vacuum sealed, cotton bags and burlap.

Summer coffee offering

Looking for a new coffee for this Summer’s This Joy+Ride offering. Leaning toward new crop Central Americas. Maybe a new bag design with valve to keep coffee fresh.

Roaster updates

Looks like some new roaster updates that home roasters might be interested in.

Diedrich 1-Kilo Gas Roaster in production in the Winter.

The infamous San Franciscan 1 Lb Roaster is back

New moisture meters

Coffee Chemistry just updated their website and are now offering books and lab equipment. I have been wanting a moisture meter for some time and they are offering one from QC Lab. Looks interesting.

Ideally moisture in green coffee should be between 10-12%. I would be curious how this changes throughout the year for coffee. As a home roaster, this would be interesting to track this and affects on flavor. In Sacramento the humidity is relatively stable, but it does get very hot in the summer.

Tasting old samples

Had some samples of dark roast coffees laying around and have been tasting them over several weeks. Some were stored at room temperature and others frozen. Interesting to see what qualities are retained over time. Basically I am tasting for staleness. The coffee bean begins to oxidize and absorb oxygen.
The first qualities to fall off are the soft fruit and floral qualities of the coffee. Over a few weeks, the coffees begin to taste a bit edgy, rough and woody. The acidity becomes harsh and body is still present. Since these are dark roasts, this seems to carry certain qualities, but the subtle flavors begin to fade.

Some of the frozen samples were from over two months and they retained their quaility pretty well for a few tastings and then fell off soon afterward.

all sold out

Sold out of the Ethiopia Misty Valley at This Joy+Ride, 20 bags in 3 days. Now, the work begins. Thanks to Sheri and Shari for the support!

lighting

I have been using new Verilux lights for roasting and having some good results. Coffee color and bean surface texture changes pretty quickly so having good lighting really helps. I have been struggling with this for some time since I roast during the day and night.

Comparing ground and whole bean samples

Cupping roast profiles

Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley

Back from Boot Camp, I was set to roast and select some samples for the upcoming this joy+ride’s Spring Coffee Offering. The Roast Profiling and Cupping course was invaluable and learned many new roasting and tasting techniques. We tasted 6 samples from Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya blind and the Ethiopia Misty Valley was amazing. It really stood out among a great crowd. The Misty Valley had intense berry aroma and lots of sweetness. Should be interesting to taste it at various stages.

This week I will be working on the roast profile and last minute details. Should be roasting and shipping early next week. A limited-edition roast of 20 bags. Order some if you are interested.

Selection time

Ordered some samples to roast and cup this weekend for the upcoming This Joy+Ride. In January we did a special limited-edition of Finca Mauritania El Salvador which was a lot of fun.

I usually focus on coffees from Central America, but right now coffees from Ethiopia and Brazil are new crops. I will be tasting some Africa coffees this weekend: Ethiopias, Kenya and a Rwanda.

New Crop refer to the current year’s crop that has been harvested and shipped. As the year progress, the unroasted, green coffee slowly loses freshness and vibrancy. Many roasters are packaging green coffee in vacuum sealed bags to ensure freshness throughout the year. Past Crop coffees develop a woody, straw-like quality losing sweetness and acidity. Many coffee roasters are emphasizing freshness and seasonality in coffee. See Mr. Humprhies guide.

Roaster Maintenance update

Updated the Roaster Maintenance page including a Quantik Sample Roaster -

tostadora portatil, portable toaster