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Welcome to the world of sample roas2ng. Before we get started, here are some preliminary 2ps that will help you be successful: 1: Sample roas2ng is not an exercise in finding the best quali2es a coffee has to offer. It is designed to show the worst in a coffee. By seeing the coffee s worst adributes we can decide its baseline quality from which a great profile roaster can build, working to show the coffee s best side later. 2: Sample roas2ng is designed to roast a coffee very lightly for the coffee to be cupped. 3: A sample for sample roas2ng should never be groomed for defects. All defects should be lel as they are for proper and full analysis. 4: There are LOTS of different sample roas2ng machines to choose from. A machine that is capable of roas2ng samples consistently without baking them or charring them is vital. If the sample roaster shows the coffee poorly, a coffee may be passed on that was possibly excellent. 2
Weigh the green 1: A sample lab that is clean, organized, well lit, and conducive to maintaining order is highly recommended. 2: When selec2ng your mechanism for weighing, tagging, tracking, etc select tools that are accurate and easy to use. 3: Sample roas2ng is a laborious and mundane task. Having tools in place that speed the task and keep the brunt of focus on the roas2ng will ease the stress felt by needing to repeat the same exact task over and over. The monotony can then become a bit more of a rou2ne or even a medita2on. 3
Weighing the coffee 1: For our purposes, we are roas2ng 100 grams of coffee. 2: Note that the scale measures to the tenth of a gram. More accuracy means more accuracy. 4
Tagging and recording 1: Tagging the coffees and tracking the coffee are arguable the most important parts of sample roas2ng. 2: The coffee tag should follow that sample all of the way through the sample process, and live with the sample as long as it exists. 3: Any addi2onal informa2on about the coffee should be added to the tag: Sample weight, color score, weight loss, moisture info., sample roast 2me and temp, etc 5
Igni2on and warm up: 1: It is important to follow the manufacturer s guidelines for hea2ng up your roaster. 2: If your drum heats to quickly, your roast will move too slowly, as you have not stored enough energy into the machine, and the coffee will absorb what energy there is too quickly. 3: If you heat too slowly, you are just was2ng 2me. 6
Roas2ng the coffee: 1: It is very important than when sample roas2ng coffee the main goal is mind: Consistency from roast to roast. 2: The drum needs to have been properly heated, in this case, we are dropping the coffee into a drum holding steady at 385F. 3: When charging the drum the flame should be low and the airflow should not be going through the drum. 4: Start the 2mer as soon as the coffee is in the drum. 7
Monitoring the roast means checking the milestones of the coffee s change to insure they are paced according to your desired outcomes. - The above roast is a desired milestone pacing for 100g of coffee in a Probat BRZ. This may not directly translate to your machine. The thing to gather from this is your machine should be finagled to roast each and every sample the same way. - Again, sample roas2ng is meant to reveal defect, not show the coffee s full poten2al, which is what profile roas2ng is intended for. The first milestone is the Turn Around, the point at which the bean temp begins to rise aler bodoming out. This should occur within 1:00-2:00 for almost all sample roaster types. At this point, turn the gas up. 8
When the coffee turns yellow and has a hay or slightly sweeter aroma than when green, the coffee has dried. This should occur between 3:30-5:30. a: Yes, this is a large spread. Different drums, or the same drum at different charge weights will be faster or slower. It is important to know your drum and be consistent in the charge weights so that each roast is very similar in how it unfolds. b: When the first effects of drying are seen, slightly lightening places on the coffee, open the airflow a bit. c: When the coffee is fully yellow, begin to decrease the gas. 9
Upon seeing a browning occurring to the coffee, adjust the airflow to the maximum amount that you wish your airflow to go during this roast. - note: some systems have extremely high levels of airflow when at 100% fan/damper opened. You may max at less than 100% in this case. This is the point at which you will enact whatever maximum airflow you have designated. 10
First crack should occur at around 6:00-7:30, depending on your equipment. 11
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Cooling the coffee 1: Cooling the coffee is an important step. a: Cool it in less than 4:00. If your cooling tray can not accomplish this, many verify that the coffee will taste a bit baked out, as it is s2ll cooking in the cooling tray, b: Once the coffee is cool, get it out of the tray. Roasters also verify tas2ng coffees that are flaDened by having the vola2le aromas sucked out of the coffee by siing in high winds for too long aler roas2ng. 13
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