How do all the roasters out there approach their craft? Do you have any juicy tips for maximising flavour? Do you aim for a particular turning point temperature? Do you approach every coffee differently or do you have a set system that seems to work for all? If you’re lacking acidity, what do you change?
Just general roasting chat really.
Hi @AlanBruce !
This is my personal experience as we progress in this quest. We all agree that this is art as well as science to achieve great tasting coffees, so yes I feel roasters work hard and craft procedures that maximize results globally here - in quality I mean.
Every bean has its own special particular flavor potential which is achieved in different roast profiles. This is achieved by variation of heat, transfer to the beans, airflow, and time of roasting and in this case yes you will want to aim at specific turning points depending on what type of coffee you are roasting.
From where I come from it is very important and mandatory to do sample roasting first to evaluate the flavors that whatever coffee you are about to procure exhibits, of course following decisions are very financial and you will need the best.
In your case I feel you may want to look in depth of the green coffee beans now moving on to the acidity issue, Coffees grown below 2,000 feet especially washed arabicas tend to be bland or neutral and this I mean on light to medium roasts which means it is not possible to achieve acidity considering the variations discussed above.
On the other side, washed arabicas grown above 4,000 feet exhibit sharp, nippy, or bright acidity if you like. It is always best to invest more on the latter then mitigate challeges of blending the blands accordingly or as needed.
I hope this will help.