This roast is perhaps a bit heavy on the roasted grain flavor. It took longer to dry , which lead to a slightly quick development phase.
While still sweet, this cup is dominated more by it’s acidity.
Roast Date: April 1, 2011
This batch is an effort in learning how to let go of controlling the coffee. The whole day it just wanted to roast faster than I wanted. In the end, of course, it won.
The result is a coffee with a crisper acidity and layers of caramel underneath.
See what you think.
Roast Date: 3/22/2011
This latest batch of Brazil Recreio is roast a little faster than the last few. As far as I can tell this leads to a slight crisper acidity. In fact the batch previous to this (that wasn’t good so I didn’t sell) went much faster and the acidity was very crisp; however, without time the sugars don’t have a chance to develop so sweetness is sacrificed.
Interestingly the quicker roast leads to flavor I would call “roasty” rather than “roasted”. Basically the difference (according to me, these aren’t universal terms) is that “roasty” is the flavor of roast without caramelization of sugars while “roasted” is much more pleasant due to the presence of the caramel.
As usual, I hope you enjoy.
Roast Date: 3/15/2011
This batch developed at a slightly slower pace than the batch before it.
Especially evident is that the finishing stage. Coffee goes through a couple major stages during roasting: drying, browning and caramelization, finishing. At the end it is helpful to slow down the roasting process so that the inside and outside are more even. It seems to take the acids and aromas created during browning and “mature” them.
The slower pace seems to have made this batch super sweet and caramelly with an awesome buttery mouthfeel. The slight orange-acidity is still evident, although it’s sharpness is diminished.
A very easy coffee to keep drinking. Yum!
This last weekend I put out my first batch of coffee for sale.
I chose as my first coffee one called Brazil Recreio. I think it embodies many of the qualities that I’ll be looking for in my personal roasts.
Seasonality: Coffee is produce at its core (a fruit to be exact) and as such should be consumed in a seasonal way for maximum flavor. This means not always drinking coffee from a particular origin. Changing with the seasons means more flavor experiences and fresher flavors. Kopplin’s will choose coffee to roast with the harvest season in mind.
Quality Preparation: A lot of the flavor of coffee has nothing to do with terroir or genetics but rather post-harvest processing. This is process that takes a high degree of skill and experience, and can mean the difference between top-tier coffee and commodity. Kopplin’s will choose coffees that showcase their inherent flavors over the processing.
Sweetness: Though often thought of as a bitter beverage, coffee is in fact full of sugar (it’s in fact the caramelizing of these sugars that causes much of the brown color in roasted coffee). So before all the interesting acidity and nuanced flavor, sweetness should be there.
Farm Traceability: In a world full of buzz word with regards to sustainability, it’s hard to say anything that hasn’t be used to the point of meaning nothing. The values, rather than the worlds, are what’s important. Kopplin’s seeks to procure coffee by as fair and transparent means as possible.
Roasting, like any food experience, is best thought of as a conversation, rather that a monologue. Each roast batch is unique, and I will attempt to highlight this by giving my full description on each batch through these blog postings.
This first, batch had what I found to be a most difficult decision attached to it, mainly, when was I done practicing and ready to serve. Truth be told there are roasting errors in all the coffees we serve. Most, if not all, are very minor, and the coffee is still delicious. However, roast errors take on a new twist when you are the roaster and thus the error is yours.
In the end, I had to take a deep breath and ask myself a very simple question, “Is this coffee tasty?” Answer? Yes. It’s sweet, without roast overtones. In the future, I hope to pull back the veil a bit on the orange-like acidity and allow it really shine instead of hanging in the background. But the dominance of sweet caramel in this coffee is delicious.
I hope you enjoy.
We do not create music; we only create the conditions so that she can appear.
~Sergiu Celibidache, conductor
There are a myriad of ways to look at roasting coffee…probably as many ways as there are roasters. How one chooses to see oneself can very much influence one’s pursuit of flavor.
Many declarations with regards to quality have been stated as people begin roasting coffee. They make reference to better beans, fresher coffee, better equipment, more meticulous tracking. Without disregarding the importance of ingredients, techniques, and attention to detail, I hope to focus more on the connections and experience of coffee.
Andrew Kopplin creates some of the most brilliant coffees, tasty teas and delicious hot chocolate in the Midwest. His café, Kopplin\'s Coffee, has a comfortable and modern aesthetic make for a popular meeting spot in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, attracting a micro-culture of friendly people from all over the Twin Cities. www.kopplinscoffee.com
