gog is dead. long live magog.
September 27, 2007 – 10:36 amback to the roaster’s lid-juggle — now curvaceously illustrated and actually tasted!
it’s pretty simple, really. we used our wbc fanboy lot of green kenya gethumbwini peaberry (scroll down) and charted two separate air roasts — let’s call them gog and magog — back to back, in the same weather and electrical contexts.
controlled for sameness:
* the programmed roast profile — 335 degrees for four minutes, 410 for three and 465 for four.
* 125 gram microbatches
* the finished roast — 10 seconds past the first hint of second crack.
the difference between the two as charted below is how we managed the airflow through the roast chamber, or, if you want to be all ghetto and accurate about it, the i-roast’s double-layered removable lids.
essentially, gog was allowed to progress further before the top (second) roaster lid was applied, which traps a lot of air and quickly forces finishing temperatures into the 455-dgree range. in neither case did the roasts “stall,” or flatline, but in magog’s case the second lid dropped much quicker, as soon as temperatures appeared to begin levelling off. thus, magog’s second crack (**) and the finished roast were achieved about a minute earlier.
you’ll note the looooong and gradual warm-up, the barest temperature escalation after first crack and the basic, major variable — you can drop the second lid pretty much whenever you want and fairly dramatically alter the amount of time between first and second crack, which is crucial to your citrus and caramel flava flavs. ultimately, with air, you’re pinpointing the ideal time gap for the beans in question, no?
we’d be interested to know if that final escalation is, in anyone’s estimation, too sudden …
in the cup, gog gave us toasty marshmallow and fresh bread and dried apricot. but oh, magog. she brought us blackberry cobbler and ginseng. it’s not “screams blackberry,” but it’s also non-predictably kombucha-like and sublime!
20 Responses to “gog is dead. long live magog.”
I don’t know the peas of the crop, though Anette does and she describes them as being more red fruit than black fruit. (She, in fact, prefers them to the AA grade we used in the WBC).
Are you brewing them as espresso? (I am guessing so if you are roasting to second)
By James Hoffmann on Sep 27, 2007
it’s more like cooked berries to me. sweet and syrupy, but more husky than a straight blackberry taste.
indeed, we’re talking spro. this blog ain’t nordic!
By bz on Sep 27, 2007
Is it good? The AA was always hard to master as a straight shot (hence the milk) because the roast was light enough for maximum fruit, which meant a roaming and indiscriminately violent acidity.
btw - I never congratulated you on infuriating stephen with your description of his blog!
By James Hoffmann on Sep 27, 2007
it’s delish — and hard to pull. but then it seems like most acidic SOs are, in my experience.
what?! unintentionally incited ire? what did i say?
By bz on Sep 27, 2007
Now, now…. calling him my idol is going a tiny bit far old chap (though as a freshfaced young man I do admire his capacity for facial hair). Touchy… well, it is probably best I don’t dig this hole any deeper so I will say nothing.
How you dosing it? When all else would fail I’d crank a machine up to 203/204 and then dose around 16g and really squeeze the coffee and that often gave a very bright, but fresh and clean acidity that didn’t make me want to suck my face inside out. Which is a good thing.
By James Hoffmann on Sep 28, 2007
it just goes to show - i know very little about stephen. i could only describe him by his friends!
dosing was interesting. on a good day, i’d dose at 15g and pull at around 200, maybe adjusting brew temp slightly to taste (by altering the pre-shot flush on the e61). cooked fruit came up over and over again. all friends were wowed.
but then, every now and then the brights would go sour, and it seemed to thwart any flush/temp adjustment i’d try. i never had enough of the stuff to truly nail down whether it was a matter of the roast’s rest time or something else. the last resort was to updose to 18g or so and got hot — maybe 203 at most.
woulda loved to swap some. alas, mine is gone.
By bz on Sep 28, 2007
I am furiuous
By stephen on Sep 28, 2007
thank goodness. i was starting to think james had made it up. because, you know, maybe he LIKES having a sidekick.
By bz on Sep 28, 2007
Did you tweek your water at all for these tests? I know you were getting a more defined cup with mineral compensation in past testing.
I have also been logging when * ends so that I can measure the gap between * and **. It is intruiging how different the cup can be when this window is altered! I wish there was more of a scientific method for acquiring the fruited notes, but I find trial and error to be the current modus operandi. I did get a major blood orange wet aroma from some of Tom’s EZ a couple of weeks ago. On the other hand, I have been getting some phenomenal caramels and chocolate notes from some South Americans.
BTW, many apologies for not offering spro to the northern-blogfamily last week . . . I only had Silvia on for about ten minutes when they got here. ‘Twas a pleasure meeting the new arrivals!
By nate the finger on Sep 30, 2007
Are you guys noting when first ends? Also, why the long drawn out lead up to first, what do you think that is doing?
By Jaime on Oct 4, 2007
somehow i missed these comments. apologies.
jaime: i do note when first ends. i’ll stretch the GAP between the end of first crack and the beginning of second to as long as a minute — assuming, of course, im able to keep temps climbing for that long before dropping the second lid.
the lead-in. this is something sweet maria’s is big on — a very gradual, thorough warm-up when using air. the idea is that the biggest danger with air is inconsistency through the bean. the roasts can go so fast that the interior isn’t anywhere close to the finish of the exterior. so the idea is that you start very low and allow a long, gradual warm-up so that heat is evenly distributed throughout the bean. once this is achieved, you can apply the roasting heat, and, presumably, the hotter temps are then transferred more quickly asnd efficiently to the bean interior.
but that’s not something i’ve tested much. when you referred to proper drying, earlier, i assumed this is what you were talking about — the long, gradual warm-up.
nate: i haven’t tweaked the water for taste tests. every time i attempt to do some definitive tasting/blogging on water, something more foundational distracts me … in this case, better roasts.
you met the bros, eh? they’re NOTHING like me, i trust.
By bz on Oct 5, 2007
Let’s just say they are DEFINITELY Szobody!
By nate the finger on Oct 5, 2007
Jaime: Warm-up is evaporating the grassy notes.
btw - Appreciate the post and love the pic (couldn’t post for obvious reasons).
I don’t feel the myths/truths has much bearing on my current set-up (though I do believe those are vital myths to dispose of). I think I have a good understanding of what needs to happen to “keep the window to the bean clean”. I think my bigger obstacle is finding the optimum-origin/estate-profile (if that makes sense). Trial and error breeds both patience and confidence, but . . . at the end of the day, I wish there were a more effecient way. I fear I have wasted a lot of remarkable beans along the journey toward an optimal profile.
By nate the finger on Oct 6, 2007
Yes, Nate, I know what drying is but not -everything- pre first crack is ‘drying’ so I am interested to know the logic behind the slope into first.
A certain amount of drying continues throughout the roast (particularly the mechanical cracks of moisture release) but I often refer to ‘drying’ as the stage up into yellowing just before browning. Does that clarify the question?
By Jaime on Oct 7, 2007
Thanks for clarifying. Up to this point, I think a large part of juggling is simply my refusal to let my equipment hinder quality. However, at this point in the game, I do not feel I have arrived regarding my approach to any particular bean (not to mention all the issues that come up between “radiation energy transfer, conduction tranfer, and convection transfer” - to quote Peter G.). I am moving into a realm where I feel the need to buy a quality pre-roasted bean from a phenominal source, purchase green of the same estate, and try to match the outcome (trusting the roaster has nailed the optimal profile). Honestly, I am still a bit frustrated with my ability to get clean, fruited notes. On the other hand, I am not sure I am supposed to be getting the level of fruit I am striving for from my current stock of beans. This would explain part of my approach to a long warm-up (drying internal bean AND slowly passing through the phase that would highlight nutty/woody notes that I would prefer not to enhance in my current stock of beans.) Then, a moderate/steady draw through first crack with a fast ramp between end of first crack to end the roast (about 15 sec. past end of first crack for Chemex)
I would love to know your approach to certain origin/estate profiles (or roasting in general).
btw-I had a little trouble translating your link to pour-over brewing. Would love to know the ins and outs of that.
By nate the finger on Oct 7, 2007
trouble getting clean, fruited notes? shoulda grabbed and toasted some lady esmeralda. you’d still be high on those clean, fruited notes.
By bz on Oct 8, 2007
Ezzie is a complete aberration. You can roast it quite poorly and it will still pop.
Nate,
You want a shot of Ezzie to kick your butt, I laid the offer to Ben and it’s slipping away as Simon H. is running out of stock. Without my experiences of simon’s roast’s, I wouldn’t have a goal to shoot for, only a set of limited experiences I was chasing but didn’t know how to get to. I thought our stuff was great until i sampled his Ha!
So nate, to answer your question briefly as I am short on time… I will continue to ask you leading questions and let your curiosity and palate direct you. If you want to press me, shoot me an email where I can digest things more but I encourage you to get the coffee expensive as it may be! I just ordered some for a tasting and it hurts but the man delivers everytime!
By Jaime on Oct 8, 2007
*sigh*
is ALL humor lost on you, jaime?
By bz on Oct 8, 2007
Jaime, is that the dude out of Taiwan (a.k.a. Mr. Clean Bean)? Or is this someone else you are referring to?
By nate the finger on Oct 8, 2007
Nate,
Simon, yes, in taiwan. It’s expensive but that’s the way it goes. If it doesn’t rock you, we should all quit and go home.
Ben.
Yes, absolutely.
What is the relation between the finger and z body?
By Jaime on Oct 8, 2007