Discussion of Important Things…
So, I want to condense some of the essential takeaways from this set of experiments with the “Big Red” Maragogipe from Sigri Estate in Papua New Guinea. First, a quick shout out to Vikram and the Benchmark Coffee Traders team and producers who brought us this incredible coffee, put in all the work and time with cultivating, processing, cupping, etc. … and allowed us to sample their work.
Some of what I learned from the roasting of the Galapagos coffee was tremendously helpful in approaching roasting the Maragogipe. Though the coffee was grown at a high altitude and was dense, because of the large shape of the beans, it (to my mind) benefited from being approached with a lower inlet temperature. I can see the merit in Kurtis’ advice about going with a small batch and not pushing the coffee too hard because limiting your inlet temperature is a massive boon with this coffee.
Perhaps the beans are not delicate. Even pushing them fast with high heat didn’t substantively increase the tipping I saw with the coffee, but it did alter the flavor, and I don’t think it was for the better. However, just because we are trying to avoid using excessive heat does not mean we are deciding to roast slowly. I think that some of the savory characteristics in this coffee tended to overpower some CRAZY unique flavors that it had to offer. Perhaps that’s why I’ve often heard people talking about Maragogipe and Pacamara as being more savory or spicy or whatever random generalizations people throw at them. Maybe it’s because we roast too slowly in trying to be gentle. As I am learning, being gentle with the heat does not necessarily mean roasting slowly.
For all those curious, I am tasting these coffees (and will continue to do so) on a Bonavita Drip Brewer, a Ratio 8 Brewer, a Chemex, some cupping brewers, and cupping. I want to have the best and most rounded impression of the way they taste as I can, but I would still love to hear how they are impacting you. I brew and cup at a 16:1 coffee-to-water ratio.
I’ll see you all on Slack, and on the Zoom Call (stay tuned for the dates).
