Pounding the Yemen

[raj]

Arriving so late as to still be having appetizers after the rest of the restaurant has cleared out (as is the norm with me), I tonight roasted some of the Yemen Mokha Harasi. This is the third dry process coffee I have roasted, the first two being Ethiopia Dry Process Saris Abaya and Ethiopia Dry-Process Gr. 1 Aricha
in time order.

Unlike the roasts of the dry process Ethiopians but consistent with other reports about this bean, my result was also pretty variegated - I would say ranging from City+ to Full City. I find the visual appearance very pleasing, but then again I roast in a stainless steel sauté pan in an electric oven (for less than 3 months), so what do I know...

[and the crowd roared as one]

For the benefit of any other eccentrics so daring as to subject their Yemeni beans to such peril, follows below are the details of my first roast (of this bean). I can hardly wait to try it, but I will restrain myself until I've finished the Ethiopia Dry-Process Gr. 1 Aricha I'm currently drinking, the El Salvador Finca Siberia Bourbon waiting in the wings, and the Java Sunda Pitaloka queued up behind that.


[and for the benefit of that lone geeky eccentric still reading]

Bean: Yemen Mokha Harasi
Method: stainless steel sauté pan in an electric oven
Profile:
Preheat sauté pan in oven until oven hits 400 F. Drop beans and turn up oven to 500 F. Stir beans every 2 mins for the first 6 mins. Stir beans every 1 min until judgement call time about when to stop roast.
Green Weight: 228.5 g
1C Start: 9 mins 30 secs
1C Duration: Not recorded
2C Start: NA
2C Duration: NA
Stop Roast: 13 mins 42 secs
Weight Loss: 16.8%

[bigbells]

[and for the benefit of that lone geeky eccentric still reading]

Well, it looks like you made it pretty much impossible for that poor soul to admit it.

[raj]

[and for the benefit of that lone geeky eccentric still reading]

Well, it looks like you made it pretty much impossible for that poor soul to admit it.

Aha, I knew there was at least one!

Hopefully its not too late for me to mention that I have high regard for geeky eccentrics. That said, maybe I should have said "audacious pioneers". Such are the consequences of drinking Ethiopia Dry-Process Gr. 1 Aricha after decent folk have taken to their beds.

[martin]

Interesting selection of coffees in your lineup there, raj. Blending the Yemen and DP Ethiopia would be interesting, and mixing either with the Java would ring yet another change on the classic Mokha-Java blend. Using all three would be... hmmm, that sounds nice, too. Did you have fell designs along these lines, or is this really just an accident of roasting?

I'm not sure what to do with the Siberia Bourbon, aside from enjoying it. ;-)

[raj]

Interesting selection of coffees in your lineup there, raj. Blending the Yemen and DP Ethiopia would be interesting, and mixing either with the Java would ring yet another change on the classic Mokha-Java blend. Using all three would be... hmmm, that sounds nice, too. Did you have fell designs along these lines, or is this really just an accident of roasting?

So far all of my blending has been to combine tiny remainders with whatever I have going. Since I'm exclusively (at present) using a Bunn Trifecta for brewing, "tiny remainder" means less than 15 grams given my typical coffee to water ratio.

I've had some serendipitously good blends involving DP Ethiopians, Sumatrans and Java, although not necessarily at the same time. I'm only keeping semi-objective stats about roasting, but no semi-subjective notes about results - a record keeping shortcoming that I really should remedy.

I think I may also not be roasting enough of any given bean. I started out roasting 2 back-to-back half pound batches every 3 or 4 days, but switched to roasting a single half pound batch about every other day. Since I've also been switching coffee every time I roast, it seems like I never have enough to experiment with even moderately extended resting, let alone purposeful blending. Many of my roasts have been quite enjoyable with the rest they've been getting, but even occasional instances of a coffee just starting to come into its own on the last cup is more than frustrating enough to inspire change. An example all too fresh in my mind: The last cup of El Salvador Finca Siberia Bourbon was finally starting to get a little interesting on the last cup of the roast (~90 hours post roast).

I also think I may also not be buying enough of any one green bean. I hate it when I have a little epiphany with a bean only to discover that Sweet Marias also doesn't have any in stock. Example: Brazil Fazenda Do Sertao Catuai.

I'm rapidly starting to understand why home roasters wind up having roasted coffee stashed in every nook and cranny and enough green coffee to spark a hoarding intervention. But I already have 2 cats - so maybe I have genetic predisposition.

Circling back in the general direction of Yemen... I really appreciate your blending suggestions. As I'm totally out of DP Ethiopians (roasted or green), I shall have to content myself with a Mokha-Java blend (oh, the hardship). My immediate dilemma though is that I had to start drinking the Java roast yesterday afternoon, and even today it only has about 3.5 days rest and is now half gone. My precious Yemen roast (at least I'm hoping/assuming that's how I'll feel about it) has rested less than 3 days. Sort of a case study in all the things I need to change (at least the ones described above).

In the hope of possibly reserving enough of my current stash for a Mokha-Java blend, I roasted 2 back-to-back half pound patches of Columbia Vereda Pedregal last night. The idea is that maybe I can use it as the means to resist cutting into my Mokha-Java reserve. Hopefully the Colombian will ring in sometime before the last cup.

I'm not sure what to do with the Siberia Bourbon, aside from enjoying it.

Well, although I've enjoyed it, I've enjoyed the majority of the coffees I've roasted more. Most of that first half pound batch was kind of boring. Some nuts but not much else going on, until the last cup when some very welcome acidity suddenly appeared. Does it seem odd that acidity wouldn't manifest until 90 hours post roast?

[raj]

I enjoyed my first cup of my first roast of Yemen Mokha Harasi today at about 113 hours post roast. I meant to try some a day sooner than this, and will next time. In anticipation of the power present in a DP (per prior experience), I reduced the amount of coffee I used by 8%.

Is masculine a flavor descriptor? Leather and tobacco overlay the same fruits present in an Ethiopian DP. Kind of like some guy you run into wearing a leather jacket and smoking a (really good) cigar. Only after interacting with him a bit do you learn he also writes poetry and sometimes cries at movies. I think I may go just just a bit lighter the next time to hopefully emphasize the fruit a little bit more(?), but I would call this roast very successful nonetheless.

I had another cup later in the day with a 50/50 mix of Yemen Mokha Harasi and Java Sunda Pitaloka (thanks again Martin). This was also nice, but I liked the Yemen better on its own. Reason: The fruit was less apparent such that the cup seemed less rather than more complex. The Java had rested a day longer even than the Yemen, so I think may have been dragging down the blend on its decline. Seeing this after the fact, but it also sounds like a lighter roast of the Java may have been better for purposes of this blend (I was not planning to blend when I roasted it). I also think my slightly modified roasted coffee storage protocol might have been beneficial, but roasts of both the Java and the Yemen predated the change.

Since I'm really liking that fruit in juxtaposition with the leather and tobacco, I can definitely see possibilities in blends of an Ethiopian DP with the Yemen as Martin suggested. I have no deliberate experience with blending, but I can see something like the Nicaragua Acopio Suyatal blending well with this Yemen as well (?).

[martin]

I have to confess that, although the classic combination is the one that gives Mokha-Java its name, I too find most of the Yemen lots SM offers so nice on their own that much of the motivation behind it seems to have been lost. Are we getting over-refined Yemens these days? I don't think so - at any rate I'm perfectly happy with Yemens that I can simply enjoy on their own merits. For that matter, the Java I've tasted this year had a lot more going for it beyond that laid back "Island" profile of earlier wet-processed lots. Come to think of it, this is mostly the Java Sunda project delivering on its early promise, isn't it? Good work there.

I'd suspect that it was more my tastes changing, but I still love me a nice, round, unexcitingly chocolaty Nicaraguan (and etc.). It might be more that now that one normal roast batch is pretty near a week's supply, I just don't have as many or as varied opportunities to blend. Or maybe even I'm actually getting better at this roasting thing...

[raj]

I had another cup later in the day with a 50/50 mix of Yemen Mokha Harasi and Java Sunda Pitaloka (thanks again Martin). This was also nice, but I liked the Yemen better on its own. Reason: The fruit was less apparent such that the cup seemed less rather than more complex. The Java had rested a day longer even than the Yemen, so I think may have been dragging down the blend on its decline. Seeing this after the fact, but it also sounds like a lighter roast of the Java may have been better for purposes of this blend (I was not planning to blend when I roasted it). I also think my slightly modified roasted coffee storage protocol might have been beneficial, but roasts of both the Java and the Yemen predated the change.

Follow-up: I opened a previously undisturbed half pint jar of Yemen Mokha Harasi that had been resting for almost 9 days, the longest I've ever rested any coffee. Incredibly, It was even better at 216 hours than it was at 113. Ripples and eddies of wood, leather, spice, fruit... I can't imagine it possibly being any better, highlighting a few points:

• Excellent roasts of Yemeni beans can be produced using a stainless steel sauté pan in an electric oven. I used my "standard profile" that works well for many other (but not all) beans.
• Vacuum sealing my beans before the jar has been opened for the first time may, at minimum, not be necessary?

[Sam21]

Well, I'm late to the party. I've been incredibly busy since October that I never had the time to roast up the Yemens I purchased. I have 1.5 pounds of the Harasi and 1 pound of Ismaili.

I'll be roasting up one of them this afternoon, as i have a great big block of free time and am itching to get behind the controls of my Hottop again. On my first batch, I did end up with some very light tipping, so i'll be starting the roast at a slightly lower temp and trying to be sure the drying phase is long enough, 6-6:30min.

What else have you all found to work for these beans? I'll be aiming for City+ to Full City - not going all the way to second crack.

[bigbells]

I've roasted my pound of Harasi but still have my pound of Ismaili. I deliberately got 10 seconds into rolling second crack and still found that my personal tastes are not strongly inclined toward dry process coffees. I used it to blend with more sedate wet process beans.