Kenya Kiambu Riuki Peaberry

[Polifemo]

Air roasting this coffee in a stock Poppery II, I have been unable to find a satisfactory Full City roast. I can't tame the winey acidity of this one to my liking. At what looked like FC, it still had an intense, though deep and rounded, acidity that almost overwhelmed my taste buds. At Vienna, the acidity is still potent, and it conflicts a bit with the overlay of roast flavor. This one has been a head-scratcher.

[Derek]

Hi there... you may know this, and it's mentioned by Tom on our Kenya page: Kenya roasts appear darker than they are. Confused?...

If you grind the bean, you will see that Kenya is slightly lighter in the grind than the whole bean. So that's important.

Peaberry will kick about and roast a bit differently in an air popper too because of its shape but I'm not sure if that's a red herring in this case.

Anyone else?

[Polifemo]

Derek,
Thanks for the reply. I should have, but didn't know that Kenyas roast that way. Going back to the description of the Riuki, he does say that it benefits from a more drawn-out development from 1st to 2nd crack. But since I just have the stock popper, my only weapon is a series of cheap extension cords. Perhaps that trick will help slow my roasts down and tame the acidity better.

[Derek]

Ahh, sure, that's a good idea to draw out development though the note is probably in reference to a drum roast, slightly different; You could even employ ye olde extension cord trick to lower voltage slightly. As Tom notes though, it would definitely be something to add for improvement.