Ethiopia Moplaco

[UKGuyUSSky]

Hi All,

First time roasting with this bean and I have to say that the flavour is amazing but...

I was aiming for a City+ roast with 1/2lb of beans. I left the Behmor to do what it wanted but missed the target roast as I was in a moment of indecision as Behmor started the cooling process. When I decided that there wasn't enough colour, I couldn't get the Behmor to start roasting again. So I turned off the cooling and left the beans to carry over cooking for about 2 minutes.

That was on Tuesday and today I ground and cupped a sample. It is good. This is such a light roast that there is a pleasant lemony feel. Quite a lot of citrus in the cup. A slight hazelnut smell. Sadly. And it is all my own fault... There is a slightly green after-taste. Which is more pronounced when you let the coffee go cold because you've got the kid home as it is snowing a big 'un like it is today.

One thing to note: this is the messiest coffee I have ever seen. I even went through some of the beans peeling some of the chaff off.

Can I assume that it is OK to grind the chaff into the coffee? Has anyone else noticed this chaffiness?
Is there a way to get the Behmor to restart the roasting?

[UKGuyUSSky]

I just finished the last of this coffee. It was a wonderful cup and such amazing flavours. I think that it really did very well in the C+ roast. I originally roasted it too short, barely even a City I think. The second and third batches were delightful.

This doesn't have the strong flavour of coffee but is quite smooth and 'quaffable'. More a cup of early summer nights than sitting at my keyboard working... If you see what I mean.

[Mr Stacy A]

I am almost saddened to hear that the flavor I was looking for may not be in this coffee. I just now finished my first roast of some of this. Of course I'm using a Nesco instead of the better Behmor, but I was shooting for the City+, and I think I got there. I was a bit concerned though. Watching the roast, it was chaff intensive, to be colloquial. Also, the uneveness of the roast was unnerving - since I am a complete novice. Another thing is that I set the roast time on the Nesco for 23 minutes (which includes a 5 minute cooling cycle), but had to hit the cooling button 13 minutes into the roast, a whopping 5 minutes earlier than I figured on. The beans had taken on the chocolate color I was waiting to see. I hope it has a little more body to it than your second post describes. I'll just have to wait and see what I have tomorrow morning.

[robbiebobbie]

I have had the opposite issue with this bean all 1 pound that 1lb had. I am a beginner with my Behmor and I have totally over roasted this bean twice with 1/2 pounds, . The first I burnt because I was expecting it to loose its chaff and modling on the bean and totally fried it, and the second because i just didn't pull the trigger on cool down until it was too late. The best I could do was a Full City+ and it is very disappointing because I know what this coffee could be. You are definately better to under roast then over roast this coffee. It is unnerving because of all the chaff, the uneven color, and the bean does not expand like other beans I have experienced. I am very sad that that was my shot at the only Yag I have on hand. Here is what I ran on the Full City +, 1/2lb, P2, B, and added 1:00 just in case for a total of 14 minutes. I should have stopped it at 1:05 - 1:15 left but I let it go down to :40 and it had gone to far. I heard a second crack right after I started the cooldown. I quickly opened the door and shoved the vacume hose in to speed up the cool down but it had gone to far for this bean. If I had a do-over i would go with 1/2, P2, B , 13 minutes, and maybe stop it at 10 seconds left. better luck next bean for me...

[Mr Stacy A]

Well, I have to say that I am not disappointed in this coffee in the least. I am sorry to hear that you got past the "sweet spot" so to say. As for me, I am only sorry I didn't order more than 1 lb. I was expecting something that was a little lighter than I prefer, but I have to say this has turned out to be the best smelling and best tasting coffee I have ever had. I still don't get the "fruit" references, but I can understand words like milk and honey, creamy, and even "sweet" in describing this coffee. It just has this creamy sweet caramel smell that lingers and makes a fantastic cup of coffee. If there is any left next week, I'm ordering 4 lbs.

[Sweet Maria's]

I think with wet-processed Yirga Cheffes in general, there are a lot of flavor shift that occur from City to City+, and they happen quickly. From a good Yirg, I happen to like all the results in that range, except the under-roasted grainy flavor if it is stopped before 1st crack is complete, or with a really fast roast you can fail to roast the inside of the bean as much as the outside, and get grainy taste. Anyway, the best roasts can be wrinkly on the surface and a bit ugly. I never let that stop me from staying light though. I find that a true City roast of a Yirg has great aromas when really fresh, but needs 3 days to reach it's peak in the cup. Anyway, just some general comments - I roasted 3 samples of Moplaco Yirg last week just to check in on it, since we have stocked it for a while, and found it to stil have vivid brightness and a very clean cup. We are very low in our stock on it though... -Tom

[TimB]

I'm puzzled by this bean and looking for comments/suggestions. I received a sample bag with the Gene Cafe roaster I ordered from SweetMarias and have had trouble getting the roast just right with this bean. By the time I get through 1C, it seems quite dark. The first roast was grassy and had an under roasted taste despite being at a City+ color. I did another roast yesterday and made sure I took it through 1C by sound but the color is more like FC+. I was going to wait a couple of days to try it, but couldn't resist and tried it this morning. Despite the darker color, it was good and had the typical Yirg taste profile I'm accustomed to. I don't think I nailed the roast, but it was quite good. Anyway, I'm just wondering if others have noticed this bean seems roast "darker" than other beans.

This bean is also smaller than I remembered other Yirgs being. I'm curious if that may have something to do with getting the roast right, too.

Tom, I hope you see this and can provide a brief comment. I may try to get a roasted bag as a sample when I reorder additional green beans.

Thanks.

Tim

[Sweet Maria's]

I will pull a sample and roast it to see. The "darker surface color" thing is something I have seen in Kenyas, and yes, I have seen it in Yirgs of the past. I think that higher Chlorogenic acid contents that some bright and lively coffees have can lead to this. It is definitely a dense bean and does not expand so much either, which also is deceptive. Also try to grind a small amount and view it next to the roasted bean under a good strong white light source. I doubt this could be an issue with the Behmor, but more exterior roast than interior can happen (usually fast air roasts) and you see it when trying to compare surface vs ground color. (Which is also not easy - try squinting to blur vision and just look at color.) -Tom

PS I am really enjoying the new default "Notify me when a reply is posted" or I would never catch replies like this. A few people don't like it, but I think the good outweighs the bad here...

[martin]

Okay, I don't have to feel too bad about following the digression because I also just got a pound of Moplaca. Happily, I don't feel any pressure at all to use it in the first roast in the Nesco, so I'll be watching to see what you find out about the roast color, too!

As for the email notice, I didn't see any value in it, but it was easy to turn off, so it's not a problem. Contrary to expectations, I'm finding these forums more consistently interesting than the mail list, though the latter has its points (and apparently there's enough non-overlap to keep it from being boring, perusing both).

[Mr Stacy A]

It has been my experience so far that this bean can cause you to panic. Once you start seeing color change, it goes very quickly. I have started going by smell in addition to the color and so far I have nailed it each time (or at least, I think I nailed it - it tastes great). And again, I'm using the Nesco so I have much less control over the roast.