Diedrich IR-5 Analysis roasted by Doris Garrido written by Chris Kornman
This is among my favorite coffees every year; I look forward to Rwanda arrival season with extreme anticipation (at least in part because I source this coffee and feel deeply connected to its origin and the people such as Furaha Umwizeye at Kivubelt and Laetitia Mukandahiro of Ikawa House, the QC team that helps Kivubelt with lot selection. Laetitia and I have been exchanging cup notes for more than 10 years now and I don’t know many people whose palates I have greater faith in.
Fittingly, one of the others I trust to this degree is Doris Garrido, production and roasting assistant and cupper extraordinaire. Her roast this week confidently employed a new twist on her airflow profile on our Diedrich IR-5 with good results for this Rwandan coffee from the country’s western edge.
With a decently warm charge temperature of 420F and 50% airflow (to allow early moisture to evacuate the drum more quickly) Doris charged a 5.5-lb batch and kicked up the gas about halfway to the turning point. With a bit of momentum behind the beans and exactly halfway to color change, she closed the airflow and began incrementally reducing the burner power.
With the burners at idle (30%) by the six minute mark, she re-opened the air to 50% and held steady, letting the coffee coast into first crack with just enough exothermic energy to keep moving apace for a medium-light roast (54 ground Colortrack) in just under 10 minutes.
On the cupping table, we found some mildly tart lemongrass, grapefruit, cranberry and “super-lime” with accompaniment of some light baking spice like clove and a whisper of florality and plenty of sweetness. Silky and clean, this was a balanced roast and gave us great insight into the coffee’s potential.
We’ll be scaling the roast up in the coming weeks to use as espresso in the tasting room. There are a few minor adjustments we’ll make in the process, likely giving the beans a little extra heat early on to refine the acidity, and opening the airflow up a bit more to improve the clarity of the finish.
