Loring S15 Falcon Analysis roast by Doris Garrido, written by Chris Kornman
Confession: I blew this roast on our Diedrich, and blew it bad. I misread the green specs and thought I was working with a pretty dense coffee, gave it a ton of heat early on and really regretted it later. The coffee came out a bit dark and with a persistent peppercorn note. Having loved the coffee in early trials and selecting it for an espresso option at The Crown, that roast would simply not do.
Fortunately, Doris came in with a plan on production day, using an older Loring profile for a natural Ethiopia we discussed using a lower-than-usual charge temperature and really letting the end of the roast stretch without overdeveloping the color after first crack.
With a full 25-lb batch in the 33-lb capacity roaster (this is our in-house maximum batch size for good quality roasts), Doris would need plenty of heat early to compensate for the lower charge temp (relatively speaking, for a big batch). Don’t misinterpret this, however, as an endorsement to blast the coffee if it doesn’t need it. I found this out all too easily.
Instead, by giving the full batch a full dose of heat early, Doris was able to incrementally reduce heat beginning just a minute after Color Change, and extend the Maillard Reactions by a significant amount, over 50% of the total roast time, coasting at sub-20/min ROR well before first crack began. And once it did, she stuck with the plan, dropping the gas to its minimum setting and letting the coffee gently glide into a light, clean, fruit-forward espresso roast.
On the cupping table, berrylike and jammy flavors were dominant, with plenty of characteristic herbal nuance in the background and sweet candy-like finish. This is a great example of a natural process coffee, one that celebrates the fruit flavors while not overpowering the idiosyncratic flavors of terroir.
Take it easy on the coffee, particularly during Maillard and Post-crack development – give it time but not too much heat – and you’ll be well rewarded in the cup.
