Aillio Bullet R1 IBTS Analysis by Evan Gilman
Unless otherwise noted, we use both the roast.world site and Artisan software to document our roasts on the Bullet. You can find our roast documentation below, by searching on roast.world, or by clicking on the Artisan links below.
Generally, we have good results starting our 500g roasts with 428F preheating, P6 power, F2 fan, and d6 drum speed. Take a look at our roast profiles below, as they are constantly changing!
One of my favorite experiences at Royal when I first started here was trying coffees I wouldn’t have otherwise. The hallmark of those experiences was the weekly delivery of Kenya dark roast we’d get; having spent so much time in third wavey specialty coffee shops, I generally took Kenya coffees to always be roasted on the light side – excepting of course the ‘Kenya blends’ my parents drank back in the day. Nothing prepared me for the marshmallowy deliciousness of a super-dense Kenya peaberry, and the still-present crisp acidity that followed.
So what I set out to do with this Kenya peaberry was to emulate that experience. While I may not have achieved the dark roast greatness of those who perform it every day, I'd say that this coffee held up well to my treatment. I started with a high charge temperature of 455F, and the standard F2 fan and d6 drum speed, lowering to F1 fan at turning point to really pull this coffee through Green/Drying stage. Only at 3:40 / 320F did I revert to F2 and lower the power to P7. Just after yellowing, I increased fan speed further to F3, and reduced heat to P6, continuing the downward trend in RoR. I did want to keep the heat on for this dark roast, but I noticed RoR flattening out to 11F/min around 370F and increased fan speed to F4, all this just before First Crack. This had the desired effect of putting RoR back on its downward track, to about 7F/min - perhaps a little too slow for the Post-Crack Development I wanted. At 8:30 / 390F I increased heat to P7 just to give an extra push through this extreme low in RoR, something I’d probably avoid in the future, preferring to make this sort of move just a touch before First Crack. F6 fan speed evened this out and abated smoke, and I finished this roast at 10:10 / 404.6F.
This was my kind of dark roast. Big dark chocolate notes when hot, cooling into soft peachiness and creamy caramel sweetness. Perhaps even spiced pear? There was a touch of roastiness, but hey, this is a dark roast! This note faded on cooling, and all that sweetness just came right to the front of the queue. The best part of this roast to me, however, was the soft and velvety mouthfeel. Who knows? With roasts like this, I might even turn to the dark side...
