Diedrich IR-5 Analysis by Doris Garrido
As usual, we sample roast all coffees first to approve them, with the next step being the roast trial. This Kenya Ichamama - and all Kenya coffee we have cup this year after all - I found clean cups with a great acidity and with an exciting potential of delicate sweetness. I picture it in a juicy and clean pour over brew. And I was not wrong. I just tasted kiwi, Meyer lemon, caramelized sugar, and some greenish cantaloupe, on a fresh pour over brew I was handed by the tasting room manager Josh Wismans.
To explain how I have approached this roast I will say that overall, I have taken four simple gas movements.
I started with 437.8F and 100% gas. I chose this starting point taking in mind that Kenya Ichamama is a dense coffee, and my goal was to do a short roast. Then I watch my exhaust temperature till it reaches close to 430F to start lowering the gas to 70%. I saw the exhaust rate of rise lowering too slowly and I decided to drop gas a bit more to 45%. At this point coffee started yellowing, and I marked the color change at 303F / 3:59 seconds. Immediately after color change I started dropping the gas again all the way to the lowest, 30%. The coffee was running smoothly during Maillard as I expected for about a minute but at 359F the bean temperature started trying to rise, then I opened the air flow and it worked perfectly. At this point air will clean the smoke from the drum but also help me to lower the temperature. That can happen if gas is at the lowest setting, otherwise more airflow can fuel the temperature.
This coffee starts cracking at 379F. A bit early, but it was loud and clear. I let it run for 1:15 seconds and drop the coffee at 394.8F. In this case, I hit first crack with a high bean rate of rise that made me decide to kill the burners halfway, trying to have just enough power to finish the roast. On the cupping table: clean, dried fig, fruity, green grapes, lemon candy, orange, ripe mango, and salted caramel. I must admit that I wanted to taste the Ichamama right away after I finished the roast, and I brewed it. Although it was too fresh to brew, that first cup turned out to be my favorite with a ratio 1 to 18, I got a juicy and syrupy cup of coffee with some sweet grapefruit in the finish. This is great Kenya coffee to roast and to enjoy.
