Kimel Peaberry - 3

Papua New Guinea

I roasted the last of my Peaberry to give as a gift to friends. Thankfully I had enough to roast myself a pot.

This was City Roast which is going to really impress. It has an outstanding aroma and an exquisite flavor. If you ever get a chance to get some of the PNG Kimel Peaberry don't let it pass you by because it is excellent.

CIAPEC (100% Organic) -2

Bolivia

This round was roasted to firm Espresso. The beans were so oily that they stuck to each other when they dried. It made for a very dark coffee and it lost some of the nuance in flavor that it had before but it did retain its extravagant aroma.

The body was not as deep as I had hoped it would be with this dark of a roast. I am still trying to decide if Body quality is a function of the roast or the ground to water ratio.

All in all, not a bad coffee but not one that I consider great either. The next time I roast this bean I am going to try a lighter City-Roast to examine its more raw qualities.

Sumatra - Mandehling Gr. 1 - 2

Indonesia

The aroma of this Sumatran Mandehling stands out to me just as it did the first time. The smell is earthy and deep. It is comforting and inviting. I wish I could explain it better than this but words allude me as I try to describe it.

I roasted this as a Full-City+ or maybe even Espresso roast which made it seem more like a cup of Tim Horton's coffee though I would not presume to suggest that it was as good.

I am a little concerned with this bean as I suspect that it may be a little defective. The green beans themselves seemed to be a little too dried out, these beans appeared to be slightly what a raisin is to a grape. After I roasted them there was relatively little chaff to blow off which also makes me suspicious. However, I am sure that it is my lack of experience which causes me concern. The coffee itself tasted good.

Palhu Huehuetenango SHB - 2

Guatemala

I roasted this batch of Palhu Huehuetenango to a Full City+ and while I did not dislike I cannot say that I liked it either. With this bean coffee seems to be coffee and there are many other beans that are worth the shipping.

Mogiana - 2

Brazil

I roasted 2oz of this bean (yielding 1.5oz of ground coffee) Full-City+ to make a 12 cup pot of coffee. And what a great pot it was!

This cup was nutty and earthy as before (Search "Mogiana") but much fuller this time. The darker roast works well with this bean as it makes a very rich cup that begs you to have more. I have not been rating coffees on the second time around but with the Mogiana I make an exception and give this roast an 8 when it was once a 5.

Harar Horse - 2

Ethiopia

I roasted the Horse to Full-City+ this time and although I enjoyed it I did not pick up on some of the nuanced attributes. I noted a spiciness last time that I did not seem to notice this time around. The only reason for this is the darker roast.

However, when I poured this coffee over ice it was again very enjoyable as the chocolate shined. Because of this I think the best of both worlds is gained with a lighter roast.

Mocca Matari - 2

Yemen

I roasted 2 oz of this bean (yielding 1.75 oz of grounds) to a Full-City+. This is the first bean that I noticed a BIG difference between the lighter City roast and the darker Full-City roast.

Although the aroma was still a pleasing chocolate pudding smell the flavor lost a lot with the darker roast. This bean has lots and lots of character (especially chocolate) but it was not readily apparent with this roast. The coffee was good (as far as plain black coffee goes) but any attempt to quantify the attributes was frustrating because they were not present.

This bean demands the lighter City roast in order to be fully experienced.

Kimel Peaberry - 2

Papua New Guinea

I prepared a 12 cup pot of this Papau New Guinea at a Full City roast (2 oz. of grounds) and took it to a meeting for people to try. Some people drank it black (as coffee is intended to be enjoyed) while others put all kinds of creamers and sugars in theirs (really, why bother with coffee in the first place?) but everyone enjoyed this coffee. One guy in particular knew that this was freshly roasted but forgot as it was 5 minutes before hitting his drink. He literally interrupted the meeting with a surprised exclaimation of how good the coffee was.

As I was brewing this pot my wife came out of the other room and asked me what I was cooking. She said that from the other room it smelled like I was cooking some sort of breakfast meat. It must have been the spiciness in the aroma.

I am sorry now that I did not buy more than 1 pound of this bean, it has been one of my favorites.