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Roasting Honey Process (for Espresso)

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Howdy!

I have some Costa Rican honey process coffee (Finca Salaca), but I've never roasted any honey process. I did a little bit of dry process back when I first started roasting, but that was back when I first started roasting. I had a Behmor and took what notes I could, but they don't give me much.

I know that whatever I have is whatever I have, and it'll behave however it does. I am roasting for espresso, and we like it more toward the cocoa than the fruit and more toward sweet (even syrupy) than acidic, so I'll be looking to stretch the roast out a bit in the first place. However, other than that, does anyone have any tips or tricks on how to think about this one? Are there any little surprises I ought to be prepared for?

I got enough of this to play with a bit but not enough to throw away, so I appreciate any pointers y'all may have.
 

Whisky

ATF. I use all three.
Staff member
I’d be interested in any info as well. I’ve read everything from you have to draw the roast out at a lower temp to keep the sugars/remnants of pulp from scorching to roast it like you usually would. I roasted some I had and treated it like a wet processed bean.

The bean was roasted on a Behmor I had just purchased and I took it to about a city roast because I was scared of scorching it. This light it made a meh to ok cup but I bet it would be better darker. I have more of this bean and will probably roast more this week or next.

Here’s the bean I have.
903F825D-5EE1-414D-A619-EB0992860EEE.jpeg
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
I’d be interested in any info as well. I’ve read everything from you have to draw the roast out at a lower temp to keep the sugars/remnants of pulp from scorching to roast it like you usually would. I roasted some I had and treated it like a wet processed bean.

The bean was roasted on a Behmor I had just purchased and I took it to about a city roast because I was scared of scorching it. This light it made a meh to ok cup but I bet it would be better darker. I have more of this bean and will probably roast more this week or next.

Here’s the bean I have.
View attachment 1409916

That sounds good. I'll probably do my first roast of the Finca Salaca next week. Let's report back and forth, and maybe we can help each other out of the woods. I'm roasting on a Hottop, so I can get a little more detail and control (for better or for worse).

As I mentioned, I'll try to stretch the roast out a bit (but I'll see what the beans do). I might start with a plan very similar to how I roasted the Moka Kadir if for other reason than it was a I'll target

What was your charge temp for that roast you mentioned?
 

Whisky

ATF. I use all three.
Staff member
That sounds good. I'll probably do my first roast of the Finca Salaca next week. Let's report back and forth, and maybe we can help each other out of the woods. I'm roasting on a Hottop, so I can get a little more detail and control (for better or for worse).

As I mentioned, I'll try to stretch the roast out a bit (but I'll see what the beans do). I might start with a plan very similar to how I roasted the Moka Kadir if for other reason than it was a I'll target

What was your charge temp for that roast you mentioned?
I preheat my Behmor to 200f side wall temp before all roasts. That’s probably about as close as I can get to a true charge temp. I preheat with the chaf tray in but the drum out.
 

Whisky

ATF. I use all three.
Staff member
So my first attempt with the Black Honey Processed didn’t go so well. I managed to get the beans to up to a city/maybe City+ but the Amount of Chaff that came off the beans really had me worried about a Chaff fire. I had little flair-ups going going on so I shut the roast down early. I ended up taking the beans outside and transferring them back and forth in 2 colanders to try and get all the chaff out. I’ll try these beans again when the weather warms up and I can roast in the garage.
 

Whisky

ATF. I use all three.
Staff member
Just had my first cup of what I thought was a under roasted black honey processed bean. It actually made a really good cup. Not sure it would be a good espresso roast, but for a pour over it’s really good. And only 2 days of rest.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
I got around to roasting 250 g of the Finca Salaca. It just came out of the roaster, and I'm pretty happy with how things went, especially for a first roast with the bean. It's an even roast with a whole bean aroma that it easily in the ballpark I'm looking for.

As mentioned before, I did a protocol fairly similar to what I did with Moka Kadir. A couple of tweaks appear to be in order just judging from the roast. There were a couple of weird flicks, and the first crack may have gone a bit long for a single origin. The proof of the roasting is in the drinking, though, and that won't happen for a couple of days or so.

The pic is in the logging thread. Cheers!
 

Whisky

ATF. I use all three.
Staff member
@TexLaw did you notice an excess amount of chaff in your roast? I had what seemed like 2-3 times the amount that I usually get when roasting.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
@Whisky No, I didn't, and that was something of a surprise. I saw your comments about all the chaff, and I also found other comments to that effect when researching honey process, so that's what I expected. The amount of chaff actually was a little lower than what I'm used to seeing and far less than I was expecting.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Alrighty, then! I did a short shot of the Finca Salaca yesterday and was very happy with it! I've had a couple of singles this morning, and I'm still happy! It still has a very pleasant brightness to it even though the roast was a fairly slow one and the first crack was VERY slow. I was concerned that I had flattened it out too much.

Anyhow, what I have here is a shot fairly evenly balanced between nutty (walnut with a little almond) and dark chocolate with a mild sweetness and notes of cream. My first impression of that short shot both in the aroma and flavor was along the lines of a hot fudge sundae with chopped walnuts--a very pleasant impression. So far, I prefer the ristretto over a full single shot. I'll try playing around with a long shot and, perhaps, an Americano. I'd be willing to bet good money that this also makes a mighty fine capuccino, and I'd also be willing to bet that happens this weekend if one of us finds a nice, quiet moment between waking and all the stuff we have going on.

As far as the roast goes, I'm tempted to slow down the ramp a little more and try to coax out a little more sweetness. However, I'm concerned about stalling out the first crack. Who knows what the future holds? In any case, we're around a week away before I'll fire up the roaster again, so there's time to ponder.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
I think I'm getting the hang of this Finca Salaca (now that I'm nearly halfway through it). I grabbed a short shot of the recently roasted batch, and it's the closest to what I'm looking for. Very dark chocolate with notes of dark fruit and burnt sugar on the finish. Not sharp, but enough acidity to hold it up. Actually, the acidity is just a little high, but that will mellow with a bit more rest.
 
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