Time to start the fun of 'Blending Beans'

ash

It's time for me to start having some fun blending beans for my morning espresso's. SO is interesting, but it's time to change things up slightly, so I'm putting together an order  with the following beans:

Indonesian Sumatran Wahana Estate - Longberry - 3kg

Indonesian Sumatran Mandheling - Blue Batak - 2kg

Brazil Daterra Estate - Sweet Collection - 3kg

Brazil Fazenda Laranjal - Yellow Bourbon - 3kg

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Dumerso - 2kg

I've also got the following still at home:

Australian - Green Cauldron Estate - 1kg

Cuban Turquino - 1kg

Indian Monsoon Malabar AA - 1kg

Peru Grace Estate - 1kg

From what I've read around the place, a blend of 50% Brazilian, 30% Indo and 20% Ethiopian appears reasonably popular, hence my order is biased this way. Hopefully with enough variety for me to come up with a nice combination. I'm going to roast some of the Wahana as SO, as it sounds very interesting to try by itself :-)

Any other suggestions for blends with what I'm ordering and what I have?

Brett H

I found the Wahana to be very nice but on my equipment it required a really fine grind and some up-dosing.  Let us know how hype go mate!

ash

Well the beans arrived yesterday (Thanks Bean Green!) and I'm about to dive into my first blended roast - purposely blended roast that is. Going for a mix of Brazilian Daterra, Sumatran Blue Batak and a bit of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Dumerso to finish it off. For a second blend I'm going to use some of the Sumatran Wahana instead of the Blue Batak. Time to get the taste buds working... at least they have about a week or so to warm up! ;-)

Brett H

That sounds spot-on mate!

ash

Well a couple of roasts of my first blend are done. Interesting roasting it from green, FC was slow to start and seemed to be extended. Putting that down to three different kinds of beans in the mix. First roast seemed to go a little slow, so I tried to compensate in the second, only for it to keep charging ahead. Both roasts were into SC, the first gently, the second with a bit more energy. It'll be interesting to see how they taste next weekend!

Brett H

Keep us in the loop mate!  Cheers!

C-man

I think you need to consider the density of the different beans the Cuban, Indian and most likely the Brazilian are soft beans requiring a more sensitive touch. IMO

ash

Well I've just finished a bag of my first roasting blend ???. The one that coasted ever so gently into FC then dribbled onto SC. Lots of malt/ cocoa flavours with a light fragrant finish, that unfortunately disappeared as the bag went on. So far, I think I'll need to wind back on the Brazilian Daterra, I think it's dominating this blend a bit to much for my liking. During the week I also got a couple of IMS Competizione Baskets. So far I'm liking them very much. Onto the the first bag of my Second blend!!!

Lacehim

hi ash, I don't mind the Brazilian Daterra in a blend but I usually do a 4 bean mix 30/30/20/20 or 3 bean mix 40/30/30, usually with the brazilian on the bigger side.  How long have your roasts been resting for?  Only about a week?  It should be just starting to develop!  Maybe try it a bit later on, see if it has improved. Start a new thread on your IMS Competizione Baskets please!  I would love to know more, I've never heard of them.

ash

Don't worry Lacehim, I've got another batch that I roasted the same day to start tasting this weekend! ;D I tried the first bag of my other blend this week, which featured a different different Indonesian - Sumatran Wahanna Estate. A distinctly different taste! Might be due to a bit more ageing before opening the bag though, as I did four roasts that day, two of each blend. Not quite strong on the malty/cocoa flavours and some more sweetness coming through. Right now I'm having fun getting the grind adjustment right on my grinder. SWMBO changes it to suit her taste buds, then I have to hunt around to find the setting for my taste buds.....then she complains that I make better coffee than her!  :rofl: One thing is for sure, I certainly won't be going up against professional roasters anytime soon :D After all this time of roasting and drinking SO espresso, my palate is still woefully undereducated. Still it's an interesting thing to do! The next couple of batches I do I think I'll wind back on the Brazilian component a bit and up the Ethiopian, a 40/30/30blend. I was contemplating putting some of the Indian MM in with it, but I think the combination of the malty / cocoa flavours, the tobacco notes and the Yirg might be a bit to much for my tongue to decipher while I'm still learning and experimenting.

Brett H

You know... I may offend here BUT: I reckon Brazil Daterra is the coffee equivalent to the Toyota Camry.  Lacklustre, cod-ordinary, boring and frankly dull.  If I could choose one bean to not take with me to a deserted Island...... I'm not real thrilled with the Wahana either but at least it's interesting!  I reckon the last paragraph Ash is where you start mate...GO HARD SON!!!!

Lwowiak

I have to agree with you Brett. I have found a lot of Brazil's very lacklustre.

Lacehim

Everyone has different taste buds BH. [emoji6] Personally I can only tell you what I like and what I don't like when I try it.  I know a lot of people came tell me blow by blow what it taste like but i just don't get it.  If I like it I drink it, if I don't I give it to someone else!  Haha. I've had the Brazilian as a SO and it wasn't bad but it didn't really stand out but it works well in a blend for me.

ash

on 1424427154:

I reckon the last paragraph Ash is where you start mate...GO HARD SON!!!!

Going Hard mate...  ;D About to start 3rd batch of the afternoon / evening and it's still 31C and 75% humidity at 6:30pm. Sweating my backside off just sitting next to the Hottop!

Brett H

on 1424507684:

Going Hard mate...  ;D About to start 3rd batch of the afternoon / evening and it's still 31C and 75% humidity at 6:30pm. Sweating my backside off just sitting next to the Hottop!

I was sweating it out in Townsville not long ago mate so I can sympathise.  With every batch try to make a plunger coffee after 48 hours to taste.  No hiding the warts and all flavours with million dollar espresso machines.  Hot water and grounds in a cup can be very humbling for the burgeoning home roaster.

ash

Now thqts something I hadn't though of doing before... Must try it out!

mwcalder

I miss the joys of home roasting/blending! Sounds like you're having success ash. Have you tried post-roast blending?

ash

Haven't got around to post roast blending yet. I think if I go that way, I'll be making some larger batches of the same blend. My Hottop works well with 250g of green for a batch, and that's the weight I have most experience with. I may have to start experimenting with some smaller batch sizes before I attempt a post roast blend.....*fading into the distance* now where's the Peru Grace Estate bean.... I always liked roasting that one....  :coffee2:

ash

Well Brett H, I tried one of my blends as you suggested, 48hrs post roast. At first I thought -  'What have you done you idiot! :pan' There was a surprising amount of bitterness and acidic bite. I wasn't expecting that... But as my long black cooled, the flavours started to come through and I started to appreciate it more. I tried the same beans again the next day and the difference was extraordinary  ???  The bitterness and bite had gone, and I was left with a nice deep flavoured coffee that I have enjoyed all week. Still haven't tried that particular blend through the machine yet, I can only hope that the deep flavours are evident as an espresso. The last couple of blends that I've roasted have been a 40/30/30 mix which has reduced the Brazilian component, and upped the sweetness from the Yirg. This seems to have balanced my blend and given it a really nice fragrance from the Yirg that carries over in the cup. I also changed my Brazilian to a Fazenda. It'll be interesting to see if the Daterra reacts the same way with the different blend ratio! I'll be roasting a couple of blends this afternoon to see how it goes, along with some straight Yirgacheffe Dumerso and my first 30/30/20/20 blend 

Brett H

Mate!!! You champion you've cracked it! You know it's a funny hobby this one because those little brown beans are always changing in ways that continually surprise and delight. Your blending sounds great Ash and your next trick will be to notice what that fine Lever Machine does with those flavours.  Those it dulls, those it hits out of the park.  Then decide if you like it.  I'm thrilled being a home roaster and when I'm told by ladies who visit (no darn it, the Mums from daughters school :/) that they love my coffee and they can drink it without sugar (yep, Friday afternoon a recent 'best friend's' Mum said "I didn't have a coffee out because I knew we were coming here for a play (once again all above board) and yours is the only coffee I drink without sugar")... I was really touched (dammit, That's your last warning) but more so because I roast for what I enjoy first and foremost.  It's humbling that others share the same taste! Now while that may seem like a 'get a life' comment, think of compartively how little I've invested to have a life enhancing hobby that others acknowledge, appreciate and enjoy the fruits of!  Also, grammatically I'm allowed to finish a sentence with a preposition if the lack of said article would change the meaning or validity of said sentence.  I like wine too.

ash

Don't know if I've cracked it yet, although the tastes are nice :coffee2: I think I've still got plenty of roasting to go before I settle on a blend, only for the beans to disappear for ever! I've now got 6 bags of coffee resting in the cupboard, with two more ready to go. I'll have to do some more roasting before the week is out though - I have family visiting and they're coffee lovers as well. It'll be interesting to hear their thoughts on my coffee as they're Americano drinkers mainly.

Lacehim

Sounds like fun Ash, and it's always good to get feedback on your roasting/coffee. Make sure you let us know what you like and dislike.  Will be interesting. I always find it hard to replicate my roasts, I must write down what works and what doesn't but I always forget, but I bought a app a while ago that might help.

ash

on 1425337506:

I must write down what works and what doesn't but I always forget,

I've done up an excel spreadsheet so I can track my inventory and blends. A bit more tweaking of it and I think I may be able to automatically calculate bean quantity remaining for a blend, but that's a work in progress... I'm liking the blends that have the Brazilian Fazenda in them, but not so much the ones that have the Daterra in them. Funnily enough everyone one else around the place is liking the Daterra based blend :-|  So I'm going to roast up some of the Daterra by itself to see how it goes like that. I think I'll end up going the post roast blending route if I can nail each bean roasted individually.  Either that or learn more about the beans and their relative hardness and profiles so I can mix and match appropriately, which wouldn't hurt either! Anyway I've created some more blends to play with and see what happens in the cup  :coffee2:

Brett H

A spreadsheet...?  This is getting serious!!!

ash

Had a spreadsheet for ages to keep track of the beans, an addition of the blends just made sense. So far I'm coming up with plenty of subtle variations, so I need to keep track of them☺

ash

Well my mixing and matching randomly has at last paid dividends! I've found a blend that both myself and SWMBO like in milk :coffee2: A bit of Daterra, some Wahanna Estate with some of the Yirg Dumerso goes nicely with our lattes. But I couldn't hold out any longer, I had to roast up some of the Yirg and Wahanna Estate as SO. I almost nailed it with the Yirg, just lacking a little bit of clarity with the berry flavours. Mind you it has been my best effort to date. As a long black through the Aeropress at work it is fantastic, especially as it cools. The flavours just balloon out of it and fill your mouth. As an espresso I've only managed once to get it close to an intense version of the Aeropress, and it was delicious. And unfortunately at the end of the bag! The Wahanna on the other hand just seems a bit meh. I've only had it as an espresso so far, and while the initial taste was nice, it was over far to soon. I found it to have a bit of a winey kind of flavour, a fair bit sweeter than what I was expecting. I'll take some to work and see what it's like through the Aeropress.

Brett H

I'm not a big fan of the Wahana despite some moments of mind-blowing flavours.  I had to consistently and persistently fiddle too much with grind settings to get optimal results.  Having said that I'm now wondering what the latest batch is like...,  >:D

Lacehim

Others raved about the wahanna ages ago but I only really had one decent roast out of it.  All the others were meh as well.  When I did nail it (can't remember what I did) it was really nice.  Last of the bag though and I moved on to other beans that I knew I could get results from.

ash

Well I've had some wins and loses recently. The loses have been my blends, and the wins have been the SO roasts! So this weekend I'm going to sit down and do some post roast blends. Time to start with the next bunch of experiments. But only after I finish the next programmed run of roasts  :pan  :laugh: I've got to sit down and work out how much to roast of which bean to get my blends that have worked best  ;D The wins have been rather good, and I must thank Intense Coffee (Graham K) for his spreadsheets, starting off with the DTR one, which has helped me get a better coffee more consistently. It's changed a few habits I had, and has opened up a few more variables for me to play with over the next few months. Now I've got to learn more about the beans themselves!!! As for the loses..... Well they haven't really been loses. They've been and interesting learning experience. For example, I now know how overpowering an Indian Monsooned Malabar can be with other beans if there's too much in the blend. While the first few drinks have been good from each bag, the flavour has gone down hill from there rather quickly. The flavour become rather 'meh' a few days after opening the bag up (I heat seal my zip bags after I fill the up with beans). Now that my stash is below 10kg again, I'm thinking of ordering 10 or so kilograms each of three or four beans and having a slightly more serious play. I may even get to the point of cupping ??? ??? ??? Mind you I do like roasting and then tasting the results in my preferred beverage :coffee2: Has anyone got a suggestion on which beans I could get to have a more serious play now that I have a better understanding of what I'm doing?

Brett H

on 1427944986:

Well I've had some wins and loses recently. The loses have been my blends, and the wins have been the SO roasts! So this weekend I'm going to sit down and do some post roast blends. Time to start with the next bunch of experiments. But only after I finish the next programmed run of roasts  :pan  :laugh: I've got to sit down and work out how much to roast of which bean to get my blends that have worked best  ;D The wins have been rather good, and I must thank Intense Coffee (Graham K) for his spreadsheets, starting off with the DTR one, which has helped me get a better coffee more consistently. It's changed a few habits I had, and has opened up a few more variables for me to play with over the next few months. Now I've got to learn more about the beans themselves!!! As for the loses..... Well they haven't really been loses. They've been and interesting learning experience. For example, I now know how overpowering an Indian Monsooned Malabar can be with other beans if there's too much in the blend. While the first few drinks have been good from each bag, the flavour has gone down hill from there rather quickly. The flavour become rather 'meh' a few days after opening the bag up (I heat seal my zip bags after I fill the up with beans). Now that my stash is below 10kg again, I'm thinking of ordering 10 or so kilograms each of three or four beans and having a slightly more serious play. I may even get to the point of cupping ??? ??? ??? Mind you I do like roasting and then tasting the results in my preferred beverage :coffee2: Has anyone got a suggestion on which beans I could get to have a more serious play now that I have a better understanding of what I'm doing?

If you like a mocha Java blend grab a nice Yemen and a couple of Indonesian beans and have a go at that classic. 

ash

Thanks Brett, haven't thought of trying my hand that one!☺