Tips on roasting Monsoon in the Behmor

Cuir Beluga

Hi all, has anyone got any tips for roasting the Monsoon beans in the Behmor?

My first lot had to be thrown out. While they didn't look burnt they were dark and oily with a lot of divots. I binned them as they tasted burnt to me.
That scared me off for a bit so I put them to one side.
I used P1 to first crack, what sounded like a long, extended first crack actually turned out to be the divots flying off- by then the damage was done.

I had a second go this morning, I used P3-C and again I got the "extended first crack" I then decided to hit cool because I suspected, rightly, that it was indeed divots flying off again.
This time the are dark, not as dark as the first lot, no oil and far less "divoted". I haven't tasted them yet but I'm not holding out much hope.

Has anyone got a tried and true profile for these beans that can be spelled out for me as I'm not having any luck?
Everything else I have done has been great.

Sue.

LeroyC

on 1465697817:

Hi all, has anyone got any tips for roasting the Monsoon beans in the Behmor? My first lot had to be thrown out. While they didn't look burnt they were dark and oily with a lot of divots. I binned them as they tasted burnt to me. That scared me off for a bit so I put them to one side. I used P1 to first crack, what sounded like a long, extended first crack actually turned out to be the divots flying off- by then the damage was done. I had a second go this morning, I used P3-C and again I got the "extended first crack" I then decided to hit cool because I suspected, rightly, that it was indeed divots flying off again. This time the are dark, not as dark as the first lot, no oil and far less "divoted". I haven't tasted them yet but I'm not holding out much hope. Has anyone got a tried and true profile for these beans that can be spelled out for me as I'm not having any luck? Everything else I have done has been great. Sue.

Haven't tried them myself yet Sue, but everything I've read says they need to be treated very gently. P4 or even P5 should be plenty hot enough depending on your batch size. Is it the Malabar?

Cuir Beluga

Thanks Leroy . I made a note in my book to try P4 next time and see how we go. I might even get over myself today and have a go later today if I get the other stuff I want to roast done. Stay tuned.......

Cuir Beluga

Okies, I got brave and had another go. I used P4-D, hit cool just on rolling 1st crack and they look superb if I do say so myself. Of course the proof with be in the pudding  :coffee2:

Cuir Beluga

Sorry Leroy, I got carried away. They are the India Elephant Hills Monsoon.

deegee

on 1465717545:

Okies, I got brave and had another go. I used P4-D, hit cool just on rolling 1st crack and they look superb if I do say so myself. Of course the proof with be in the pudding

Hi Sue, I will be interested to hear how this lot turns out. I intend to get some monsooned beans in my next order, so I have been following this thread, and the other one where DB first mentioned them. I'm also fairly new to roasting with a Behmor, and had similar problems to yours when I was trying to roast decaf beans. In fact I went back to the popper for them, but that was ok because I don't need big batches of decaf. It took me a while to understand that the Behmor does everything in slow-motion.  With my Frankenpopper, I was accustomed to changes of temperature or airflow happening almost instantly, but with the Behmor, I have had to start thinking much further ahead than before, because I can't just tweak things up or down on the fly like i used to. Also, to get the roast times and the end results that I prefer, I'm now using P3 and P4 for most beans, and have not used P1 or P2 at all for a while now.  Cheers,  deegee.

Cuir Beluga

Hi deegee, I'll re-post the pic of the first lot I did along with the 2 lots I did yesterday and how I roasted them so you can see the diff, it may help you decide which way to go. I just have to wait until hubby has a few minutes to take some pics. I usually use P1 to first crack and then P2 until just before 2nd crack and it is yet to fail me, except for the Monsoon. I did a batch with P3, they were darker than I like but I think they will be ok, the ones I did with P4 look the best. I'll pop some pics up later anyway.

Cuir Beluga

1st attempt, P1 to 1st crack then P2, divots flying off everywhere, dark, oily ended up filing them in the bin-they tasted burnt. Sorry for crappy pic. 2nd and 3rd attempt. The darker ones on the left I used P3-C until just before 2nd crack. Far less divots, still dark, little oil spots here and there. The lighter on the right I used P4-D and hit cool on rolling first crack, beans continued cracking maybe 25-30 seconds into the cooling cycle.

Cuir Beluga

Well I bit the bullet and had a cup of the lighter roasted stuff. I developed a sudden paranoia that it would be under roasted. My fears were unfounded and it was a crackin' cuppa indeed. Now to leave the rest to see how it develops over the next week or so.

deegee

Thanks Sue,  just one more question if I may - it's only a minor detail, but I'm curious.  When you say you "hit cool" during rolling first, do you mean that you manually pressed the cool button at that point, or that the program auto-switched to the cooling cycle at that stage of the roast ?.  If your last batch tastes good already, then it should be even better after a few more days rest. My own experience tends to back up the theory that lighter roasts need a bit longer rest time than darker ones.  My current favourites are a couple of different blends based on a Peruvian and Colombia Red Bourbon, which are OK after a few days, but are better after ten, and best about two weeks post-roast. A couple of my more recent (and best) results in the Behmor have seen the first crack slowing, but not quite over at the end of the roast cycle, and ending a few seconds into the cooling cycle.  This seems to stop development just before the start of 2C. Once or twice I think I heard the first few faint snaps of Second, which is where I would stop the heat and cool quickly if I was roasting in the Frankenpopper.

LeroyC

on 1465871026:

Well I bit the bullet and had a cup of the lighter roasted stuff. I developed a sudden paranoia that it would be under roasted. My fears were unfounded and it was a crackin' cuppa indeed. Now to leave the rest to see how it develops over the next week or so.

What was your brew method for this exquisite cuppa? Both those batches in the last photo look good to me, but I would've thought the lighter one was too light for espresso. They look like very nicely roasted batches for espresso on the left and soft brew on the right.

Cuir Beluga

on 1465878436:

Thanks Sue,  just one more question if I may - it's only a minor detail, but I'm curious.  When you say you "hit cool" during rolling first, do you mean that you manually pressed the cool button at that point, or that the program auto-switched to the cooling cycle at that stage of the roast ?.  If your last batch tastes good already, then it should be even better after a few more days rest. My own experience tends to back up the theory that lighter roasts need a bit longer rest time than darker ones.  My current favourites are a couple of different blends based on a Peruvian and Colombia Red Bourbon, which are OK after a few days, but are better after ten, and best about two weeks post-roast. A couple of my more recent (and best) results in the Behmor have seen the first crack slowing, but not quite over at the end of the roast cycle, and ending a few seconds into the cooling cycle.  This seems to stop development just before the start of 2C. Once or twice I think I heard the first few faint snaps of Second, which is where I would stop the heat and cool quickly if I was roasting in the Frankenpopper.

I hit cool manually. Good point, I might leave them a couple of weeks, I have enough to keep me going until then. I usually cool between first and second crack but I didn't want these to end up like the first lot. Next time I might try taking them a bit further. We'll see how brave I am feeling at the time .

on 1465881175:

What was your brew method for this exquisite cuppa? Both those batches in the last photo look good to me, but I would've thought the lighter one was too light for espresso. They look like very nicely roasted batches for espresso on the left and soft brew on the right.

I used them in a latte, that is all I drink really. I try the occasional espresso but I just can't get a taste for it. I'll try the darker ones in a few days and see how they turned out.

LeroyC

on 1465883217:

I used them in a latte, that is all I drink really. I try the occasional espresso but I just can't get a taste for it. I'll try the darker ones in a few days and see how they turned out.

Hmm, interesting. I've generally found the lighter roasts aren't as good with milk. And some of them I even struggle to get a decent extraction from. But the monsooned coffees are a bit different no doubt so that's handy to know.

Cuir Beluga

I've given up on them, I will hang on to the lighter ones and give them a go later in the week but I'm not holding my breath. I don't mind a lighter roast in milk, even when I was ordering roasted I would order some lighter roasted beans, just for a change.