An update and pic of my beans. I usually give my beans some post-roast analysis, so I'll do the same with these. I look at the external appearance, then break some open and look at the internal colour, its gradation across the internal structure, and for signs of tipping etc. Then I chew some up and look for firmness, good underlying flavour (free of oddities) and any interesting / varietal characteristics (obviously this isn't going to tell the whole story about how the bean will "cup", but I find it to be useful). Bag 1 External: some oil showing; medium dark; looking good. Internal: somewhat lighter inside, some gradation of colour suggesting good development, no tipping at all suggesting a well controlled roast, some but not all beans showing quite a bit of oil inside, suggesting a post blend or maybe a "softer" bean. Chew: nicely firm (I look for brittleness as a sign of overroasting, certainly not evident here); good flavour, slight acidity, some fruitiness; overall very promising but of course the real test is in the cup. I suspect the roast level here had a slight touch of second crack in it. Bag 2 External: a small number of oil spots coming through; lighter; more uneven (probably due to nature of blend), and more varied in size. Internal: good; no tipping. Chew: some have a quite earthy (almost "mouldy") characteristic (not necessarily a bad thing, they remind me of a Gayo Mountain I had a while ago that always came up like this but magnificent in the cup -- maybe this is a Sumatran?). Also in this bag are some very light beans which I'm finding rather idiosyncratic. They look like quakers but probably aren't, most have an "odd" flavour but some are sweetish / floral? Puzzling. I think roast level here was just before 2C. Tomorrow we will try some shots etc. Attached is a picture, bag 1 on the left, bag 2 on the right with the lighter ones separated. The grey card is for calibration (it gives a grey point so RAW development can get rid of the inevitable fluoro colour cast). Apologies for being slow with this, work has been overpowering the last few days. [attachimg=1]
