Bolivia Cup of Excellence: San Ignacio Juana Mamani Huanca.
Not my best effort at the roast. Rushed the warm, and pushed 1rst crack up about 2+ minutes. Shit. And it shows in the cup. Green and tight on the tongue, florals and fruits aren’t well developed. It still has some real nice sweetness that comes out as it cools, but it should be more delicate, balanced than this.
Well, still tweaking the roaster, but damn, wish i’d done this with a coffee that I didn’t have so little of, or that cost so much ($25/lb). Oh well, at least it was only 125g. And I still some.
But, on the bright side of things, I fiddled with the air/fuel ratio on the pinhalense tonight and have a much better flame now, one that has a slight hiss and a good tightly formed flame – not the laziness that it was before. Seems it needed more air (O2). I hope that this means that I’ll be able to mve at least a full load through the times I’m expecting… till now, 300g has been somewhere about a slow 30min. ugh.
I found where the chaff has been going… just under the cooling vents, and before the entry to the impeller.. that is the hole in on the left side of the floor.”
March 18th, totally unknown to me, the Brazilian customs agents went on strike.. with a vote of 98% in favor of striking…
Sounds like they are still striking.
update Found this which states in part that only live stock, perishables, explosives and flammable cargo, and medicines are being allowed through port.
Awww shit.
update 2I did trade emails with the exporter for Pinhalense, who assured me that things are indeed moving through customs and that they are working to get the roasters they have at the airport on their way…
I hope that the strike is resolved soon, though.
I can hardly stand the slowness that designing and building this roaster is. I know that it is my doing, but that doesn’t make it any easier not being able to really control my roasts. And it’s becoming increasingly painful as I become ever more eager to sink deep into cupping coffee and reaching balance with a roast. I’m not currently exploring as I know I am able… and truly return to my craft.
Well, In fact I couldn’t let this go any longer, and so purchased a sample roaster from Pinhalense.. I just got word at the end of last week that it is essentially ready in the factory as of tomorrow, so all it needs is some crating, an airplane, one long flight from Sao Paulo to Portland. Some gentle customs agents, and a van to get it home. If all goes well, by next weekend, I should be tearing through some junky green that I’ve been stashing away over the past couple months to get it nice and seasoned.
