Page 45 - #53 English

increasing its acidity?” “What if I can make this coffee sweeter capable of manipulating roast graph, especially the ROR curve
without increasing its acidity?” “What if I can add a sweet floral are as important even though it contrasted from what I said
finish to this very dark roasted coffee?”. Working to improve earlier. Because if you can “fully manipulate” your roast graph,
any of these question will definitely improve your work satisfac- it also meant you understand your roasting machine very well,
tion and roast quality. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it could and that takes more time than you can imagine. I’d say most
be enjoyable. Patience is the key. Experiment with any ideas roaster takes 4-6years to fully understand their own roasting
you could think of. Not just the roast. Sourcing the right coffee machine. Working with an experienced instructor or partner
for the right job is a good start. As for the roast, try to move would shorten that time. I was lucky enough to be instructed
away from the roast graph for a moment. Charge high, charge by Scott Rao himself. Also, be critical. Never once I am satis-
low, high energy input at the beginning, low energy input at the fied with my own roast, there are always things to improve, as
beginning, roast fast, roast slow, anything, really. While you’re little as they may be, it’s there, trust me. I still have yet to find
doing this, always keep this in mind. You are roasting the coffee, a coffee that I’d score 100 on a cupping scoresheet. Everything
you are not roasting the graph. The roast graph is just a data base takes time, by the time you pushed one coffee to its limit, it’s
for you to look back and replicate or adjust your roast profile. probably already the 40th batch before you know it.
Nobody cares how perfectly lined and planned your roast graph
is. Never ever go look at a roast graph and assume this coffee
will taste fine. In most cases, yes, it will taste fine, but that’s just
it. “Fine” is just another word to replace “Acceptable”, which is
also the lowest scoring category on a professional coffee scoring
sheet. It is our job as coffee professional to turn the word “fine”
into an “enjoyable” experience for our customers no matter
the roast level. If you are willing to spent time and resource to
experiment on roasting “developed” coffee, it will ultimately
become a product that you cared, and proud of. Now, how many
of you had been roasting your dark roasted coffee in ONE way
ever since you started roasting? Do you enjoy serving your cli-
ent that coffee?
Well then, that’s how I kept myself from losing my
identity as a coffee roaster. So what is my identity? I am young
and I had only been roasting for only 5years, so I am in no posi-
tion to be educating anyone. So anything written from this point
onwards are my opinion and not facts. As mentioned, many
of my coffee here are deemed under-developed by some cof-
fee professional. However, as long they don’t taste flat, baked,
roasty, astringent, bitter, hollow, defective or even fermented,
they are good to me. I don’t see people complaining about their
sashimi being raw nor I see people barbeque their apple before
eating it. I want my coffee to be clean, sweet, crisp, bright,
transparent and most of all, enjoyable. I prefer to look at it as an
“drink”, more than a coffee. I want my client to be able to taste
the story of the coffee’s origin. I also wished my client could
taste the fruit the farmers worked so hard for and not the tech-
niques of my roasting. That is the reason why I roast coffee the My ultimate goal is to be able to roast and serve only
way I do. My roast philosophy on filter roast and espresso roast specialty grade single origins coffee in the future. Hopefully
are pretty much the same or similar with very little variance. roasted in my own way. This is because idea of taste consistency
The coffee should taste like itself with the brewing method created by coffee blends prevent us from buying coffee that
being its only difference. Buying the right coffee to perform in taste greater than our previous lots. This stops the specialty
such way is the main challenge. The coffee we source tend to coffee industry from growing. On the other hand, single origin
have high definition of their own terroir. They might not be the would almost always taste better because they are roasted and
best or sweetest we can find (Cup of Excellence), but usually extracted much more evenly. The only downside to it is that it
they deliver what I try to present. The Ethiopian Heirloom, changes accordingly to season. But it’s like buying mandarine
Kenyan SL series, Southern American (Brazil and Colombia) during the winter and lychee during the summer. There’s noth-
Bourbon, Nicaragua’s Pacamara and even Panama’s Geisha are ing wrong to it. Changes are scary, but it shouldn’t be stopping
good examples of what I meant. people from tasting sweeter and better coffee. I had always
Thou, that doesn’t mean that I roast my coffee light hoped end consumer would trust their local barista or roaster
blindly. How do I roast? I spent more time working on roast more like how they trust their local bar tender or restaurant
profile than most people think I do. Experiment a lot, try dif- chef. Will that ever be achievable here in Thailand I don’t know,
ferent profiles, taste them, are the best advice I can give. Being but I will continue to chase after it.
45