After a week of roasting coffee in the popper I can safely say that this is worthwhile stuff. The roast is very even and it is easy to hear the cracks and judge the color. Only negative is the small capacity and the chaff that flows everywhere.
I am reading about blending for espresso and doing my first experiments. So far I have tried Guatemala Antigua, Brazil Cachoeira, Sumatra Mandheling and Colombia La Manuela as single origin espressi. I've also made som blends like for instance 45% Brazil, 40% Colombia and 15% Monsooned Malabar robusta. That one was ok, but a bit undefined in the cappuccino. It lacked some edge. The other blend I have tried was 40% Brazil. 30% Sumatra, 20% Guatemala and 10% Robusta. That one was horrible and I had to spit it out ASAP. Probably because the Sumatran hadn't been rested enough (tried it 24 hours after roasting). That carbonic acid can be nasty.
I want a powerful cappuccino blend so now I have some monsooned malabar resting after yesterdays roast session. I will blend that with some robusta and something to add brightness and acidity, maybe the Guatemalan.
Last week I was actually on an interview for an IT job!. I hope to be called in for a second interview this week. This doesn't mean that my coffee project is cancelled, but probably postponed because I have realized that I haven't got enough money to do a reasonably secure first year of business, especially since I have to have a pay check to pay my expenses and loans.
Temperato, the norwegian distributor of Rancilio, is finally back in business after a long holiday. Looking forward to talking to them again. They are definitely a big part of the home espresso scene in Norway. 8/18/2003 08:35:00 PM
