Home Grown

When Canada had an isolated case of Mad Cow, the US closed its borders to all cattle and meat from here because, we were told, it was a terrible threat to Americans. When America had its very own Mad Cow incident(s), there followed a glowing testimonial to the efficacy of the US effort to identify the disease before tainted meat entered the food supply, and US citizens were told not to panic. US trading partners were told that it was silly to take any action banning or restricting imports of US beef.

Earlier in the month, when CSIS (Canadian Security and Intelligence Services), which functions like Homeland Security in the US, uncovered a budding terrorist operation in Toronto, the news was full of reports that Canadian immigration policy was a direct threat to US security. Yesterday, a plot to blow up the Sear Tower in Chicago was uncovered. I'm pretty sure those of us north of the border all heaved a collective sigh of relief when it was revealed that it was entirely home grown.

Yup, the US of A, without any Canadian assistance at all, proved itself capable of growing its own terrorists.

Hummm....

 

posted by taming at 03:50 | link | comments (1)|
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First Roasts Sumatra Mandheling

Arghhh, I looked in my coffee cupboard this AM and realized that I would be out of roasted beans Monday morning. It would last until then if, and only if, we only drank coffee in the AM. That's what happens when RT sneaks (well, not really) some home roast to give as gifts to co-workers. It was a good excuse to roast, for the first time, some Sumatra dry processed Mandheling.

From the Sweet Maria's description:

Notes: Finding a really good Grade One Mandheling is tough, at the same time that there is an abundance of this coffee at every coffee warehouse, and on every broker's list. It's easy for anyone to get a bag of skunky old Mandheling. The problem arises when you want really good Mandheling. Buy too early in the crop cycle and you will get a mélange of early new crop (not good ...low grown) and past crop coffee (even worse). You have to look a t a lot ... a LOT... of samples, and cup them hard, to find a lot that is true to the classic Mandheling cup. Then again, you need to know what that cup is supposed to be! 15 years ago I remember roasting Mandhelings that really had the classic cup character that defined the origin ...back when Specialty coffee was itself being defined in the U.S. . First off, it actually looks like a Grade One, and when I screen it in my lab and count the defects, it actually grades as one. This might sound idiotic, but it is the first lot of the year that I evaluated that read Grade 1 on the bag and actually was Grade 1! It has extremely nice preparation with much less percentage of defects than we have seen in recent seasons. Yes, it has that aggressive, woody, earthy (slightly mossy) character. But it also has a sweet fruitiness, a caramel roast taste that has a creamy, chocolate dimension to it as well. The finish goes toward the bittersweet, with a pungent quality emerging, reminding you of the deep, heavy handed cup character that epitomizes Sumatra. It has a bit of all the defining Sumatra flavors wrapped together in one coffee, and maintains a balance between them. Most people might taste this and just say, "Boy, that's nice Sumatra". That's fine, that's perfect in fact. Sumatra really doesn't have to draw that much attention to itself. I really enjoy the depth and balance of this cup, qualities that I haven't enjoyed this much in a Grade One Mandheling for while.

Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild/ Clean, refined cup

Roast: Full City+. Sumatra can be roasted on either side of 2nd crack. It works great for darker roasts and blends too. Sumatra appears lighter to the eye than the actual degree of roast, when compared to other coffees visually. People tend to prefer more roast on this coffee, but I enjoy it at a City+ stage (properly rested for 24 hours) where the surface is dry looking and a bit variegated (unsmooth and patchy color).

Compare to: Powerful Indonesians, Low acidity, deep flavors, earthy hints

I roasted two 135 gram batches. The first to FC+/Vienna (some oil, brown, not black) and second to Full City (rich brown, no oil).  I stopped the first roast with 2'15" remaining, and the second with 3' left on the clock, using this  (Profile 3) 11 minute profile. I mixed the two into a mélange.

I have a basic distrust/dislike of really dark roasts. I know some coffees fare better than others when roasted dark, but I am firmly entrenched in the camp that believes that as you move through the roast, the unique characteristic of a particular bean disappears, replaced with the flavour that comes from the roasting itself, rather than the bean. Usually that means a charred taste á là (most of ) Starbucks coffee.

I have three pounds of the Mandheling, so, eventually, I will taste this coffee at both levels, individually—just not now, when I am facing a minor coffee shortage.

 

posted by taming at 06:54 | link | comments (1)|
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Ta Daaa

This is the completed yogurt with over 2 cups of whey removed. I had added 1.5 tsp. of natural lemon extract and 1 Tbsp. of Splenda™. The yogurt cheese tastes very much like the shtuff you might get on a lemon cheese Danish. Note that it is dry enough that it does not flow to the edges of the container. It is a bit softer than cream cheese. If I had left more of the whey in it, it would look (and taste) like ordinary yogurt. Since I did not add any artificial colouring, it is white, despite tasting as if it should be lemony yellow.

I will eat the yogurt with some berries when RT scarfs down his ice cream tonight, and I will use some of it to frost cinnamon flax muffins for breakfast tomorrow. 

 

posted by taming at 13:57 | link | comments (2)|
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More Diddling with Food

Dear Monitor of the Internet,

Please forgive Taming's blogging absence, yesterday, June 20. She was kept busy in the non-virtual world roasting coffee, making yogurt, and worrying about this and that.

Sincerely,
Taming
(what you thought my mother was still making excuses for me)

With that out of the way, first the coffee report: I roasted two batches of the Horse Harar for a friend. She is a dark coffee fan, so I tried a darker roast than I would ever make for myself. We'll be sampling on Saturday (day 4). I am hoping that the chocolate notes were not burned off, leaving the taste of burnt beans in its place. The goal was a Vienna roast, which many people believe is a real sweet spot for this particular coffee.

The worries are my own, and not shareable (well except with the recipient of above coffee and a couple of very good friends, who also deserve fresh roast. The fact that one of them doesn't drink coffee is a challenge to be dealt with in the future.

As for the yogurt, I have pictures. As if pictures of coffee related things are not enough, I can bore you with yogurt making too.

This is the cheapo yogurt maker I use. In truth, one does not need any sort of appliance to make yogurt, but maintaining an even heat sure is easier in one of these. I don't actually use the seven glass jars. I have a Pyrex bowl that fits neatly inside, and I use that instead. The yogurt takes a bit longer to, urmmm, become yogurt, but given that I drain my yogurt (yes, another step) it makes far more sense to do it this way.

After removing the yogurt from the yogurt maker, I dump it into the funnel-like thing that is part of my Melitta 6 cup coffee maker. I line the funnel with two paper coffee filters first. The goal is to let the whey drain out. My preference is to start with full fat organic milk, though most of the time, I buy 2% milk because that is what RT prefers in his cereal. You can use any kind of milk you like, even instant milk powder. I buy active cultures at the grocery store. You can use yogurt itself as a starter, but the pro-biotic goodness is more reliable when you use starter.

     

As you can tell, a whole lot of whey does drain out. The first picture was taken after 10 minutes of draining. The second picture after about  45 minutes. At this point, 12 ounces of whey has been removed. Removing some of the whey makes a thicker yogurt. Removing most of it produces a cheese like product, traditionally called Labneh.

The yogurt cheese is spreadable and can be spiced with herbs and other flavourings. Yogurt cheese is practically carbohydrate free, as opposed to yogurt with all the whey still in it, which has as many carbs as the milk you used to make it. I flavoured this particular batch with natural lemon extract. The finished product is especially good as a topper for blueberries. I use Splenda as a sweetener. Again, It's a carbs thing. 

My last batch was made with my good home roasted coffee beans. Yes, I can make anything all about coffee.

 

posted by taming at 06:59 | link | comments (2)|
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Guatemalan, Profile #3

Another bean, another roast profile (profile 3).

This was a roast profile suggested by Tom, of Sweet Maria's, for the iRoast-2. This is what he had to say about it:

A basic profile I am using is my lower-heat warmup profile. It benefits all coffees, and only causes problems with really dense seeds that need a higher initial temperature. Basically it is

340 for 2 minutes --this will give you a high speed air pattern to aid in really even initial heat distribution
390 or 400 for 3 minutes -- this raises the temperature right to the verge of first crack
450 for 4 to 6 minutes -- with most coffees, 4 minutes will give you a City Roast, 5 a Full City, and 6 gets you to the door of 2nd crack.

I think the best way to use the curves in the i-Roast is to regulate initial heat distribution. Air roasters, even the professional Sivetz air roasters, have never allowed a slower warm-up "ramp" and this is where you can cup quality by letting the coffee accept and distribute heat according to its physical limits, not forcing the heat on too quickly. Once heat is distributed from the core to the exterior of the bean evenly, then a higher roast temperature that allows the coffee to pass through the cracks can be applied. If this temperature is not too excessive, the cracks will happen in a slow and controlled way, with a clearly delineated pause between 1st crack and 2nd crack.

I was roasting 140 grams of a very nice Guatemalan bean, and stopped the roast with 2:15 left on the clock, which, according to Tom's tipsheet, should have been a City roast. I'm pretty sure I was hearing the beginning of second crack, and the beans were quite a bit darker than the Horse I have been roasting, but still not oily. First crack started with 5:30 on the clock, which would mean that there were three minutes between cracks--not bad for an iRoast-2.

I wasn't seeing the dark smoke I saw with the Horse Harar when I started to hear the first pops of second crack. It sure looks like Full City to me. Hummm...

 

posted by taming at 07:49 | link | comments |
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