(11/21) Update: We've added some experiment results to our writeup and added a profile reveal. We are closing the quiz too. A larger writeup about coffee structure is still in the works!
Profile Reveal and Quiz Results
This quiz turned out to be hard! I think part of that was the terminology we used was very "roaster-minded" and for that we apologize. Moving forward, we'll make sure we're either setting up the question better or helping catch folk up to roast terminology before we go asking you "what had the longest maillard phase?". That was a silly oversight.
Anyway, our high score was a 3/5 on the quiz. Our highest rated profile was profile 3 at 5 stars. Second place was a two-way tie between profile 4 and profile 6, with just above 4 stars. Profile 6 was our first go at the final profile for our standard light roast bags... Ouch! Maybe we should've picked profile 3.
Jokes aside, this was tricky quiz on purpose. For some insight, both 3-profile batches had an extra light profile that was longer or equal in length to a profile with significant development. The goal here was to showcase how a profile with more development than we might like still might hold better coffee structure and showcase flavors better. In other words, development is not the only way to critique a roast! See below:
Group A
Profile 2: It was a fast, high structured roast, but with "extra" development. It had a roast time of 8:54, a maillard phase of 3:35 and a development time of 1:45. Drop temp was 400°F, which is hot for how we profile usually.
Profile 3: It was a shorter roast with a moderately long maillard and a lot less development. It had less structure than profile 2! This was the trick roast. Roast time was 8:23, but maillard length was 4 minutes and development was 45 seconds. Drop temp was 392.5°F.
Profile 5: It was the longest roast but with moderate maillard and a moderately long but really light development (see drop temp). It was equally structured to profile 3. Roast time was 9:04, but maillard length was 4 minutes and development was 1:15. Drop temp was just 392.5°F, equal to profile 3.
Group B
Profile 1: This was an extra long roast, but with barely any development. Roast time was 9:18. Maillard was the longest at 4:45 but development was only for 45 seconds. Drop temp was just 390°F -- where we usually profile our ultralights. This coffee profile was meant to trick you and present an extra light profile with almost no structure!
Profile 4: This was a longer roast, but felt moderately paced overall considering it had extra development. This was the trick roast. At 9:16, roast length was two seconds shorter than profile 1! Maillard was just 4 minutes long. This coffee had moderate structure but plenty or roast character that might hide it. Drop temp was 398.7°F.
Profile 6: This was a decently fast roast for the development time. It was super sweet and did not introduce too much roast character. It was the fastest roast in this group at 8:41, with just 1:15 seconds of development and just under a 4 minute maillard. Drop temp was 394°F. This was the profile we used for our "light roast" standard bags. We smoothed out the tail of the development though with some gas adjustments to make it taste slightly less metallic.
Experiment Design
Tune in soon for updates on drop 3 descriptive experiment investigating people's perceived development time, Maillard time, and total roast time from brewing each of their 3 60g samples.
Each purchaser received 1 of 3 development time windows with varying maillard phase lengths and were asked to take a survey after consuming. In the survey, they were asked to predict which roast took the longest, predict which had the longest development time, and then, share sensory observations about each coffee.
Profiles from the experiment. More details releasing after bags have arrived and been tasted!
For the most part, each profile kept airflow, charge temp, artificial soak and drying phase the same. There was slight variation (5-7 seconds) in drying per roast. Airflow also increased to fully open after first crack for the longer development times -- I was worried about smoking the barrel. The most dramatically different profiles here are probably blue and red. I will reveal which profile numbers those are at a later date.
Instructions for participants
A/B Experiment Quiz (closed)
- Wait until the coffee is at least 10 days rested before brewing.
- Brew each coffee (your way) and take notes on flavors, roast character, and structure.
- No you do not have to brew each coffee on the same day. If you do want to do this, I propose you try cupping them (see Base Coat IG for a how to).
- When thinking about structure, think about "how preserved (or raw) are these flavors", "how much are they blended or do they intermingle".
- When you're ready, proceed to the quiz link (closed). Pro tip: save some coffee for after you know the results.