Papua New Guinea Enorga

For my first coffee roasting adventure, I set an ambitious project for myself. With my Mother's day gift I received green beans, a roaster and a book (Home Coffee Roasting by Kenneth Davids). In this book the Author separates the roasting phases into acts; act one, two, three, four and five. The Summary of the acts are as follows: the green bean, to a tea like coffee, medium roast most people refer to as a breakfast blend, full-city or Viennese (I like this phase for espresso), realm of dark roasts (this phase is my preference for morning brews). In order to immerse myself in the roasting process, I set out to accomplish each of the "acts" of roasting. For this experiment I selected Papua New Guinea Engora green beans which smelled like walking through a the fields next to dairy farm by best friend grew up on.

The first roast was conducted using four ounces of green beans. The fan and temperature were set to high. The timer was set for 5.9 minutes. The first crack occurred with 5.9 minutes remaining. There was no second crack. The surface of this bean was light brown. It was during this first roasting experiment that I learned roasting is an outdoor hobby. Through my book learning, I read roasting is a smoky hobby. Neither my husband nor I smelled or saw any smoke. During the cooling phase of the roast, the fire alarm blared to us that we weren’t observant. My dog, a Siberian husky, jumped up and howled his displeasure at the alarm. This of course caused my son to cry. I have since done all my roasting outside on the back porch.

The second roast was conducted using three ounces of green beans. The fan was set to medium and the temperature was set to high. The timer was once again set to 5.9 minutes. The first crack this time occurred with 3.9 minutes remaining and no second crack followed. Unlike the first roast, this one smelled like coffee. This bean turned to a medium brown color with a slight matte finish.

The third roast used three ounces of green beans. The fan and temperature remained the same as the third roast while the timer was increased to 6.9 minutes. The first crack was with 4.2 minutes remaining. This roast had a second crack when there was 2.6 minutes remaining. This roast produced a beautiful dark brown bean that had a shinier surface .

Finally, the fourth used the same amount of green beans and the same settings. The change I made was to the length of the roast, 7.9 minutes. The first crack was with 4.8 minutes remaining and the second with 2.7 minutes left. This bean was the oiliest. It left residue that soaked through the brown lunch bag that I placed it in.

All four roasts were first tasted using a French Press as the brewing method. The first roast tasted was shocking in its uncoffee like flavor. It genuinely tasted like tea, a grassy, fruity tea. I threw the rest of those beans away because I found it undrinkable.  The second was an improvement, though almost any roast would have been an improvement over the first. It was a smooth, full-bodied coffee that had a low acidity. It was sweet, but my husband and I agreed that it tasted a bit green still. The third turned out to be an excellent espresso roast. It was smooth, with a sweet, almost bright flavor.  The fourth quickly became the favorite morning roast. My husband and I liked it so much that I used the above settings to duplicate the roast. It was very smooth. Most of the fruitiness and the sweetness that had lingered since the first roast were gone. It held a roasted, caramelized taste. This last roast was just as delicious from the drip machine as it was from the French Press. 

Overall, at first I wasn’t sure I would like this bean, but in retrospect I believe it was because of the shock I received from the tea like roast. That was truly horrible. The only real use I can see for that light of a roast would a practical joke, an April Fool’s day prank. Any other morning, it is just cruel. After trying the Peru Penachi, which I am going to have to conduct some more experiments in temperature, I find that right now I definitely prefer the Papua New Guinea Enorga bean flavors. However, it is a divided house because my husband found the Peruvian beans to be, in his words, “particularly tasty”. 

I suppose I could roast his and hers. I am envisioning the brown paper lunch bags that I store the freshly roasted beans in to have drawings on them instead of writing. Perhaps I will just have to design some labels for the bags.  The classic bathroom signs, a man for his Peruvian and a woman for mine preferred bean. This is exciting a new way for me to combine my graphic design skills and coffee. I had better contain my excitement and ideas or I will never sleep tonight. Who needs to drink coffee when thinking about it so much provides the same caffeine buzz?