This week i roasted more of the Kenya Tinganga. I was not happy with my initial roast - i let it go too dark, and it just didn't have as much sweetness as i think it could deliver with a lighter roast. I'll blame my neighbour for interrupting me right as i was about to dump the roast for that one!

Today i also roasted the Bolivian San Juan 8 Estrellas.

This is a red and yellow caturra fully washed coffee. I love the white grape acidity and caramel/toffee flavour of good Bolivian coffee, and if the look and smell of this roast is anything to go by, we're in for a cracker here!  This is a well known coffee farm, but i've not yet tried the Estrellas.

I roasted this one to the same profile as i did the amazing Costa Rican Las Lajas Black Pearl coffee. First crack was at 10:45 at 198, then roast pulled at 14 mins at 207 degrees, about one minute past the end of first crack.

Quick update on the Columbian Santa Rita sent by Latorre Dutch.  Now a week since roast, and it's tasting rather spectacular! 

At this roast depth i'm tasting a lot of fruitiness, balanced and juicy body, long sweet finish with notes of ripe lemon and white grape. Reminds me a little of some recent Bolivian coffee but with less caramel and more citrus. Lovely coffee.

Thanks again to Latorre for the sample, we enjoyed it very much!

Latorre & Dutch coffee traders kindly sent me a sample of a Columbian coffee from the Santa Rita farm. This is a washed and sun dried lot mostly made up of Caturra variety at 1600 - 2100 meters above sea level.  The farm is located in a volcanic soil region near the Andes Mountains.

Latorre are involved in a range of social community projects at origin, aimed at giving something back to the farmers who work so hard to bring us these special coffees, and improve their quality of life while educating and encouraging the farms to produce higher quality coffee, rewarding them for doing so.

Columbia Santa Rita green coffee sample:

This is a high quality Columbian coffee, with an even screen size and very few defects. Latorre have just received a fresh batch of the Santa Rita.

Fresh green coffee is always best, as many coffees tend to aquire a woody taste as they dry out over time as green beans. Stale green coffee can taste flat compared to fresher greens.

I wanted to roast this one in a very light espresso roast, to really bring out the varietal characteristics in the coffee and minimise any loss of the unique flavours from this origin. Some of the roast styles i've been enjoying lately from the likes HasBean and Square Mile in London have really helped me realise that even though i typically roast light, i'm probably still imparting too much roast flavour to the coffee. And more importantly, that it is possible to roast light and not end up with a grassy under developed roast.

For the Santa Rita, first crack was reached at 10:50 at 195 degrees, and the roast was ended at 14:00 at 206 degrees, just after the last few pops of first crack. In other words - first crack plus 11 degrees, and slowing the temperature increase to 3 degrees per minute once first crack is reached.

The ground coffee dry aroma is sweet, clean, citrusy and floral.

I'll report back with full tasting notes next week. Latorre & Dutch have this coffee in stock now, and it's fresh! They source it direct from the farm.  Contact them if you're a cafe and would like to source some for roasting.  For home coffee drinkers, Ministry Grounds are selling the Santa Rita roasted.