As I mentioned in my previous post, I got a coffee bean roaster for Christmas and have been having mad, wild science experiments with coffee beans ever since.

My roaster came with five pounds of green beans. I got two pounds of what they describe as “starter beans.” These are beans that handle heat well and produce coffee that you’ll be familiar with.

I’ve been happy with the roasts I’d made. It’s been great fun trying to figure out how to achieve my nirvana roast.

Yesterday I roasted my first batch of non-starter beans, the Ethiopian Moka Harra beans.

These beans did not roast evenly at all. I’m going to try the instructions I found here with the next batch I roast to see if I can get a more even roast.

This batch of coffee beans smell absolutely heavenly when I ground them. However, the taste isn’t as rich as the smell. Possibly they need to degas more. I’ll try the beans again tomorrow, see if they’re richer then.

In addition, I’m going to roast these beans longer next time, particularly between the first and second cracks, see if I can get a more robust flavor. The berry notes I can taste — it has a very nice light finish. I’d still like it a bit heavier at the start.

So this is what I continue to geek out about! What have you been geeking out about lately?