Current Roast:
Ethoipian Harrar Longberry
These hardy, bright beans hail from one of the oldest coffee growing regions, in eastern Ethiopia. See if you can catch the blueberry or chocolate notes as you sip! How can you find those "notes" of flavor? Try drinking the coffee alongside something salty like buttered toast, or a small piece of dark chocolate and your tastebuds will notice different aspects of the coffee.
My roasting Journey: I learned through more research that Ethiopian beans are a hard bean, and often trickier to roast than some other regions. I burned two batches of these beans, which was a bummer but I learned a lot in the process.
Past Roast:
Malawi Mangochi Peaberry
While I didn't know it at the time, Malawi beans are a little tough to get your hands on. This mildy acidic coffee has caramel and fruity notes to it. These beans came from a company called Sweet Maria's, where I have bought some beans a learned a LOT about roasting.
Roasting journey: This was one of my first beans to roast in the cast iron skillet. Once I got the heat right, this bean had such deep flavors and light sweetness. Maybe that's the peaberry coming through, or maybe it was something about how Malawi soil and growing affects the beans. Either way, I LOVED it and can't wait to try it again on an actual roaster!
Past Roast:
Burundi Rwiri Yagikawa
This coffee comes from Yagikawa Farmers Cooperative Society, where farmers deliver coffee cherries to be processed in a central facility in northwestern-Burundi. This coffee is known for citris notes, and a sweetness that comes out the longer you roast it. (info from Sweet Maria's)
Roasting journey: As one of my first beans I focused on roasting evenly, and eventually caught hints of the sweetness described in these beans. They are larger beans than the peaberry mentioned above, and were a little kinder to my heat fluctuations I battled on the skillet.
