Green Bean Quality

Muscles

Recent posts about roast/bean quality got me thinking and while roasting up some Yemen Al-Hajj Boa'an I noticed what had been referred to elsewhere as "defects", probably caused to by too much heat or too sudden heat during roasting. I have noticed them before while roasting from the same bag of greens but never paid much attention to them. This time I decided to go through some of the green beans and look for answers and here they are.

I would estimate maybe only 1-2% of the beans posess similar traits as these shown in the pics below.

Heres a quick grab from the bowl of greens:


And Another:


And after a minute of picking out some of the usual suspects I found these and took photos from four angles so you could see whats going on.









So, do you find certain SO's posess similar defects? What perecentage would be considered bad? Do you sort before roasting and remove said beans & should I?

Koffee_Kosmo

Dry process and organic beans will have these defect traits However it will happen to just about all beans from any growing region as it depends on how well they are sorted and graded With regards to roasting I have been saying on several forums for quite some time that uneven roasts can be a consequence of poor grading & defective beans  I learned long ago to always check the green beans for defects prior to roasting KK

rival81

Not all beans have that many defects. Yemen are usually as seen above with quite a few broken ends etc, but the quality stuff i get from ministry grounds, eg. kenya tinganga i roasted this morning had zero defective beans in a 500g sample. It just depends on the farm/origin, how they are processed. I always do a quick sort before and after roast if necessary, but it's usually only a few under ripes.

Muscles

I think I'll pay a bit more attention to the green from here on through. I have a dozen SO's on hand but have only really noticed this with the Yemen - mind you I haven't gone looking. I guess when the little one arrives and is keeping us awake I can hand grade all my SO's :D

mycuppa

In some cases, the diversity in a bean screen (grade) can provide wonderful complexity in a cup. This does not apply to everything and I would encourage people to experiment at various moments and not limit your roasting experience by always "re-grading". Some of the best coffee I've ever roasted and tasted has been wild-grown, ugly looking PNG's that were A/X grade. Those beans would never feature in my lineup today if I had inspected them and used appearance as a decision maker. Full of broken, uneven colors, various screen and shapes..........those 2 bags still stand up there in my top 10 of all time. Maybe it was just luck. We don't do such things anymore as the risk is too high. Don't underestimate this particular aspect of green bean blending and roasting - diversity can add character.

Divey

Do these beans look dodgy to you  :question: I have NOT roasted any yet as I'm not very interested in their appearance.

mycuppa

on 1320098152:

Do these beans look dodgy to you  :question: I have NOT roasted any yet as I'm not very interested in their appearance.

Origin and type please ?

Brett H

Roast them and you may be surprised.  I have had beans many years ago from a prominant Melbourne supplier that looked very ordinary but roasted well and tasted fantastic.  Chances are they may prove to be your best roast of 2011... let us know either way.

Divey

on 1320099960:

Origin and type please ?

No problems..... Indonesian Mandheling Lumika.

mycuppa

I wanted to say they looked like wet-hulled Sumatrans. Generally a very ugly looking bean with partial husk coverage and mottled appearance. Lumika is a sensational bean. Of the Mandy's available in Aus, it's up in the top half-dozen. At the moment, we are using quite a fair bit of Lumika as it seems to be available given the shortages of Sumatrans in general. Roast 20 seconds into 2nd crack, let sit for 12 days and then enjoy !

Divey

I roasted some of these in my popper. 1C 4.20min, rolling 5.15 min, 2C 7.45 min, Dumped at 8.10 min. This is the longest I have roasted any beans in the popper.  :-\ They still look like when they were green, very uneven. I am of the opinion that these little babies need a tad more of a roasting. No! This photograph was taken under down-lights in the kitchen without a flash. What are your thoughts.  :question:

Koffee_Kosmo

For my liking A tad more roasting KK

Divey

They still look a bit ordinary eh! Don't you reckon.  :question:

Koffee_Kosmo

on 1320142766:

They still look a bit ordinary eh! Don't you reckon.  :question:

I am sure that everyone has had a shocker roast at some point Learn from your mistakes for a better result next time  KK

Divey

They looked rubbish before I roasted them and they still look rubbish after roasting. ALL the other beans I have roasted look great and taste great. 

Tango

They look good to me Divey! I've been roasting some Sulawesi Blue from CS and been getting similar results - a very mottled, uneven roast.  Really love the flavour though, low acid and lots of spicy chocolate.  I've been roasting them to a similar colour to yours (albeit on a Behmor) and which corresponds to the first few snaps of 2C. Try them and let us know! 

Brett H

I'd be inclined to have them as a plunger or a pour-over.  I bet they'll be great like that but for espresso I'd go darker generally.  All you can do is try... You never know... You may end up being the fourth wave ;-)