Roasting for science...

I roasted some coffee from Veracruz Mexico as part of testing the latest software update. It was the Veracruz la Laja honey process beans from Mexico that I bought from Coffee Bean Corral. 

Veracruz is a little north and west of Chiapas but apparently still in the range of stuff that tastes good-

Veracruz, Mexico (Google Maps)

When I checked the notes for these beans I found Chocolate, Orange Citrus notes, Very sweet, Creamy body for flavor notes (with no roast guidance). Guess Coffee Bean Corral isn't big on sharing their cupping notes.

And the description is more a travelog than anything a roaster might want to know-

La Laja is a family farming and milling group in Veracruz, Mexico. The farm began in 1920 when Hermilo Sampieri bought his first coffee farm in Huatusco. Eventually his son joined the business and started the milling and export side. Over the years, the family farm grew to four farms in Veracruz - Fince la Laja, Finca el Mirador, Finca las Palmas, and Finca la Veracruz which grows the robusta variety -  and three farms in the state of Puebla. La Laja also buys buys cherry from small producers in the state of Chiapas, so they offer a wide range of qualities, regions, and processing methods. Their wet mills are in Veracruz and Puebla and their dry mill and export office is in Veracruz.

This honey processed coffee is a blend from two farms: Finca la Laja and Finca el Mirador. After depulping, the coffee was dried slowly on covered raised beds for 20 days. This coffee is supremely sweet with a mild orange citric acidity, chocolate and sugar cane flavor profile, and a big creamy body. It is very clean and consistent.

Thanks to Mr. Google I discovered that Coffee Bean Corral apparently bought this offering from Hacienda la Minita who has this notation about flavor: It is truly a sugar bomb with flavors of chocolate and cherry and a mild orange citric acidity. You will love the big creamy body on this coffee. Notice the similarity in description.

Like last time I roasted this la Laja honey processed to Full City (FC) to try and capture my old friends "Chocolate" and "Creamy body". Based upon the prior batch, the coffee has to rest at least a week so it will be awhile before we get to taste the results.

Btw, la laja translates to "stone where clay figures are molded". So now you know. Aren't you glad you read this far?!

Software testing went ok... no jarring surprises though a couple things have crept back in regarding alignment of events and Drum/Bean temp alignment. I'm sure Matt will get that sorted soon. He finally has some help from a user who is familiar with Recipes. In addressing those issues something probably got change unintentionally. I'm one of those I-wanna-do-it-myself people that finds automation of the roast akin to losing control of the whole process. Yet I rigorously follow a plan for when to change heat setting and drum speed. Hmmm... contradictory at best!