Today, I roasted five batches in total.
今日は全部で５回焙煎しました。
Left: Mocha beans bought from Flavor Coffee
Right: Brazilian beans that I roasted recently
左：フレーバーコーヒーから買ったモカ
右：最近自分で焙煎したブラジル
First batch:
一回目：
Second:
二回目：
Third:
三回目：
Fourth:
四回目：
Fifth:
五回目：
Can't wait to taste them all!
全部試飲するのが楽しみです！
Looks really awesome Hiroyuki ! ...looks like for all the batches you never entered second crack ..So how was the aroma like and how was the acidity ? ..By the way I visited a coffee roastery this weekend and the guys' wife was from Guatemala ....and she said most coffee's to come to japan ...comes from Antigua region in Guatemala and comes to Japan via Illy ( Italian company ) ...By the way do Japanese like low acid coffees or do they prefer acidity ( tangy notes) ? Just curious ....
ReplyDeleteHiroyuki, I wonder how far will you go with your coffee experiments. I am really impressed. I would never attempt roasting coffee on my own. Have you considered growing coffee? ;-) Just joking!
ReplyDeleteAs you might have noticed, I have been absent for some time. Actually I went once more to Japan. I thought about you and your coffee posts when I discovered a miraculous place. Fed up with the choice of awful diluted stuff served in my hotel (the only really bad thing they served for breakfast), in modern cafés, as well as the atmosphere of chains such as Starbucks (where coffee was better), I asked my Japanese friend to take me to a real kissaten. I knew that at least I will like the atmosphere I saw in so many Japanese films. I was right about the atmosphere but the biggest surprise was the coffee: one of the best I have ever had outside of Italy (maybe even the best outside of Italy??) though completely different. It was very strong, aromatic and I didn't recognise the brewing method. It wasn't the traditional "home" dripping coffee maker, nor the Italian pressure espresso maker, nor the Italian moka stovetop coffee maker I use. The taste and aroma were extraordinary! Unfortunately, my Japanese was too limited to ask about the coffee making method and my friend was I think ashamed to ask (at least she was unwilling), so I just had a good look at the part of the kitchen which was open and only saw two metal kettles on the stove. I also saw a kind of strainer aside... I suppose it will remain a mystery to me until I speak Japanese well enough to have a chat.
Thats Awesome Sissi that you got to enjoy the best cup of coffee outside Italy, right in Japan ...By the way I bet Hiroyuki will help in getting the brew method as he might be aware of the most prominent brew methods in good quality kissaten ...Name of the Kissaten will surely help I guess...By the way here in America, all the best coffee gadgets comes always from Japan and commands lot of respect :-) and in my humble opinion Japanese have the best technology as far as drip coffee goes on the planet ...
ReplyDeleteDan: Yes, all the five batches were roasted for 12-14.5 minutes, before second crack. I tasted batch 5 this morning, and I found it rather acidic. I will get to the others one by one.
ReplyDeleteI don't know exactly what type of coffee the Japanese prefer. 30 years ago, light roast coffee (called "American") was quite popular.
Sissi: Another trip to Japan?! I hope you write about it in your blog soon!
As Dan says, the name of the kissaten will be of great help. A strainer? Maybe removing fine particles after grinding coffee beans?
Dan, whenever I go to Italy or France, I know I will have excellent coffee in every café or restaurant (Italy is much much better for strong small coffee lovers), but in Japan (after being unlucky last year too) it was a huge surprise.
ReplyDeleteHiroyuki, I hope you will not be disappointed... I have hardly taken any photos and those I took were very bad, mainly restaurant menus (to help me with future trips to Japan, learn useful kanji etc), so no post about Japan this time. On the other hand, I have lots of great ideas after this trip, bought some products such as yuzu (I bought 8 yuzu fruits this time!), wasabi roots (I have 3 and will have a real feast this weekend and freeze some grated wasabi too) and finally I bought some really good quality green tea I forgot last time. I had an additional check-in luggage this time!
As for the Tokyo trips, I will probably go to Japan every year since it's also (luckily) business-related. Since we went to Japan last year and loved it obviously, we promised ourselves that a yearly trip to Japan will be the priority and this is why we don't take other longer holidays.
Actually I took a business card from the kissaten. It's called YOU and they even have a website: http://www.kissa-you.com. They are close to the kabuki theatre in Ginza and my friend said they are quite famous. Next time I will taste their omuraisu and go there for coffee several times.
Sissi: Thanks for the link. I did some googling and found this particular kissaten is famous for their omuraisu (Tampopo (Taimeiken) style) rather than their coffee. Unfortunately, I found no detailed information about their coffee, except that they serve whipped cream:
ReplyDeletehttp://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/umaimonjj/diary/201112230000/
Thank you so much, Hiroyuki. My friend told me about omuraisu too. Someone was having it when we were sitting there and it looked good. Unfortunately we were just after lunch and I didn't manage to go there afterwards (see? I have to go back to Tokyo every year! I will never see, eat and drink everything I want).
ReplyDeleteThey served as unsweetened whipped cream which was a very interesting addition (I haven't put it into coffee though, just tasted).
Milk can roasting is interesting and seems to be fun, but I guess each and every batch will turn out quite different?! Never been that much into coffee brewing but I am really addicted to process chains: everything food/drink related made from scratch is simply irresistable. Even more when it can be done while using unique tools. That makes me wonder: I found a (german product) coffee roaster for camp fires: It is something very similiar to the milk can but (surprise, surprise) it is a can shaped thing made from steel with holes all over the can sides (not bottom). Some kind of stainless steel mat. The "can" is flipped to a side to roast (handle supports this, so the handle is totally different) and it is more pricy... fascinating for sure but Husband was not that fond of the idea so I am not going to buy it.
ReplyDeleteEnd of october I am visiting a small artisan coffee roast shop maybe I can take some fotos.
Kiki: Milk can roasting is interesting, fun, educational, and above all, economical! Green coffee beans are much cheaper than roasted. Besides, just think how expensive other roasting options are.
ReplyDeleteYou can roast coffee beans to the same level every time if you just keep watching the beans carefully. I intentionally roasted each batch differently (weight, the time at which to change the heat from medium to high, and total roasting time).
I can't help thinking that the milk can roaster, with an appropriate number of holes at the bottom, appropriate height, and upper open end, is a great invention of Nakagawa-san. It's not like a popcorn popper or a gingko nut roaster.
Do take some photos! I'd like to see them!