Tips For Roasting Dry Process Coffee

[@thebuzzah]

Just a couple months ago I ordered my first green beans and a hot air popper from Sweet Marias. They also included 1-lb samples with the popper. I have roasted all but the last two samples which happen to be...you guessed it, dry processed! I've been avoiding roasting because of this very nuance you describe. It seems that roasting coffee is one of those "takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master" skills. Watching your videos about timing the different stages and monitoring the ROR makes me realize how difficult it is when I can't simply control the heat. I do have a thermocouple in the popper but I am on the fence about commitment to better equipment. The coffee I've roasted thus far is a lot better than anything in the store, but I'm not sure when to go to the next level. Your videos have me thinking a lot about what is happening during the roast. Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge.

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hi @thebuzzah. Thanks for your comments and for sharing your thoughts as a new home coffee roaster. First, let me share that all home coffee roasters go through the same challenges and ultimately question how far into this hobby they want to go. Yes, there is a learning curve BUT it isn't that difficult. Let me explain. Currently you are using a popper. I too started out on a popper. And just as you said, it is a lot better than anything else you can buy at the store. Many people are satisfied to stop right where you are and keep using the popper. There are a couple of other options you could consider that will allow you to roast in a more hands on fashion and have more control with your heat. There are even data options. for roasters that cost as little as 38 dollars on up to 200 dollars with a data connection. Roasters like a ceramic hand roaster or the hive roaster are interesting options. Actually, I already have plans to talk about this on some future videos. For now, consider controlling your heat of the popper by taking off the lid or gently blowing a little air into the popper to control the temperature. There are ways to manage the heat on a popper that could be interesting to try. As for the dry process coffee, your going to have to roast it at some point. It isn't that much different than what you have already been doing with the popper so have fun, give it a try and use your time with the popper to learn about smell, color change, sound and textures of the bean. This way, if and when you are ready to "upgrade" you will have already began preparing for the next step in your roasting journey.

[@slockhart4315]

It helps when you share temp ranges at different times during the roast. Great help and good information. Sid

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hi Sid, thank you for your comments and for watching my video!

[@erharddinges8855]

Again you hit the most important things for this case!

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Thanks for watch Erhard and for the encouragement!

[@chaiha]

Thank you so much for cleared explanation 😊

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Glad it was helpful! I love dried process coffee!

[@slpardee10]

I have read that some dry process coffee is now being floated (just like washed coffee) before standard drying as a quality control measure that allows the underripe cherries to be separated from the good ones. And to clarify what you were saying, the ones that float are the ones removed by skimming them off. The main reason naturals were never floated before is because this method was done in areas that didn't have much water. But now in places like Ethiopia where there is plenty of water and the beans are normally wet processed, dry processing is a new option because people like the extra fruitiness of dry process. So they have enough water to float those cherries too.

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Ahhhh, thanks for sharing @slpardee, I remember now about the under developed/under ripened cherries. Thanks for the clarification. I did read an article from sweet marias archive that was talking about bean density and water sorting but maybe the density was related to the under developed bean? Thanks again for your comments and for watching my video!

[@andreamunari5800]

TY

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

I’m glad you enjoyed my video!

[@oliverb2895]

thanks for the hint to try 35% for the browning phase. that helped make my roasts more interesting, would have never come upvwith that. I alawys hit around 45% before...

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hello Oliver, glad the percentage was a help for you. What are you using to roast your beans?

[@s9832017]

Nice viedo ,thanks for r the browning phase about 35%.I'll be try it!The coffee beans rest time,it seems to that may cause by the heating ways of roast machine (Direct Fire Roaster/half Hot Air Roaster/Hot Air Roaster).By the way,do you have any other video talk the same topic about the Honey Process and Washed Process?

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hello Fang. Let me know how your roast goes. Are you roasting on an air roaster? How long are you resting your dry process or honey process coffee? Honey process can be treated the same as a dry process coffee. It is not a washed coffee so roasting behavior should be similar to dry process.

[@s9832017]

@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thank you for your reply. I am using electric half Hot Air 400g coffee roaster, and the batch size is 250g. I usually roast in 11~13min. I'm just curious about other roasting methods. Maybe I can reference it. Thank you!

[@giancarlomiggiano-jd5tg]

Great video.. what about degree after the first crack instead of % after FC?

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Yea, percentages work when you are talking about the same total roast time. Temperature, color and time are other ways. If you rely on temperature after first crack you can still roast too long. This could happen if your rate of rise is low. Same with a high rate of rise. Moving quickly through development could cause a shorter time and lower percentage. I guess you make a great point of not relying on one way to measure development. I rely on all 3 as a way to help me know when to end my roast. My primary method is color and temperature and I’d I find my percentage is way off, I know I need to make adjustments elsewhere in my profile. Thanks for your comment and for watching!

[@petersallay5221]

Great content! I have had a similar learning curve. I went to the Mill city roasting seminar as well. I have a 1 kg machine in my garage. I spent a lot of time trying to roast dry processed coffees. I finally got the hang of it and learned all the same tips by making mistakes! The one thing I learned was to wait a considerable period of time after the roast to assess the coffee. I’ve had a few dry process coffees that would take a week or more to peak. Have you had a similar experience?

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hi Peter / MCR Brother. Nice roaster! Yes, I have noticed most of my washed coffees are quite drinkable after 1-3 days while dry process coffees tend to begin to come to life beginning at day 3 or 4 and in my experience be at peak around 5-7 days.

[@abiggs]

Great tips! Thanks!

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hi Aaron, thanks for watching! I'm glad you found the info helpful.

[@ahmed.dhaheri]

Man you are awesome 👌🏼

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Thank you for your kind words. I’m just a home roaster trying to help other home roasters

[@tarik5232]

Hi, I know I'm here late, but I recently discovered you after entering the world of home roasting. Do you think what you say in this video also applies to air roasters? I have a kaffelogic. Thanks

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Absolutely. Most of the concepts apply to all roasters. Sometimes I use a specific roasting device that uses specific techniques for that device. The roasting concepts still apply to others as well.

[@2ofeachmom426]

Love your videos!

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Glad you like them @2ofeachmom! Thanks for watching.

[@Markusableitinger1]

When referring to the 'red' hue color when dropping, I believe, what happened is that those are underdeveloped beans. This happens if the floater are not sorted out or in cases when dried coffee is not put to the floater. Unfortunately those 'floaters' or 'red' hued beans should be sorted out and not used for coffee brewing since they do have a very underdeveloped taste and influence the cup negatively. If possible (meaning if enough water is available) floating should also take place when applying the dried process. For the reason to detect and sort out the 'floaters'.

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hi Markus, thanks for your comment and for watching my video. Yea, the floaters are kind of red and a lot lighter in color. I think I was referring to the overall red hue of the beans. If you set them side by side next to a washed coffee, they seem to have that hue. Have you noticed that? As for the floaters, I usually pick those out when they are in the cooling tray. They definitely don't taste good. Thanks for sharing your knowledge regarding floaters. What type of roaster are you using to roast coffee?

[@Markusableitinger1]

@@VirtualCoffeeLab I am using Diedrich roaster since 7 years...always good experience and reliable.

[@OSTV99999]

I'm waiting for the new vedio how you roast washed, fermentation and honey process coffee..? Your information help me alot Thaank you

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Thanks for watching my video Samundra Kc . I've got a long list of video topics and the ones you mentioned will be included in a future video. Thank you for your comment. What are you roasting with?

[@OSTV99999]

@@VirtualCoffeeLab I worked as a barista and I bought the kaldi machine in my home to learn more about roasting and your vedio help me alot...

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Welcome to the world of home coffee roasting Samundra Kc. Enjoy your Kaldi.

[@WickyFarms]

Great video!

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Glad you enjoyed it Wicky! Thank you for the encouragement.

[@chuckster623]

How do I determine if my green coffee is dry processed or washed coffee? When I read the descriptions on my several bags of green coffees, not one used words like dry processed or washed. How am I to adjust my coffee roasting if I can't determine how my coffee beans were processed?

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hi Chuck. That is a great question. Most of the time you can look at the beans before roasting and see they have some redness or even some mucilage reminants on the beans. They sometimes can even have a little yellowish tinge. If you have no way of knowing and the supplier did not disclose the process then roast the coffee like all of the other coffee and see what happens. If you bought the beans from sweet marias and the process type isn't listed on the bag or description on their website, be sure to look at the "SPECS" tab. There is an overview, specs, farm notes, and cupping notes tab you can click on to get more details about the green beans. If your supplier does not mention the process, I wonder why???? That is a pretty basic and important descriptor.

[@DJProPlusMax]

Dry process also refers to natural process

[@praveenrajponraj3115]

What is the average overall roast time from charging green beans to dropping roasting beans for DP coffee? Thanks :)

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hi Praveen, thanks for your question. I'm not sure I am able to answer that. It depends on what type of roaster you have as well as roasting style and what you want the coffee to be like. So, if you are a light roast person, a dry process coffee roasting on a drum roaster, I would say 9 minutes. That is a guess. What are you roasting on and how much coffee are you roasting per roast? Also, what roasting style are you aiming for?

[@praveenrajponraj3115]

@@VirtualCoffeeLab thanks for your reply. I’m using Kaldi 300g coffee roaster. My batch size is 250g. My style is either light roast or medium roast, not beyond. Thank you!

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

@@praveenrajponraj3115 the Kaldi is an air roaster right? They tend to roast faster. You will have to experiment with the outcome of a 9 minute roast on that roaster. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[@weeliano]

I recently roasted some liberica beans from Johor, Malaysia and I believe they are unwashed or dry processed. They have a brownish hue to them compared to the pale Jade green of washed coffees. All I can say from my experience that the dry processed coffee roasts about 1/3 faster than washed beans. Perhaps the water content of washed beans are much higher?

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Thanks for sharing your experience with dry process coffee @weeliano. Wow, that is quite a bit faster for the DP coffee roast time. Yes, I wondered about water content as well. Curious, there much fruit in the Malaysia coffee?

[@weeliano]

@@VirtualCoffeeLab From what I understand, these libericas were used as part of a blend for the "Nan Yang" style coffee and on its own I usually roast it to City plus , it has a smoky and spicy note to it. The raw beans themselves smell a little like earthy straw, compared to other green washed coffees which smelled a hint of soy and fresh grass.

[@OldMotherLogo]

Would this also apply to honey processed coffee? [Edit: I now see that you answered affirmatively elsewhere. Thanks.]

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Yes, absolutely

[@patrickallen777]

Enjoying your channel - question for you on the development phase. If you're shooting for that 13-17% range, do you drop your beans even if first crack is still rolling vigorously? I read about people dropping beans at the end of the FC, but as I've worked towards lighter roasts (and seemingly shorter development times), it seems like I have to drop while FC is still rolling. Is that your experience too? Thanks.

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

That’s a great question Patrick. The short answer is yes, sort of. The rest of my response goes into more detail based on your term “vigorous” and “rolling”. I watched a video from mill city with joe Morocco and Derek delapz who were answering that very question. Their answer was yes. Now the rolling and vigorous are a little eye opening for me when we try and answer your question. Can you please share what you are roasting with? Also, do you know your times, temps? It sounds like your first crack at a fairly good clip. I’m entering development around 12 or 13 ror. This helps buy me more time in development without my temps going too high. Buying more time like 15% instead of 8-10%. Just curious. I realize there are many ways to roast light.

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

I just saw your other post you are using a Hottop. So, my thinking is your cruising along pretty quick into first crack. The Hottop is slow to warm up so your building up heat and I’m betting your browning middle phase is on the shorter side of 30%. Just a guess. Anyway I would be interested in seeing your phase percentages , times and temps if that’s ok.

[@patrickallen777]

@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thank you for your replies -- I wish there were any easy way to share my roast profile here in the comments (maybe there is and I don't know!) But I looked at my recent profile of an Ethiopian dry processed bean and the times and temps aren't too bad. I charged at 345 degrees F. Had a 49% drying phase (4:42) and a 35% (3:21) middle phase with FC at 8:03. My development phase was 15.3% (1:27) and I dropped the beans at 9:30. Final bean temp was 383. What I noticed is that I was still experiencing FC -- maybe it wasn't virogorous--maybe it was slowing down and rolling more towards the end, but I probably would have roasted another 30 seconds to reach the end of FC. Instead I dropped them earlier than I normally do. I've had the hottop for just a couple months, so I'm still experimenting and learning the machine. I am especially shooting for those fruity notes in these types of coffees.

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Ultimately taste is king Patrick. Your taste buds will have to determine how to change your roast profile. Is the coffee tart, sweet, acidic, flat, vegetal, burned tasting, woody, papery..... all of these and more will be clues how you should change the profile FOR THAT COFFEE. Every time you roast a new coffee you will most likely want to tweak the profile. In the end I think it is a good idea to have most of your beans complete first crack. Technically, unless the coffee reaches first crack it isn't fully roasted, unless you are aiming or a Nordic type roast. My goal is to have the majority of my beans complete first crack and to be in that 13-17 range on development. That percentage will vary based on process varietal and origin BUT there are often a small percentage of beans cracking as I drop the coffee. I think the more important nugget is heat management. Going too hot through the phases and not providing enough time in the browning phase is what most people struggle with. Looking at your phase percentages and times, they look great. How does the coffee taste?

[@jacobmiller2050]

Great video! Roasting on my MCR 1kg I have been getting tipping on my Brazil natural. I do not notice this tipping using the trier during the roast, but it is evident once I drop and inspect the beans. Do you think this tipping is occurring due to the heat at the end of the roast? or do you think it is a combination of things throughout the roast?

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hi Jacob, tipping occurs when high pressure from internal steam of the bean is being released out of the weakest point of the seed. This is because the pressure build up too quick so my thought is the steam is being released before first crack, not at the end of the roast

[@jakobw135]

Is there a coffee bean that starts off using the dry or natural process and finishes with the honey process? Which brands of coffee have the above?

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Jakob, I don't know of any natural process coffee that is "honey process" as well. I don't believe it is possible because they are two completely different processes. The natural process is where the seed is left in the bean to dry for 3-6 weeks. During that time the cherries are spread out to dry. During that time they are regularly raked (moved around) so the entire cherry gets exposed to the dry air. Then, after this drying process has completed, the cherry seed is depulped. The fruit is discarded, leaving only the seed. Honey process has a brief fermentation process (a couple of days) and then is depulped. The seeds that are removed from the cherry are not washed. This leaves some of the mucilage attached to the seed as it is laid out to dry. This mucilage can enhance fruity or sweet notes. Now, there are "Anaerobic" process beans that are also honey processed. The Anaerobic process is where the cherry is placed in tanks of water with no oxgyen. After a period of time (it varies), the cherries go through the depulping stage and the seed is not washed ( honey process). So, when you look for greens, use "Anaerobic Honey" in your search terms and see if you can find any.

[@jakobw135]

@@VirtualCoffeeLab I heard or read that the natural or dry process is one kind of fermentation, while the honey process is another.

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

All coffee goes through the fermentaion process regardless of the type of process. Fermentation and Process Type are two different topics BUT are intertwined. This link www.cafeimports.com/north-america/blog/fermentation/ is really helpful answering some of your questions. Cafe Imports are experts in the field. They had an entire webinar (which I watched a few months ago on Fermentation that was really interesting. Jakob, I think this should address most of what we have been talking about. It is a complex topic and quite honestly, it is amazing to see how important this aspect of the "chain of custody" is and how it will impact the result of the green beans we purchase from our suppliers. The video at that link is also interested as it speaks directly about the Anaerobic Process. There is no standard of process from producer to another.

[@jakobw135]

@@VirtualCoffeeLab All I wanted to know is if there is one type of coffee bean that uses BOTH the natural or dry process, AND the honey process together - regardless if the fermentation is anaerobic or aerobic.

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Yes, See this link to view an anaerobic slow dry process coffee www.klatchcoffee.com/blog/asd-process and this link for a Anaerobic honey-process coffee www.standoutcoffee.com/products/honey-gesha

[@oriongameplays8509]

Ok, new to this and need to know how a rate of rise of "12" is actually measured? Is it 12 percent of something?

[@VirtualCoffeeLab]

Hi Orion. Rate of rise (ROR) is the comparison of temperatures within a timeline. If measuring manually, I measure bean temperature every 30 seconds. For example, at 3 minutes into the roast your Bean Temp (BT) is 300 degrees and then at 3 minutes and 30 seconds it is at 310 degrees, you have a ROR of 10 for a 30 second interval or 20 for a one minute interval. So, when using logging software, the number displayed as the ROR is a calculation made every few seconds and displayed as the ROR per 1 minute. ROR is a clear indicator of your roast progression. When roasting we don't just want to blast full power through the entire roast because we want to control our heat so specific periods of time pass by for each coffee event (dry end, first crack, drop) . Let me know if you need further clarification! What are you roasting on?

[@oriongameplays8509]

@@VirtualCoffeeLab This answers my question specifically! I have been ordering some Brazilian Adrano volcanic coffee (dry processed) that I have been roasting in an iron skillet and have gotten it to taste like hot cocoa! Yum! I'm looking forward to purchasing a small 300g roaster in the near future. Thank you so much for the prompt response! Great video tutorials, keep them coming!