“City+ to FC+: Earthy sweetness, tropical highlights, medium body and low acidity.” -Sweet Marias
The initial sips are sweet but definitely have an earthly body. There is very little acidity, but there is a light trace that lingers in the finish. The body is definitely not light, with the earthiness, but there is a hint of fruit that I cannot place, but it is sweet. I want to say something like oranges came to mind, but that could be the “tropical highlights” playing tricks on me.
Still at a medium temperature, the fruit notes are more noticeable, a bright flash of sweetness with an equal flash of acidity, and the body definitely feels thicker, but it still has a light juiciness to it. The flash of tartness kind of reminds me of the pith of a grapefruit, just not as bitter. The sweetness definitely feels more akin to tropical fruit, more concentrated. As the cup cools down, the acidity is still light, but it does balance nicely with the fruit sweetness. The finish is like a light tea, and both the acidity and sweetness linger.
Overall, this is a good first cup of coffee in the morning, especially with the fruit sweetness. The overall sweetness balances well with the bright flashes of acidity. As for the roasting details, the roast was done in the Gene Cafe roaster, with a heat setting of 460 degrees, for 15.0 minutes. First crack started approximately around 12:00 minutes and continued for about 2.5 minutes. Cooling was done in the Gene, down to 215 degrees, and then removed and cooled in a colander until room temperature. One thing to note with this roast was that there was a large number of quakers, which were removed after the roast was completed. The green beans did not look out of the ordinary, but I will keep note of it for the next batch. I am concerned if they influenced the tasting of this batch.
UPDATE: I roasted another batch of these beans. There were still quite a few quakers, and I removed more of them than I did from the first batch. A more aggressive stance in the removal of the quakers definitely reduced the amount of acidity, so I believe the bright tartness from the first batch was influenced by the presence of too many quakers, which can contribute an astringent flavor. The new batch is much smoother, still has acidity, but it is light and compliments the sweetness rather than competes with it.