“City+ to FC+: A very sweet cup, refreshing acidity, essence of lemon, pomello juice, kumquat, raw almond sweetness, weighty body, buttery mouthfeel.” -Sweet Maria’s
Cupping results: Initially, the acidity is light, and does have a light citrus hint. There is a hint of almond, and it pairs very well with the full body and semi-sweet finish that comes with the Full City+ roast. Buttery is a pretty good description for the mouthfeel, and the finish lingers with a sweetness and dark chocolate flavors.
As the cup cools, the sweetness increases in the body, and the acidity has more of a rindy taste, more tart, but they both balance very well with the dark chocolate flavors. The body feels bigger, more juicy, but the finish is more sweetness and more black tea than dark chocolate.
This was the third roast attempt and was pretty close to a Full City+ roast. The earlier roasts were too light (City/City+) and the flavors didn’t really develop. The roast was done in a Whirley Pop, with a low flame (gas stove), and was preheated to approximately 180 degrees celsius before the beans were added. After the temperature stabilized at 102 degrees celsius, it took a little over 12 minutes for the beans to reach first crack, which lasted 2.5 minutes, and allowed for a much more even roast. After first crack ended, the roast was allowed to progress for another 1.5 minutes before the beans were pulled. They were cooled with a strainer, agitated over an air fan to ensure they did not coast very much after being removed from heat. They reached room temperature within 3 minutes.
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Overall, this is a medium bodied cup, but it definitely has a juicy body, balanced with a lingering sweet finish. The acidity doesn’t really appear until the cup cools. I can see this as a first cup, waking the taste buds with its full flavors.