I'm pleased to announce that I've just released the second ROAST DEFECT KIT today, in conjunction with Regalia Company.  We were waiting for Regalia to receive some lovely new-crop Kenya AA from the Karumandi Factory in Kirinyaga.  Paolo gave it a few practice batches and then nailed the "good," "baked," and "underdeveloped" roasts.  I tasted them blindly this morning and am proud to offer these to readers. 

I developed the idea of the RDK while writing The Coffee Roaster's Companion, as a means to help coffee enthusiasts identify baked and underdeveloped roasts, as well as to offer an example of an excellent roast.  Being you able to identify underdevelopment and baking is a skill even most coffee pros lack.  Some coffee drinkers may be so accustomed to baking or underdevelopment that they have come to enjoy it.  To each his or her own, of course.  But whatever your preference, I think there is still value in establishing what the terms mean and how to recognize them in the cup.

My hope is that you'll blindly taste the samples in the kit with friends and colleagues, discuss what you taste, and the compare the cup results with the roast curves.  There should be enough coffee in each sample to repeat the tasting session several times. 

In the RDK we've included:

3x 100g frozen and vacuum-sealed roasts: an under-developed roast, a baked roast, and an excellent roast.  When we fulfill your order, we'll send you the roast curves and their respective settings.

2x small packets of mineral salts (CaCl, MgCl, KHCO3). Each packet will convert four liters of distilled (demineralized) water into perfect brewing water.  We've included these to help everyone who tries the RDK to have a more similar taste experience. 

Below are the roast curves; please note that although one can objectively identify a baked roast by looking at its curve (if derived from valid data), it is impossible to identify underdevelopment merely by looking at a roast curve.  That is because curve data are derived from surface bean-temperature readings, but underdevelopment refers to undercooked bean centers.  At this time we have no way to accurately measure or infer the temperature of the bean centers during roasting.

Please click HERE to purchase the RDK.  We have only twenty kits available on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

UPDATE:  ALL OF THE RDKs HAVE ALREADY SOLD OUT IN JUST THE FIRST DAY.  WE'RE A LITTLE SURPRISED, AND WE'LL WORK ON THE NEXT ON TOUT DE SUITE.  IF YOU'D LIKE TO BE ON THE WAITING LIST FOR RDK #3, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO hello@regaliacompany.com AND WE'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN THE NEXT ONE IS READY.  THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!!