Bali Kintamani Arabica - first taste.

In a word - yum.

Roasted Jan. 8, Gene Cafe, 220g, ambient temp 67.6, preheated to 300 then roasted 300F for 5m of drying, 451F until 10:30, 465 until 12:30, 475 to first, 465 to second, cooled in vacuum colander. Full city + roast. Finish weight 179g

First crack at 14:51, second at 20:02, ended at 20:20 and immediately cooled. Second continued in the colander for about 5 more seconds. A very few spots of oil surfacing this morning.

When I finished, this felt like a lot of time in the roaster, but Tom's notes said this bean likes a darker roast. Given that, I didn't worry too much. It also seems to be a very hard, dense bean. I roasted another batch with a similar profile yesterday and it ended a bit sooner.

I brewed up 30g this morning in the French Press. Medium/coarse grind - Grind aroma, bittersweet, chocolate and something else I couldn't identify - 1 minute rest before stirring and another 4 minutes before plunging, poured, wet aroma was chocolate, campfire and tobacco (maybe the tobacco is the campfire?), I didn't get Tom's melon, though. Tasted awesome! There is a bit of caramelized sugar sweetness, but it's a big, bold, syrupy coffee with great body that seems to linger quite a while. There's a bit of bitterness to the aftertaste, but it's not bad at all.

I like this coffee and will be playing with profiles some more in the roaster.