Venezuela 2021
$ 16.00
Origin: Venezuela
Region: maybe Sur del Lago?
Type: Criollo/Trinatario
Year: 2021 maybe?
Flavor Notes:
Due to the limited amount of these, we are only offering them whole and raw. Should they not sell out quickly we will offer them up as nibs and roasted.
The aroma is distinctly warm red fruit. Think plum and cherry. The flavor follows suit with bold red fruits that make my mouth water. This is the main reason I think these are probably Sur del Lago. The acidity, while in check, is bright and juicy. Astringency and bitterness is well in check and lends the perfect structure. It is wonderfully sweet and has hints of sassafras and warming spices. That is the main reason it gets points on the earthiness scale.
These beans are well traveled and are the result of Lillie Belle Chocolates recently retiring and closing up shop.
By the flavor profile I'm pretty sure these are Sur de Lago but other than being from great fermentor Franchesci, I really can't tell you much more about them other than I really like them.
Profile Drum Roasting: There is a finesse here and you should not quite take that to mean delicate. Really, words are not the best medium for conveying how to roast. The profile I used for this is 14:55 / 17:35 / 21:40 @ 254 F. What you should take from this is that you should not come in hot and heavy but steady. 2.5 minutes in the development phase to bring out the chocolate without turning it bitter. After that, you want to turn the roast down quite a bit to keep the EOR temperature from getting too high. Slow and steady wins the race. But I want to caution about just doing 'long and low' as seems to be a thing. If you do that you run the pretty high risk of not developing the flavors that are there and in that case you could well be left with the dreaded boring chocolate.
Behmor: Due to the cold start of the the Behmor, you can just set it on the 1 lb setting with 2.5 lb of cocoa and go. When you begin getting aromatic notes, somewhere around 6 minutes left (12 minutes elapsed of the 18 minute start) drop the power to P3 (50% power) and continue roasting for about another 6-8 minutes, waiting for the aroma to either decrease or get sharp. This is all of course if you don't have a thermocouple in the beans (Modifying your Behmor) If you have that you can follow the profiles above.
Oven Roasting: I've been experimenting a lot recently with a less fussy way to oven roast and I find this procedure works pretty well. It is moderately predictable, repeatable and although not as dynamic and controllable as a drum roaster, does a good job. You will need an IR thermometer. Roast 2 lb of beans. Preheat your over to 350 F. Place your cocoa beans in a single layer on a baking sheet and into the oven. Stir the beans at 5 minutes and check the temperature. Continue roasting until the surface temperature reads 205-215 F (it may well vary across the beans). At that point, turn your oven down to about 10-15 F above your target EOR, in this case 254 + 15 = 270 and continue to roast, stirring every 5 minutes until approximately 254 F. Again, there will be variation but the beauty of this method is having turned the oven down it is difficult to over roast. If you do find your roast is progressing too fast, adjust accordingly, starting at 325 F and/or changing your target to 265 F. Overall you may well roast 30-40 minutes. The important part here is to get good momentum going in a hot oven and then basically coasting to finish.
