This is a versatile bean. Don’t be afraid to experiment. It takes well to a variety of roast techniques and levels.
Profile Drum Roasting: We really let the roast go here, and goodness, can it take a beating. Usually, I recommend 2–3 minutes in the Development phase. This one was well under 2 minutes, and the chocolate just sings. This goes to prove that the windows I give are just guardrails, not absolutes. The roast profile for my evaluation was 9:25/11:05/14:50 at 263°F. In segment notation, that is 9:25/1:40/3:45 at 263°F. Roasts taken to 245–250°F will have fewer caramel notes but may lack chocolate notes and really are not to my taste. A temperature of 250–255°F brings out the chocolate. Taking it to 260–265°F really allows this bean to sing. There is enough chocolate to carry through whatever you do.
Again, about the guardrails: with so much nut present, you might expect that you have to take it easy lest it go bitter. The key is that nowhere in the roast does the bean signal, through sharpness or acrid smells, that it is in danger of doing so. No harsh smells, no nut bitterness.
Behmor: P1 for 18–19 minutes with 2 lb will be just fine. Go by the aroma. When it turns sharper near the end of the countdown, you are done. If it isn’t there yet, add a bit more time and wait for the turn in the aroma. Due to the cold start of the Behmor, you can just set it to the 1 lb setting with 2.5 lb of cocoa and go. When you begin getting aromatic notes, somewhere around 4 minutes remaining—14 minutes elapsed from the 18-minute start—drop the power to P4 (75% power) and continue roasting for about another 6–8 minutes, waiting for the aroma either to decrease or become sharp.
This is all, of course, if you don’t have a thermocouple in the beans. You can [modify your Behmor yourself](https://youtu.be/aT3ZFSfyex0), or [we can do the modification for you](https://shop.chocolatealchemy.com/products/behmor-2000ab-plus-thermocouple-modification-service). If you have a thermocouple, you can follow the profiles above.
Oven Roasting: You will need an IR thermometer. Roast 2 lb of beans. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place your cocoa beans in a single layer on a baking sheet and put them 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 vary across the beans. At that point, turn your oven down to 10–15°F above your target EOR—in this case, 265 + ~15 = 280°F—and continue roasting, stirring every 5 minutes, until the beans reach approximately 265°F. Again, there will be variation, but the beauty of this method is that, having turned the oven down, it is difficult to over-roast. The important part is to get good momentum going in a hot oven and then basically coast to the finish. You may not get much chocolate or brownie aroma with this one.