Taste Target
Limited Fiji Rakiraki cacao beans from Cacao Fiji, with bold chocolate, warm guava, burnt sugar sweetness, macadamia creaminess, and a full, balanced body.
Roasting Notes
I'm a fan of roasting this on the longer and heavier side. You will get more caramel flavors and dried fruits. A lighter roast will just moderate those flavors. Given how well this bean is fermented, I think you could easily take it pretty light and still have a wonderful chocolate.
Drum Roasting
The specific profile I used to evaluate this is 11:15 / 13:10 / 17:15 @ 256 F. What you should take out of this profile is that the pretty fast Development phase, just under 2 minutes, means there are lots of bold flavors to develop. On the other side, 3 minutes in the Finishing phase means there is very little inherent astringency. There is virtually no need to be careful with this roast, but it will also respond just fine to a slightly slower and longer roast without going flat.
Behmor Roaster
Roast 2 lb and use P1 on the one-pound setting, for 18 minutes or until you hear a pop or two. Then take it longer. 3-4 minutes. It is virtually impossible to over-roast in the Behmor with 2 lb in there. If you are using the current model with Manual control, turning down the power to P4 (75% power) when it starts to become aromatic, or smells sharp, is a nice way to keep the EOR tempering in check.
Oven Roasting
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Put 1-2 lb of beans onto a tray, single layer deep. Check the temperature every 5 minutes, stirring at that time. When the beans are in the 205-215 range, reduce the oven temperature to about 10-15 F above your target EOR, so if you are going for 255 F, set it to 270 F. When the beans reach your desired temperature and/or are smelling sharp, another 15-30 minutes, remove them and let them cool. This should give you a nice, fully developed roasted bean that is in little danger of being over-roasted.