Direct Heat and Superheated Steam Roasting System

[Hiroyuki]

Nakagawa's comments on the beans:

The beans were roasted on 15th or after.

This is because... I wanted to send him beans roasted with a new roasting theory...

(I, for one, like this roasting method very much.)

***

Important note: The coffee beans that I sent to phaelon56 had been roasted in a different way as those that Nakagawa sent to torakris.

(Oh, boy! Nakagawa is so unpredictable!)

Nakagawa's message to phaelon56:

I suspect that drip-brew techniques are not very popular in the United States...

(They happen to be my most favorite ways of brewing.)

I'd like to know, among other things, what the situation of drip-brew is in the United States.

***

In a different post on his bulletin board, he wrote:

I am interested in how roasting is done in the United States, and I'd like to know, in particular, whether they (beans in the United States) are compatible with drip-brew methods.

I feel like examining whether they are compatible with the (soft) water in Japan.

(He wrote elsewhere that the soft water in Japan does not go together with espresso.)

Edit to add:

As I had promised, I deleted the email containing your personal information just now.

Edited September 29, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[melkor]

Nakagawa's message to phaelon56:

I suspect that drip-brew techniques are not very popular in the United States...

(They happen to be my most favorite ways of brewing.)

I'd like to know, among other things, what the situation of drip-brew is in the United States.

←

Drip brewing is very popular in the states, but is often done with low quality machines that don't brew at the proper temperatures. Most people who are serious about coffee here tend to prefer espresso.

In a different post on his bulletin board, he wrote:

I am interested in how roasting is done in the United States, and I'd like to know, in particular, whether they (beans in the United States) are compatible with drip-brew methods.

I feel like examining whether they are compatible with the (soft) water in Japan.

(He wrote elsewhere that the soft water in Japan does not go together with espresso.)

←

Rosting here is done either in large drum roaster or in hot air roasters. The drum roasters can be heated with many different methods, electric coils or gas fire are most common, some people use wood fires.

I use a water softener with my espresso machine, I don't for drip or french press coffee. Most coffee here is roasted for use as drip coffee.

[Hiroyuki]

Most people who are serious about coffee here tend to prefer espresso.

←

This particular remark is very interesting to me and probably to Yankee mama and Nakagawa as well.

Here is part of what Nakagawa wrote on his bulletion board:

Several years ago, a famous American roaster entered the Japanese market (a shop reputed for making better coffee than Starbucks).

They worked hard, opening up five shops, but withdrew after all.

We roasters were excited to see what would become of the roaster, but they withdrew.

The roaster tried to compete not on fashion but on flavor, unlike Starbucks.

Probably the owner thought that the Japanese did not have a palate for coffee.

At that time, I thought that this was due to the difference between Americans and Japanese in eating habits, to be more precise, the difference between Japan, which had made drip-brew culture, and the United States, which has espresso culture.

Japanese prefer bland taste, as exemplified by wa-shoku (Japanese food).

Drip coffee is suitable for wa-shoku.

Besides, drip coffee is suitable for the soft water in Japan.

On the other hand, that roaster tried to establish the French press in the American way.

And, they tried to introduce dark roasted coffee in the American way.

I think that's the cause of their failure.

[phaelon56]

Japanese prefer bland taste, as exemplified by wa-shoku (Japanese food).

Drip coffee is suitable for wa-shoku.

Besides, drip coffee is suitable for the soft water in Japan.

On the other hand, that roaster tried to establish the French press in the American way.

And, they tried to introduce dark roasted coffee in the American way.

I think that's the cause of their failure.

Interesting that you mention the wa-shoku. I made a pot of the Flavorcoffee "Mocha based blend" yesterday and shared it with a few co-workers who both enjoy coffee. I didn't get into terribly precise measurements as I have no scale at work (I weigh beans when making vacuum pot coffee at home). I used one full cup (US measurement cup by volume) for a ten "cup" pot of water (that's about 60 fluid ounces or so). We all found that batch of coffee to be on the bland side. It was not grassy tasting as under-roasted coffees usually are but on the positive side it had absolutely no detectable bitterness. The color of the brewed coffee was not pale, thus it appeared to be the right extraction, yet the taste was, by our standards, on the weak or bland side.

As a point of reference we compared it to a coffee I had brewed here in the office the previous day. That coffee was a blend of about 4 parts Colombian beans air roasted to 454 degrees bean temp, 3 parts Colombian roasted to a 445 degree temp and 3 parts Brazil roasted to 447 degrees. I used approximately the same amount of coffee as I did with the Flavorcoffee mocha-based blend but this coffee was robust and very full bodied. Regrettably, I had to grind the Flavorcoffee beans with the cheap whirly-blade grinder that I had in my office, thus particle size was inconsistent. The Colombian-Brazil blend I mentioned had been pre-ground an a commercial Ditting grinder and had complete uniformity among the particles sizes.

In the office we used a Bunn brand "pour-over" style coffee maker. It always keeps a full pot's worth of hot water in it's stainless steel reservoir and that water is displaced by the incoming cold water that is poured in. The Bunn maker is very common in restaurants and offices and brews with a high enough temperature, unlike the great majority of automatic drip coffee makers that are popular in American homes.

Melkor is 100% correct about auto drip makers. Although serious coffee drinkers often use French Press pots or Melitta/Chemex style manual drip systems at home and some of us even use vacuum pots, I'd guess that 95% of the coffee drinking population uses cheap drip makers that take too long to brew and do it at too low a temperature.

As for roasting methods... the huge conglomerates that produce coffee for the grocery store mass market (Maxwell House, Folger's etc.) use mostly the cheapest commodity beans such as the steam treated Vietnamese robust and other low grade beans. They roast with hot air (fluid bed) on conveyor systems that roast in 3 - 4 minutes time - far too fast.

Most independent operations and others who produce higher quality coffees for the more discerning market utilize drum roasters of varying sizes and designs, with Probat and Diederich being among the most popular. The original patent holder of the fluid-bed roastign design utilized by the mass market producers is Michael Sivetz. He has for many years been selling his own line of fluid bed roasters targeted mostly at smaller producers. There is a small but loyal contingent of roaster who favor hot air (fluid bed) roasting but they are a distinct minority.

There has been a debate for years that will likely continue, in which people argue the merits of fluid bed vs drum roasting. I'll leave detailed discussion of that for some other thread but my instinctive feeling thus far is the the superheated steam method yields a result closer to air-roasting (fluid bed) that to drum roasting.

I gave my last remaining sample of the Flavorcoffee dark roasted Guatemalan to one of the baristas at the cafe where I do the roasting. She was a bit taken aback by the very oily appearance of the beans but noted with interest, as did I, that there was no detectable burnt smell. It was an oily dark roast but without the burnt flavor artifacts that typify dark roasts such as Starbucks.

She was very impressed with the coffee here are her comments:

The Guatemalan you gave me was delicious...it was a coffee that is exactly what I look for in my beer.  Bitter to the back of the tongue but smooth all the way.  The perfect dark roast!  It left a very pleasant after taste that was all coffee--not bitter or stale at all. 

Thanks for sharing the goods!

[Hiroyuki]

Owen (and all the other members concerned),

I think it's too late, but I'm conveying part (actually, only a fraction) of Yankee mama's message:

A characteristic of Nontan's beans is that they result in very strong coffee when drip-brewed.

Why not just let them bloom for three minutes, using Melitta's equipment.

As for me, I feel somewhat guilty to have learned that you sent the beans to five different locations – that sure cost you a lot, didn't it? And I also feel so stupid for not having asked Nakagawa to roast beans with and without superheated steam so that all of you could evaluate its effectiveness properly rather than the beans roasted by Nakagawa.

[phaelon56]

Not to worry - it actually cost me less than $25 US to ship to five locations - out Postal system is inexpensive and efficient. Thus far the comments I've received, which I'll summarize here or on another thread, have not indicated that it's too strong. Rather, there seems to be a consensus that the coffee is generally on the mellow side without a prominent character. One description I've heard is "it's a good beginner's coffee". This means a coffee suitable for someone who is moving into exploration of distinct varietals and stronger coffees but has not expereienced those previously. More to follow.

[Hiroyuki]

Follow-up stories:

Note: All links in this post are in Japanese only.

nanacoffee is an employee of Maruyasu Industries Co., Ltd. (German version available), the manufacturer of the Super Steamer. He got hooked on coffee through the development of the Super Steamer for coffee roasting purposes, and ended up purchasing a commercial roaster for himself to start home roasting. He has gone so far as to sell his roasted coffee beans.

The following is based on of his diary (not precise translations):

Dec. 11

The other day, a coffee shop in Tokyo purchased a Super Streamer, and they sent Maruyasu some sample beans, Costa Rica beans roasted in a roaster with a capacity of 5 kg (approx 10 pounds):

- 1 kg, roasted with superheated steam

- 1 kg, roasted without superheated steam

- 4 kg, roasted with superheated steam

- 4 kg, roasted without superheated steam

Results of sampling by nanacoffee et al.:

- Beans roasted with superheated steam are less astringent.

- In particular, the 1-kg beans roasted with superheated steam have a solid state.

- There is no major difference in taste between the 1- and 4-kg beans roasted with superheated steam.

nanacoffee thinks that superheated steam is effective when you wish to roast beans in small quantity, for example, when you want to roast sample beans and expensive ones.

Dec. 17

Later, the coffee shop sent the manufacturer other sample beans, 1-kg Guatemala beans roasted with and without superheated steam.

The beans were sampled by four employees of Maruyasu.

Coffee was extracted with the Matsuya method, using Kalita (Japanese brand) equipment.

Results:

- Beans roasted without steam: Have unpleasant flavors (all people); have strong bitterness (one person).

- Beans roasted with steam: Have no unpleasant flavors (all people); taste mild at the start of drinking (all people); have a solid taste (one person)

The characteristics of the beans roasted with superheated steam were fairly easy to discern than Brazil coffee beans.