Blonde coffee experiment

Marko from the Tonino and Artisan projects mentioned an amazingly beautiful photo of the Arabic "White Coffee" by Wa'il from Ryadh, owner of Varietal Specialty Coffee Roasters and web shop:

Quoting Food and Tools: "The Arabic coffee pot or dallah is always held with the left hand and the small cups filled with coffee served with the right, guests receiving the Arabic coffee should do so with their right hand. Usually it is customary to serve no more than three cups of Arabic coffee, in which the guest should at least accept one cup… wiggling (custom) the cup from side to side when finished"

Quoting Wikipedia: "Saudi coffee, or ‘‘Al-Qahwa’’ (Arabic: قهوة‎, qahwah), is made from coffee beans roasted very lightly or heavily from 165 °C (329 °F) to 210 °C (410 °F) and cardamom, and is a traditional beverage in Arabian culture. Traditionally, it is roasted on the premises (at home or for special occasions), ground, brewed and served in front of guests. It is often served with dates or candied fruit. This brewing method is common in Najd and Hijaz, and sometimes other spices like saffron (to give it a golden color), cloves, and cinnamon.

This inspired me to try to roast a batch of beans very very light. I slowly let the temperature climb to 200ºC and then stopped before the first crack would start. The smell was still very much like roasted bread.

Light roast Ethiopia Amaro Gayo, Tonino # 110

Some of the chaff was still on the beans. These would have popped off during first crack. I measured the grinds on the Tonino and with #110 the beans were not as light as they looked to my eyes.

I took 20g and ground these in filter setting on the HG One grinder directly into the metal filter of the Kinto Faro system:

Grinding on the HG One into the Kinto Faro basket

Grinds ready to be wetted

After taking hot water out of the Londinium I machine, I waited a few seconds to let it lose some of the heat and then slowly poured a bit on the coffee bed to get the grounds wet.

Wetting the grinds

The rest of the hot water (100ml) went into the lab glass with tiny dosing tap. A minature water tower. The 50ºC top of the LONDINIUM machine comfortably made sure the setup remained warm.

Water tower

I let the wet grounds rest for about 30 seconds. Put the china lid on the container so as not to lose too much heat.

Some first drops from the filter

Then I slowly opened the valve to allow a steady stream of drops onto the filter. After the last drop I put the lid back on and waited for the coffee to drip through.

 Then I poured the bright brew into the 'cup' to taste it. Very light indeed, not sour but mildly sweet.

I like it! Will experiment more with a longer roast time, a finer grind and less beans for a cup.

Later, I can try adding cardamom and saffron like one seems to do in some parts of Saudi Arabia.

Profile of a 15 minutes roast on my Fluid Bed roaster:

Dark line represents Bean Temp, orange line the % power of the heater, controlled by the roast controller to keep the bean temp stable.