Sunday morning it rained on the stall from the first hour. One thing moved compared with Saturday, and that was the order of the roast batches. Same origins, same taste target, same Golden running on gas under the tarp. Laurent only moved which coffee goes into the drum at which hour.
The order of the roast batches, moved around the clock
On Saturday the Ethiopia for filter went into the drum mid morning, and the Brazil and the Colombia, roasted for espresso, followed in the afternoon. That is the usual order.
On Sunday Laurent flipped it. Brazil and Colombia went in during the rain, in the morning. The Ethiopia waited until after two o'clock, when the water stopped and the air settled.
The numbers of the two days behind the order of the roast batches
Saturday 19 September: no rain at all, from 16.4°C (62°F) at eight in the morning to 23.0°C (73°F) at four, humidity falling from 69% to 52%, wind between 17 and 22 km/h with gusts of 42.5 km/h (26 mph). A dry day, with wind pulling heat off the drum shell without a pause.
Sunday 20 September: 12.4 mm of rain (about half an inch) spread over eight hours, 92% humidity at eight and 93% at ten, temperatures between 13.9 and 19.8°C. The wind dropped to 9 km/h (6 mph) at ten, half of Saturday at the same hour. From two in the afternoon the rain stopped and humidity came down to 63% by four.
That morning was unsettled on three counts at once: water falling, air close to saturated, and wind that kept stopping and picking up again. The afternoon was predictable. The humid weekend a week earlier showed how Laurent adjusts the fire. This Sunday he adjusted the schedule.
Why the order of the roast batches protects the filter lot
For filter, Laurent cuts the fire shortly after first crack, on the stretch where the bean changes fastest. That window is measured in tens of seconds. A gust that steals heat right then makes Laurent correct the flame mid roast, and the correction shows up in the cup.
A batch taken further, roasted darker for espresso, gives Laurent several more minutes of runway and one more landmark to steer by, the approach of second crack. There is room to correct.
The cup shows the same split. Filter is drunk black at 1:16, where twenty extra seconds in the drum are audible straight away. Espresso runs at 1:2, often with milk over it, and covers more.
So on Sunday Laurent put the forgiving work in the unsettled hours and the precise work in the calm ones. Golden rumbled the same way on both days. The order was the decision of the man standing next to it.
The order of the roast batches has a twin in your cupboard
At home you usually keep two bags: a lighter one for filter and a darker one for espresso or milk drinks. Their margins differ, and you can measure them in one morning.
The three step test, about 20 minutes: 1. Take 15 g of coffee to 250 ml of water at 93°C (199°F) and brew three cups, same method and same time. 2. Change the grind only: your usual setting, one step finer, one step coarser. 3. Taste the three cups back to back and count how many are good to drink. 4. The next day, repeat exactly the same way with the other bag.
The gap between those two counts is your margin for error. The narrow margin bag deserves the morning when you have five quiet minutes. The other one holds up on the morning when the bus is leaving.
Quick troubleshooting:
- Light roast comes out thin and sour: one step finer and water at 94°C.
- Dark roast comes out harsh and drying on the finish: one step coarser and water at 90°C.
- Keep everything else fixed, otherwise you will not know what did the work.
What to ask at the stall on Saturday about the order of the roast batches
Ask which target the batch was roasted for, filter or espresso, and what time it came out of Golden. Write the hour on the bag next to the roast date. After three bags you will see for yourself which roasting hours suit you, and you will start asking for them by name.
We roast and sell on Saturday and Sunday at the Marché de l'Abattoir, by the exit of the Manufakture car park in Anderlecht. The weekend batches are on the coffee page. If you want the filter batch straight off the tray, ask me on Saturday morning what time it goes into the drum and come then.
Brut. Sauvage. Imprévisible.
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