“City+ to Full City: Cane juice, honey sweetness, orange/tangerine top notes, palette-cleansing acidity, red raspberry, graham cracker, spiced tea, floral note.” -Sweet Marias
The first sip was sweet, but there was a tangerine note that brought a nice acidity that does indeed clear the palette as it slowly dissipates. The acidity is bright, almost pithy, but it does not linger too long. The body is light, and the finish does have a nice lingering sweetness to it as well. There was a hint of the spiced tea, in the finish, but it is still at a high temperature.
Now at a medium temperature, the spiced tea notes are stronger, and help balance against the citrus notes of orange and tangerine. The acidity is lighter, but the orange notes are stronger and balance against the tangerine. The graham cracker does come through, but it is very light, with just a hint of the graham honey sweetness. I haven’t really seen the sweetness I expected with cane juice, but then again, it’s taste does vary by region, so this light sweetness I am getting is probably the cane juice, although I did catch a hint of a light spice along with it. There were flashes of the raspberry, but it was very short-lived and very light. The tea-like finish is smooth, and doesn’t linger much, as the acidity and sweetness are nicely balanced, not letting either dominate the cup.
I liked the light citrus notes on this batch. The tangerine was evident up front, with a nice acidity, but that was eventually balanced against the orange notes, which made the acidity a little softer in the end. The sweetness was light, but the graham and honey sweetness did pair well against the acidity as it cooled. This roast was targeted at Full City, and I think it was in the right spot, as it retained the light fruit notes and had a finish that did not overpower the cup. As for the roasting details, the roast was done in the Gene Cafe roaster, with a heat setting of 460 degrees, for 15 minutes. First crack started approximately around 12:30 minutes and continued for about 1.5 minutes. Cooling was done in the Gene, down to 215 degrees, and then removed and cooled in a colander until room temperature.