# Roaster Comparison - Rocko Mountain Reserve



## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

I'm going to be ordering my favourite bean from a number of roasters to see how their roasts compare. Will I be able to spot the difference?

Roasters I have put on my comparison list so far are:

Foundry

Crankhouse

Ancoats Coffee Company

Coffee Compass

Avenue

Any more suggestions?


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## Syenitic (Dec 1, 2013)

ridland said:


> I'm going to be ordering my favourite bean from a number of roasters to see how their roasts compare. Will I be able to spot the difference?
> 
> Roasters I have put on my comparison list so far are:
> 
> ...


JollyBrew ?


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

Ordered so far:

Foundry

Crankhouse

Coffee Compass

Avenue

Jolly Bean Roastery

Will pick up some Ancoats tomorrow to save on the postage (Yes I'm a bit tight, not as tight as some who cannot be mentioned, but I'll drive 3 miles to save a couple of quid.)


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## SmithStCoffeeRoasters (Feb 23, 2016)

Interesting.. There should be a noticeable difference I recon. Little of topic but you ever tried same bean same roaster with different water? I did a comparison with Yorkshire, Trent & bottled Buxton water taste difference was considerable.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

SmithStCoffeeRoasters said:


> Interesting.. There should be a noticeable difference I recon. Little of topic but you ever tried same bean same roaster with different water? I did a comparison with Yorkshire, Trent & bottled Buxton water taste difference was considerable.


Yes, quite a lot of research has been done on water. There is a long thread on the forums here, Maxwell's Tamper Tantrum talk, and the associated paper he co-wrote.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

Tried Avenue's, Foundry's and Jolly Bean's Rocko Mountain Reserve. All three quite different and I couldn't tell a clear winner, but I think I liked the Avenue's the most. Worked best even in non-ideal situations and always very sweet!


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## ZachChipp (Apr 10, 2014)

York coffee emporium


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## frandavi99 (Jun 8, 2014)

Island Roasted do it quite well


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

Such a good bean. There were a few ways to go with it roasting wise, not easy to settle on the profile. That's unusual in my experience.


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## SmithStCoffeeRoasters (Feb 23, 2016)

I've watched maxwells talk but not read the paper yet. I'd suggest there's no where near enough research on the topic largely because few in the industry have the motivation to prove that the best practise method of profiling is with the water it's finally brewed with.


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

hey @JollyBeanRoastery ,fancy a bean swap? Would be curious to see how you went about the Rocko Mountain.


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## mremanxx (Dec 30, 2014)

ridland said:


> I'm going to be ordering my favourite bean from a number of roasters to see how their roasts compare. Will I be able to spot the difference?
> 
> Roasters I have put on my comparison list so far are:
> 
> ...


Interesting topic but how will you compare so many?

I presume that you will have to strip and clean the grinder between beans? Tedious.

Will you not have an awful lot of beans ready to use and not be able to use them before they pass their best?

Or are you planning on using a whole bag before going onto the next one? If you are anything like me you will have forgot what the first really tasted like









Surely you will expect to taste a vast difference as each roaster are going to roast these beans differently?

I am probably missing an obvious answer to al my questions above, so enjoy not being able to sleep due to caffeine overdose


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

He might just want to have a bit of fun?


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## YerbaMate170 (Jun 15, 2015)

In terms of differences, I've tried only Foundry and Avenue and I could tell the difference but only because Avenue's seemed to be a slightly darker roast. Enjoyed both very much, but for me, the lighter the coffee the better, so that's what decides it!


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

I've had Foundry and Avenue. Both good, both different, but recognisably the same bean roasted differently. Can't say exactly how as the Foundry bag was back when we had the day out at Rave. Different grinder, water, year. ..


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

YerbaMate170 said:


> In terms of differences, I've tried only Foundry and Avenue and I could tell the difference but only because Avenue's seemed to be a slightly darker roast. Enjoyed both very much, but for me, the lighter the coffee the better, so that's what decides it!


That was exactly what I thought. I really enjoyed the avenue roast. It was just a tad more developed but still hitting all the right notes for me.


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

I've only tried a couple of Rockos, YCE and Jolly Bean (experimental one). Is strawberry milkshake a good description for this one? if so, which gives the most?


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## SmithStCoffeeRoasters (Feb 23, 2016)

Maybe the trick is to do a blind tasting as perception will effect the verdict & it adds a bit of fun.


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

I will be cupping the coffee. I will have SWMBO put the coffee into the cups having put the name of the roaster on the bottom of the cup.

Candidates have been ordered from:

Rounton Coffee Roasters

The Coffee Compass

Jolly Bean Roasters

Avenue Coffee Roasting Company

Crankhouse Coffee

Foundry Coffee Roasters

Ancoats Coffee Company

I drink quite alot of coffee so using all of this up will not be a problem.


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## SmithStCoffeeRoasters (Feb 23, 2016)

game on!!! ... What about adding a none Rocko Mountain to spice it up a bit


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## mremanxx (Dec 30, 2014)

ridland said:


> I will be cupping the coffee. I will have SWMBO put the coffee into the cups having put the name of the roaster on the bottom of the cup.
> 
> Candidates have been ordered from:
> 
> ...


And you don't sleep much either


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## frandavi99 (Jun 8, 2014)

SmithStCoffeeRoasters said:


> game on!!! ... What about adding a none Rocko Mountain to spice it up a bit


I'd second this; add a different bean as a control group.


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

How would that help him to figure out which Rocko he likes best?


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

foundrycoffeeroasters.com said:


> How would that help him to figure out which Rocko he likes best?


Get some supermarket beans so no Rocko scores the last position?

Seriously, RMR is the most unique coffee I have ever tried. Even other Ethiopians can't compare to it. Comparing it to something else would be just matter of taste rather than a comparison between roasts of the same bean...


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

Why is it more unique than any other coffee?


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

The candidates have started to arrive. Beans from The Coffee Compass and Rounton have arrived.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

Did you run out of Avenue's Rocko already?! There's a discount code for free shipping and 10% off if you need more.

@Step21, it's super sweet and fruity, notes include mainly strawberries and chocolate. I haven't had anything similar so far (I'm just diving into coffee world), but I'm not claiming there's nothing close to the Rocko. Definitely worth a try if you haven't tried it.


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

PPapa said:


> @Step21, it's super sweet and fruity, notes include mainly strawberries and chocolate. I haven't had anything similar so far (I'm just diving into coffee world), but I'm not claiming there's nothing close to the Rocko. Definitely worth a try if you haven't tried it.


I haven't tried this latest harvest of Rocko Mountain but your description seems very similar to last year. I had it from Foundry and it was very good indeed. There are lots of other stunning coffees from Ethiopia with quite different flavours and the Rocko is up there with the best of them.

It's an interesting experiment to see how the various roasters have approached the same bean.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

PPapa said:


> @Step21, it's super sweet and fruity, notes include mainly strawberries and chocolate. I haven't had anything similar so far (I'm just diving into coffee world), but I'm not claiming there's nothing close to the Rocko. Definitely worth a try if you haven't tried it.


Try some of the bonkers Ethiopians with blueberry notes.


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

PPapa said:


> Did you run out of Avenue's Rocko already?! There's a discount code for free shipping and 10% off if you need more.
> 
> @Step21, it's super sweet and fruity, notes include mainly strawberries and chocolate. I haven't had anything similar so far (I'm just diving into coffee world), but I'm not claiming there's nothing close to the Rocko. Definitely worth a try if you haven't tried it.


Yes the bag of Avenue that you sent me is long gone. Like I said earlier to someone, I drink quite a lot of coffee







Free shipping was included in the price of the beans but didn't get the 10% off. That's about 70p so not a big amount







Nothing is getting properly rested as I am churning through beans so quickly. Lots of v60s and Sowdens which use up beans quite quickly.

I'm drinking some of The Coffee Compass effort as a unrested espresso. From memory it is darked and has a more nutty and dark chocolate notes as opposed to Foundry and Avenue roasts. Will have to see how cupping them all works out.


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

jeebsy said:


> Try some of the bonkers Ethiopians with blueberry notes.


 @jeebsy, any suggestions for when I eventually go through my stockpile of RMR beans?


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

Its taken a while to get around to this put today was the face off between the various roasters Rocko Mountain Reserve efforts.

In alphabetical order:

Avenue

Coffee Compass

Crankhouse

Foundry

Jolly Bean

Rounton

I know there are others but six seemed a manageable number.

The contenders:


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

I'm on tenterhooks.


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

Format.

All beans to be cupped to SCAA standard recipe. 8.3 gms to 150ml water. I know it is more precise than that but my scales aren't. There are all sorts of weaknesses in my method (different roasting days, very soft Manchester water blah blah blah...) but it meets my purposes. I followed the SCAA process as best I could.

After I ground all the samples in my Lido 2, SWMBO took the samples and put them in the cups. I didn't know which was which until after I made my notes and ranking.

My tastes aren't as developed as many of you, but I did the best I could. Results below are listed from my favourite down. All of them were very good, not a bad roast there but this was my subjective ranking:

1. Foundry - very big hit of strawberry, then lemon and a sweet tea finish.

2. Jolly Bean Roastery - lots of strawberry, hints of blueberry and then lemon. Floral finish.

3. Rounton - Blueberry first, then strawberry and ending with a vanilla finish.

4. Avenue - Light strawberry, floral almost rose-like and with a smokey black tea finish. (would be my 2nd choice as a brew)

5. Crankhouse - Raspberry then orange with a black tea finish (very good mouthfeel)

6. Coffee Compass - darker less acidic berries, perhaps a bramble, blueberry with notes of the berry skin and a strong black tea finish.

Like I said, all were good and I would be happy purchasing any of them. My blind choice of Foundry may reflect the fact that I am reasonably familiar with their roast of this bean over the past two years.

Lots of fun, no losers.


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

....wait till you try this Bokasso!


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

foundrycoffeeroasters.com said:


> ....wait till you try this Bokasso!


But I don't wanna wait!


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## paul whu (Sep 25, 2014)

The Scandinavian Coffee pod in Cheltenham are also now roasting Rocko Mountain. I can assure you it is very good indeed.


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## paul whu (Sep 25, 2014)

Brilliant thread BTW


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

paul whu said:


> The Scandinavian Coffee pod in Cheltenham are also now roasting Rocko Mountain. I can assure you it is very good indeed.


That's cool! I had already taken a punt on ordering that yesterday, so glad to hear it. Hopefully arriving during the week.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

foundrycoffeeroasters.com said:


> ....wait till you try this Bokasso!


Tilt will come knocking.....


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