Hottop Vs Gene Cafe - Second Test

Hottop Vs Gene Cafe - Second Test

Ok so part two of our test. The first test was to see both the Hottop and the Gene operating side by side and also to do a blind taste test of the two types of beans roasted to see if there was any noticable difference. Its fairly safe to say that by majority, the Gene won that round hands down.

However, from my perspective, this did not prove conclusive for me. I figured that as the bulk of coffee that we drink isn't on the day that its roasted, but rather 3 days to 2 weeks later. So what I was really interested in is seeing how the flavours developed over time - hence test 2. The idea here is to blind test two types of beans roasted in both the gene and hottop at their optimum level. Note, we're talking optimum level here, not same mass as the hottop seems to take longer to roast 250gms of beans and mute the flavour. Both beans were roasted in the same location at the same time. This taste test was done 3 days after roasting. The two beans used here were Nicaraguan SHG and Ethiopian Lekempti.

So what are we expecting here? To be honest, I had no idea what to expect at this stage. The format of this session was to once again pull all the coffees from the same machine to ensure similar conditions. This time, the machines used were mine! Expobar pulser and Macap MC4.

So, first off the bat was the lekempti. Pulled 3 doubles from the Gene, diluted with hot water and poured them into cups with no markings. Then pulled 3 doubles from the HT, diluted with hot water and poured these into the cups marked with H. As with the first test, this was mixed around once by someone, then by a second person. On blind tasting mine, I noticed that one cup tasted quite one dimensional and the taste only affecting the middle part of my tongue. The other cup tasted a little fuller and I could detect this along the full width of my tongue. We each put forward our preferred cup - mine was the second cup that I tasted. Then I took a peak at the bottom of mine… no marking. Looking around, 5 out of 6 favoured the Gene.

Next up was the Nicaraguan SHG. Same again, 3 doubles from the HT, diluted and into the H cups, 3 doubles from the Gene, diluted and into the non marked cups. 2 sets of people mixing up the cups and then the taste. Now, here's where the field breaks apart. Some thought the Gene was better, others thought the HT was better, and I sat in the middle tasting both being different but would happily drink both equally - and even proving it by doing so!

So what are we saying? Well, the numbers certainly seem to give it to the Gene on the second test - 3 days post roast. Which do I prefer? Lets just say that I've got a Gene sitting on my kitchen bench and cooling off after my 6th roast :)

Toast

For a full update on roast times and types of coffee check out our online-roastlog-application