008 — Guatemala Huehuetenango Rolando Sanchez (Full City+)

Bean-specific notes

• Guatemala Huehuetenango is a Central American hard bean → Auto P1 per the manual (Centrals / Peruvian / Colombian).
• SHB EP, varietals Catuai + Caturra, altitude 1,100–2,000 masl (main plantings 1,100–1,200 m). Dense, high-grown — expect FC slightly later than lower-grown lots at the same heat.
• Finca Claima in La Democracia, Huehuetenango. Fully washed; small eco-friendly wet mill on-site; parchment dried at La Esperanza mill in Guatemala City.
• Vendor (The Captain’s Coffee) cupping target: dark chocolate, caramel, peach, cashew butter, rich buttery texture, warm earthy finish. They say “takes a wide variety of roasts well.”
• Recommended roast: City+ to Vienna. Lighter end pulls lemony brightness; deeper end accents chocolate, caramel, body.
• Targeting Full City+ (Medium-dark) — the safe maximum on the Behmor 2000 AB Plus. The manual prohibits Vienna / French / Italian and warns “never past 10 sec into 2C.” First few snaps of 2C → drop. This level pulls the dark-chocolate / caramel / cashew-butter side of the vendor’s profile and softens the peach top note. If you want true rolling-SC dark, you need a different machine.
• 227 g charge is well under the 336 g manual ceiling for darker control (manual recommends reducing batch for Full City+).
• Two-variable test note: this run tests the new C-button + Auto P1 hold technique (first use, untested) and hits Medium-dark for the first time on this machine. If the result is off, you won’t be able to cleanly attribute it to technique vs target. The cleaner test would be running the new technique at a previously-attempted lighter target (City+) first to validate it, then pushing to Medium-dark on a separate roast. Documenting this here so the outcome is interpreted with that caveat.

Today's playbook

Built from the Behmor 2000 AB Plus manual V30. Central American hard bean → Auto Mode P1 (manual default for Centrals). Using the C-button + Auto P1 hold technique (the documented default for drinking-coffee batches at ½ lb / 1 lb — see data/machines/behmor_2000_ab_plus.yaml c_button_technique and the public Behmor reference page).

Plan rationale:

• 227 g charge on ½ lb weight setting → 12:00 program time, 75% shutoff fires at 9:00 elapsed.
• Target: Full City+ (Medium-dark). 227 g is under the 336 g manual ceiling for darker control.
• SHB EP at 1,100–1,200 m → dense bean, expect FC slightly later than the published 12:00 ½ lb Auto P1 timing.
• Safety ceiling: drop within the first 10 seconds of 2C. Past that line is the manual’s explicit fire-risk threshold; the dark-roast warning about oily beans + chaff tray fire risk applies.

Sequence:

1. Empty chaff tray (critical for dark roasts — chaff retains heat and is the documented fire-risk surface). Weigh 227 g green into drum, close drum clasp.
2. Preheat: drum OUT, press ½ lb + any profile + START, let run 1:30, press OFF. Do not exceed 1:30 — longer locks out the roast.
3. Insert loaded drum (asymmetric — only fits one way). Insert chaff tray. Close door.
4. Press ½ lb + P1 + START. Start phone timer in parallel.
5. Listen for FC from ~7 min on. Chopstick-in-door for audio if needed (close it as soon as you’ve heard FC start — heat loss kills development).
6. 75% shutoff at 9:00 elapsed: display blinks un:30. Press C to continue. C resets the timer to the Rosetta Stone 1C→2C window and bypasses Err 7. Stay near the machine.
7. Listen for FC. Mark time-to-FC the instant of the first audible pop.
8. At FC: press C immediately. Timer resets to the bean’s actual 1C→2C development window. Stay on Auto P1 — do not switch to Manual P3.
9. Hold Auto P1 through FC body. Smell shift (common roasting knowledge, not from the Behmor manual): bread → toast → caramel → cocoa → first hint of resinous/oily smoke. Color shifts through tan → brown → deep brown.
10. As FC winds down and you smell cocoa deepening, position your hand near the Cool button. 2C is coming.
11. At first snaps of 2C: press Cool within 10 seconds. This is the safety-critical step. Do not wait for rolling 2C. The first 1–3 distinct crack sounds after FC has fully ended is your drop trigger.
12. If you need more time before 2C arrives (low voltage, humid day): press C again. Each press resets the timer. Don’t use + (per-roast cap).
13. Cool cycle ~10 min. (Community technique: open door at ~1:30 into cool for faster airflow — not in the manual, use at your discretion.)
14. Weigh roasted. Target loss ~16–18%, DTR 19–23%.
15. Allow 1 HOUR before any next roast (manual Part 4 Important Reminder #4).

What to watch — dark-roast specific:

• Bluish smoke = press Cool immediately. Resinous/acrid smoke shift past caramel/cocoa means oil is starting to migrate and ignition risk is rising fast.
• Listen for the gap between FC and 2C. Common roasting knowledge (not from the Behmor manual): FC has a wet-popcorn pop sound; 2C is a sharper, drier snap. If you confuse the FC tail with 2C start, you’ll under-roast. If you confuse 2C start with FC tail, you’ll over-roast past the safety line.
• Never roast past 10 seconds into 2C. This is the documented fire-ignition threshold.
• Drop early if anything feels off. Better to land at Full City than to set the chaff tray on fire.

Live notes

Button log

pressed c. then pressed c again at 1:00 left