Cacao roast profile map

Development rate × End of Roast Temperature (EOR)

EOR shifts roast expression from lighter origin character toward chocolate, browned flavors, and deeper roast. Color shows modeled net flavor strength: what the roast forms, adjusted for the bean’s potential and the aroma lost during finishing. Acid removal accumulates along the curve; hotter minutes count more, but a slow finish to a lower EOR can remove more acid than a fast finish to a higher one. Inside the dotted outline, desirable flavor outweighs the main modeled faults. Hover to explore. Click to hold a profile.

Lower is a slower, longer finish. Higher is a faster, shorter finish.

Bean traits

Combine traits to see how the same curve shifts. Unchecked assumes a normal-size, flavor-rich bean with ordinary acid, astringency, and heat response.

How to identify these conditions

Supplier tasting notes set a rough flavor expectation; they do not identify these roast traits. The cacao sold under one origin can change across lots and harvests, so diagnose the bag you are roasting. You can check size and raw astringency before roasting. Learn the other traits from a baseline and comparison roasts, starting with every box unchecked.

High acid
With your recipe and refining held steady, the baseline chocolate tastes sharply sour or vinegary rather than pleasantly bright. Do not infer this from fruit-forward tasting notes alone.
Low flavor potential
Once the baseline is neither sharply acidic nor raw and puckering, its chocolate and origin aromas still taste faint. A short catalog flavor list does not prove low potential.
Heat-tolerant
Compare the baseline with a deeper roast. Check this if the deeper trial gains chocolate and browned flavors without a large rise in harshness or bitterness.
Nut-sensitive
Compare the baseline with a darker roast. Check this if pleasant nut notes quickly become harsh or bitter. A supplier’s “nutty” tasting note is not enough by itself.
Low raw astringency
Chew a raw nib. Check this if it causes little of the dry, puckering feeling of strong tea. This is separate from sourness.
Small beans
Count the beans in 100 grams and compare that count with lots you normally roast. More beans means a smaller average bean; there is no useful universal cutoff.

Roast curve

The exact drying time doesn’t affect flavor, so that phase is compressed. Development is the rise from 212–232°F. Finishing is the slower rise from 232°F to EOR. The labels show average rates.

Selected profile

Development 8.0 · finishing 6.0 · EOR 252°F

Inside the good-flavor region: desirable flavor should outweigh the modeled faults. The finish gives acetic acid time to escape while preserving most of the available aroma. This curve builds chocolate and browned flavors while retaining some brighter origin character.

  • Development2.5 min
  • Finishing3.3 min
  • After drying5.8 min
  • Total roast16.8 min
The slider applies one finishing-to-development ratio across the map. Moving right means both a hotter endpoint and a longer finish. Bean traits alter starting acid, flavor reserve, heat tolerance, bitter-nut risk, raw astringency, and heat penetration.