I like this blend best when the roast is stopped just as second crack becomes rapid, and shows no sign of slowing down. Actually, I like it a lot lighter than that too! I don't like this roasted to a dark, dark roast stage, Full French or Italian. This is because Brazilian coffees become ashy and began to bitter when roasted extremely dark. I believe strongly in a 36+ hour resting period before use for espresso extraction! It wont kill you to use it sooner... but you might notice sharp unpleasant notes.
I advocate a Northern Italian style roast (lighter espresso roast, really a French roast, stopped 30-45 seconds into 2nd crack), but the blend works very well at the darker Southern Italian style roast (a full French roast actually, at the peak of a rapid 2nd crack). Either way, get this into 2nd crack and allow proper resting that espresso demands: 48+ hours is best. This blend works great in air and drum roast machines and I developed it test-roasting on both. If you notice a tingly "baking soda effect" in your mouth, then the coffee could use more rest.
We recommend a range of roasts from FC, FC+ to light Vienna. That means just ending the roast just before 2nd crack (FC), a few snaps into 2nd crack (FC+), or as second crack begins to gain some momentum (Vienna)
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