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There was quite an interesting thread here a bit ago about =
double-roasting, which I was lucky enough to remember because I just had =
a rather classic Alpenrost disaster happen.
I traded off a bunch of my extra computer-geek stuff for a good =
condition used Alpenrost, which is quite a different animal than the =
Fresh Roast 8 to which I've gotten pretty accustomed, but which seemed =
to work quite well for the first two roasts I tried.
Then I got unnecessarily cute and moved the AR to its own circuit - =
which was probably a good idea, what was a bad idea was using a !@#$%^ =
extension cord with a lighted end - the bloody neon bulb dropped the =
line voltage from 117-119 to 105 volts!
Of course I didn't notice this, and neatly set the AR to '12' intending =
to produce a fairly dark roast for Katherine to use in her Pavoni. The =
AR chugged and whirred along like it should, and after about 22 minutes =
spat out a half pound of beans.
Well, it spat out a half pound of nasty, yeasty-smelling, under-roasted =
beans - they really didn't look very good, being a kind of speckled =
beige with lots of chaff still in place. I tasted one, and it was pretty =
dreadful, sour, dry, and otherwise flavorless.
Ugh - I'd really pooched this roast, but I'd promised t to ship K off =
some beans tomorrow, and these were the last Sulawesi Toraja in the Lab. =
I still wasn't too sure what I'd done wrong with the Alpenrost, but I =
really didn't want to screw these poor critters up any more and didn't =
trust myself to use the AR again.
Then my remembered the thread on double-roasting and an evil thought =
came to me - 'Why not feed these poor, shriveled, under-roasted critters =
through the Fresh Roast?' I could easily monitor them by eye, and they =
certainly couldn't be made any worse. I divided the batch into quarters =
and dropped the first load into the FR, setting it for 3.5 minutes.
The beans sort of quivered and shook in the FR's chamber for the first =
minute or so, then they all got together and formed the sort of roiling =
bean-mass that I'd expect to see right after the first crack. 
Within a few more moments I heard the very distinctive, almost =
percussive, sounds that I associate with a second crack, and the beans =
underwent a very magical transformation from dry, flat, dessicated lumps =
to round, plump, shiny beans with a lovely sheen of oil - I stoped this =
roast at about 3 minutes, cooled the beans and popped one in my mouth.
Yum! - much flavor, lots of spicy/fruit/nut tastes, no sourness at all, =
a little bite at the front of the tongue  - but I expect whole unrested =
beans to be somewhat harsh, there's a reason we drink the stuff  -  =
vivid chocolate with good fustiness like fresh-picked Morel mushrooms, =
and an over all sense of sweetness like turbonado sugar which really =
surprised me.
Here's a link to a somewhat poorly framed shot of the two roasts:http://209.16.139.138/images/beans%20both.JPGAn hour later, and the aroma from this 'botched' roast just makes me =
salivate - the damn things smell so much like food ......
One wonders if there isn't a Profile here - roast slowly up through the =
first crack, then let the bean relax, outgass, and in humid Seattle - =
rehydrate, then do a quick 2nd roast in hot air which may just =
caramelize the outer portion but leave the inner bean basically =
unchanged?
Dunno, will know more tomorrow when we drink some....
Cheers
Jim