it's the beans, stupid?

i accidentally "over-roasted" some SM's espresso monkey the other day, and in the cup, it was really really good. chocolatey and balanced.

the "properly roasted" espresso monkey was sour and unsatisfying no matter how i adjusted grind and temperature.

so i roasted up 2 more batches of "over-roasted" and we'll see if i need to readjust my thinking.

also, unfortunately, it seems that smokey is roasting fast these days. maybe it's the beans or the ambient temp or the voltage or something, but second crack is at about 5:30 now and not 6:00. i'm trying to resist buying a variac, but i think it's a lost cause.