So we did a little test with our new assistant roaster Jill today.  We are lucky to have her backing up Justin.  We did a roast of our Puddle Jumper at a finish time about 1 min faster than our usual time.  The cupping results made the coffee roasted 1 min faster flat with limited flavors.  Kinda wanted to be a good coffee but wasn't breaking through the undeveloped flavor.  Controlling the flame gives us the ability to finish our roasted coffee in a consistent manner.  The flavors of berries and chocolates came through in the coffee just roasted one minuet longer. 

Rule of law is to maintain yourself as the keeper of the flame when you are roasting.  Amping up the finish time doesn't make a coffee good.  The same is true for slowing the speed of the roast.  We tasted less of the freshness in the coffee and you risk a bakey flavor in the coffee. 

Roaster fun...