Alex Rast wrote:

>
> The blackest ones are likely to be Forasteros, especially if they have a
> purplish-black tone. It's probable you have a mix of various types of
> beans, although without the pods to identify them, it's going to be
> difficult to tell if there are Criollos or Trinitarios mixed in. Colour
> variation, btw, is very typical. A medium, mahogany-brown is ideal.

They do have a purplish-black tone, but I'm not
convinced they are a different type, as opposed
to being a variation in the effects of fermentation.

The meat of the normal, light-brown beans is a
very dark color, like dark chocolate. The meat
of the dark beans is light brown, like milk chocolate.
At first, I thought there was a strong flavor difference
between the two, but now that I've started peeling
them, I don't notice much difference. I need to
gather more data.

I found one bean which looked normal externally,
but which had white meat. It had very little flavor,
like a cashew. I assume this was a bean which was
not fermented.

I haven't tried roasting any beans, yet. The beans
are quite good raw, especially now that I've started
peeling them before eating.