How can I make chocolate with honey? -- 'The Updated Answer'

So why am I going to answer it again?  It boils down to the scientific method.  Science, good science, by its nature changes and evolves as we learn new things.  It does not necessarily  invalidate previous findings completely.  It refines it and fine tunes it.  To that end, I have somewhat a new answer to this question in that it appears (note the disclaimer for future updates of failure) that I have successfully tempered chocolate with honey in it.

I have heard you should stop roasting when cocoa beans start to smell good so you don’t lose all those great flavors.  You don’t really talk about that though. How do you know when to stop a roast?

I have been following your roasting profile recommendations and I am loving the results.  I am having a lot of trouble though keeping the roast from going too fast.  I know we are driving off water in the first part so I turn the power down 5-10% to account for that but it never seems enough.  I’m afraid to turn it down more and mess up the roast by having it take too long.  How much should I have to turn my roaster down?

ew questions have been a little light lately.  I want to share a correspondence I had due to Ask the Alchemist #211.  Because I have something planned Ask the Alchemist #212 (is it obvious to everyone what the subject will be?) I’m going to call this one 211.5.

We've noticed that different beans seems to have different amounts of intrinsic oil. The Peruvian Maranon seems to have quite a bit of oil and produces a chocolate that flows very easily but it tricky to temper correctly. Is there a way to know in advance the amount of oil in a bean so we can adjust the amount of cocoa butter we add?

It is another of the short and sweet speed rounds of Ask the Alchemist.

What is your favorite chocolate?

I was wondering about adding flavors to the white chocolate in the melanger? At which point? I was considering using oils unless you have another recommendation.  Do you know ratios to attempt to begin with? Thinking of Orange, Lemon, lavender - not altogether.

I have read about that volatile compounds are released and the acidity in the chocolate drops as it is refined.  I tried to test the changes in pH.   After 12 hours there was hardly any change in pH (7.1 to 6.9). It clearly tastes different even after 12 hours but the acidity didn’t change.  How can I measure and track and acidity?

I notice you advocate dropping your beans into a hot roaster.  I assume this is because you want Maillard reactions and Strecker degradation products.  Is there a certain temperature that works best for these products?