Roasting coffee isn’t easy. It’s a physical & mental challenge that only the very dedicated excel at. What looks like a fiery lumbering method of creating coffee is actually a delicate and refined craft. The beans themselves are a tricky thing to deal with as each varietal has to be roasted differently and in specialty coffee each person roasting is themself expressing an individual style in part because the difference in roasts often comes down to mere seconds but also in large part it comes down to the type of roaster they use.
In specialty coffee the taste & character of coffee is not only affected by roast profiles, the type & brand of roaster has a very large influence too. Each brand of roasting machine has a different method of heat exchange, drum style, controls and much more. So to get familiar with the different machines out there and how they work, here is a breakdown of the five main roasters responsible for most of the specialty coffee we drink today.
So, here are the 5 major coffee roasting machines that most of specialty coffee roasters use and that you should know about if you are planning to open your own roastery or just as a geeky coffee lover!
01. Loring
“SUPERIOR IS OUR STANDARD”
Copenhagen, Denmark
Est. 2003
In 2003 Mark Loring Ludwig invented the world’s first machine capable of smokeless coffee roasting in order to not only improve reliability, but effectively eliminate the need for an external afterburner.
Loring roasters give control to create a single baseline roasting profile that can be run at different batch sizes, on any Loring roaster, with consistent results. They offer four machines of varying size and capacity – all with the same single burner convection design. The one-of-a-kind thermodynamic properties of the responsive burner system and fast-reacting thermocouples stay true to your roast profile, so you can deliver the ultimate result – “coffee beans with flavour like no other”. Good green credentials too with up to 80% fuel-savings and reduction of greenhouse gases in every roast, compared to conventional roasters.
02. Giesen
“QUALITY COFFEE ROASTERS & DUTCH DESIGN”
Ulft, Netherlands
Est. 2006
Easy to get started with, Giesen is manufactured in Ulft, a small town in the Netherlands. A Giesen is powerful and versatile with a lot of expansion possibilities to roast even better. With complete devotion, Giesen aims to produce coffee roasters in the highest quality segment for shops, roasteries and industrial purposes.Only the most modern and high-quality parts are used in our coffee roasters. Put together with absolute precision thanks to Dutch craftsmanship. Over 15 years, Giesen has spoken and worked together with the best coffee roasting experts in the industry. This results in roasters that are perfectly in tune with the practice. Even the Giesen settings are user-friendly and match the requirements of roasters.
“Innovation is not just a word at Giesen, it’s also a company goal that is definitely lived by everyone, by working on every roaster that is made at Giesen.”
03. Diedrich
“WORLDWIDE SUPPORT FROM GREEN TO GROUND”
Idaho, USA
Est.1972
Carl Diedrich and his sons designed and built their first roaster in the 1970s. Steven Diedrich was inspired to build and sell high-quality roasters that would empower roastmasters to hone their craft and bring out the potential in every bean. That inspiration continues today under new leadership with a contemporary, state-of-the-art facility bringing quality standards in engineering and handcrafted roasters to meet your specific needs. Environmentally friendly technologies reduce energy usage and emissions without affecting aroma or flavour. Diedrich Roasters are designed with precision to operate at a high degree of repeatability with air quality control devices in place which will meet your environmental code.
“When you buy a Diedrich you get more than a roaster. You become part of a global family of roasters who are passionate about crafting the best tasting coffee.”
04. Probat
“FUTURE-PROOF SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR COFFEE”
Emmerich, Germany
Est. 1884
For one and a half centuries and four generations, Probat has stood for future-proof coffee solutions, shipping them from Emmerich to the world. PROBAT’s product range covers drum, tangential and centrifugal roasters. These can be used to create all kinds of roasts for the most specialised applications and all product segments. Drum roasting is the most common roasting method, the coffee is roasted in a drum that rotates around a horizontal axis. A surface burner heats up the roasting air before it is sucked through the back wall of the drum as well as guided around it, thus roasting the beans not only via convective but also conductive heat transfer.
“Since 1868 PROBAT has stood for pioneering solutions in the processing of coffee.”
05. Stronghold
“THE FIRST SMART COFFEE ROASTER”
Seoul, Korea
Est. 2010
Stronghold Technology, Inc. is the developer, manufacturer and retailer of the world’s first smart coffee roasters. The daring innovation is taking the traditional roaster industry by storm with the all-electric revolutionary hardware design and integration of smart technology, bringing a high quality roast to your fingertips. The vertical tower drum is designed to harness all the advantages of using an electric heat source and it’s the heart of the Stronghold roasting machine that integrates the most advanced roasting technologies. Stronghold roasting machine applies three different types of heat to the beans – convection, conduction, and radiation. Precise control over three different types of heat sources allows users to develop and explore a wider range of flavours.
“A robust roasting machine enhanced by advanced roasting software that allows anyone to consistently produce accurate and precise roasts.”
The Right Roast Coffee Club 2022 October edition's theme was 'ROASTER' where we featured 4 coffee beans that were roasted by 4 different roasting machines out of these 5 mentioned above.