There are many ways to roast coffee, from home appliances made specifically for this purpose, to simple pan roasting. You can re-use an electric hot air Popcorn Popper which produces an even fluid-bed roast. Some small appliances like the Freshroast Home Roaster and the Hearthware Home Roasters work on the same principle. Air roasting takes less than 10 minutes, roasts very evenly without scorching, and results in coffee of exceptional quality.

Other types of roasting include radiant drum roasting like the Behmor, the Gene Cafe Roaster, and the HotTop Drum Roaster. The advantage of drum roasting is a larger batch size and an even roast, but it requires a bit more attention during the roast process than an air roaster.

The Behmor Electric Drum Coffee Roaster

It is a home coffee roasting equipment that can truly do a full pound of coffee. That’s the most remarkable feature of the new Behmor home coffee roaster. It has pre-programmed roast times, heat curves, and an automatic cooling cycle. Best of all, it brings the drum-style coffee roaster down to a more affordable level at $299 it is nearly half the cost of all other drum coffee roasters on the market.

We have composed a thorough review of the machine, with data compiled from months of testing the pre-production model of the roaster. We encourage you to read our review, scan for relevant parts, or at the minimum read our summary comments.

With The Behmor you can roast 1/4, 1/2 or full 1 Lb. batches. For each batch size (1/4, 1/2 or 1 Lb.), you can quickly select a pre-programmed roast time (A, B, C, or D on the touch-control panel), and a roast heat curve program (designated P-1 through P-5). By combining these, you can produce a wide range of roast styles, from a light City roast, medium Full City roast, or Vienna roast. The machine has an automatic cool cycle of 8-12 minutes, depending on the batch size.

The Gene Cafe Drum Coffee Roaster

We call it the 2 Knob Gene Cafe. It is simple, and allows you, the operator, to dynamically (and infinitely) change the roast time or temperature during the roast process. The roast is easy to observe, and the controls make it easy to modify; change the roast time or roast temperature any time you like, and as much as you like. The roaster is extremely quiet compared to air machines, and even compared to other drum roasters. All 1/2 Lb roasters produce a quantity of smoke if you go into the darker roast stages; the Gene Cafe is no exception. I get improved body over air roasting, without diminished brightness. Well, I wish the cooling was more rapid, and it cooled to a lower temperature. Unlike the Hot Top, the Gene Cafe cools in the drum where the coffee is roasted. The Gene cools to 140 f. before the drum stops rotating, allowing you to remove the batch.

The drum rotates once and will land on the correct position to remove the drum. Always use the provided “drum stand” when the drum is out of the roaster. You can roast up to 300 grams – but not with dry processed coffees – see note below.

The drum and instruction booklet designate a different roast volume for “Brazil Coffee.” What they mean is that chaff-laden dry-process coffees will heat up the roast chamber more than less chaffy wet-processed coffees. In my tests, all dry-process coffees and wet-processed (and decafs, which have no chaff) roast fine at an 8 oz. batch (measure by weight, not volume for better accruacy). The maximum batch size for dry processed coffees is 240 grams. It is easy to cleaned: Empty the chaff collector after every roast. Remove visible chaff from the roast chamber every roast and dislodge any small beans that may have become stuck in the chamber. Roaster available in size 19 x 10 x 9 with chaff collector installed

The HotTop Electric Drum Coffee Roaster

The HotTop Roaster is for those who want larger batches than the air roasters, longer roasts, a commerical type roast-and-cool cycle, and a more robust machine. Roasting with the HotTop takes an extra effort: you need to understand the sights, sounds and smells of the coffee roasting process to get the best results. The roast profile reproduces the results of shop drum roaster more than the small home air roasters. HotTop USA has great support on the machine through Michael Chiang – he knows the machine backwards and forwards.

The readout will count down the time remaining in the roast cycle, which is nice. Readout of roast temperature can be in Celcius of Farenheit. (However a cool roaster set to “3″ will always result in the same degree of roasts, as will a warm roaster). Can you roast consecutive batches? Yes But you will have a slightly different roast profile from the first “cold roaster” batch to the next batch (about a 1 minute shift in roast curve), and I would advise stopping the roast manually to truly target the exact degree of roast that you desire.

Two New HotTop coffee roasting equipment available on two models : The KN-8828B Basic Model and The KN-8828B Programmable Model. Roasts results are very even in the HotTop. The batch capacity is 250 gram (9 oz) meaning you can get a full roasted 1/2 Lb. from each roast cycle. The cooling tray pulls air downward through the coffee and works well! (see my HotTop roast curve chart)

Maestro Plus Conical Burr Mill

The Maestro Plus Mill is a great all-around conical burr and a good quality if you mosstly drink french press or filter drip, with maybe an strong espresso. Maestro Plus Conical Burr Mill is also a well all-around mill but a better quality for espresso with commercial grade 40 mm conical burr set. In our proves it produces a more unchanging, even fine grind. Both mills carry the Baratza name but are manufactured by Solis for Baratza who has sold the grinder for years and knows it well. Both mills have the following features:

• grinds selector dial features 40 numbered stops for grind repeatability
• a powerful DC motor
• an improved and expanded manual
• unique gear reduction design that produces slow rotation of the conical burr, ensuring the retention of the aroma and flavor, and helping reduce static
• whole bean hopper can hold 1/2 pound of beans
• timer knob for repeatable coffee dosing
• pulse button in front for grinding directly into portafiler handle
• small cleaning brush included (looks like a tiny pine tree)

The Maestro Plus has the fancy new base- a solid chunk of polished metal that gives the mill stability, helps reduce static transfer, and doesn’t look bad at all. The Maestro Plus burr set is housed in very tough high density polyethylene (same heavy duty plastics used in commercial cutting boards). It is easy to access and clean the burrs: you turn the grind hopper to the coarsest setting, lift it off, then lift out the top burr. The burrs are tool grade steel.

Compak Espresso Mills

Compak K3 Touch

The K3 Touch is Compak’s doserless model. This implies that, more or less, the grinds fall straight from the burrs into your portafilter. The advantage here is that there’s no doser to trap old, stale grounds. Also, it’s much simpler to grind into a container (if grinding for brewed coffee) with this machine than with the K3 Elite. The tradeoff is that your espresso grind will have more clumps than with a doser grinder, so you’ll have to be more careful to properly distribute grinds in the portafilter basket.  Features:

• A doserless design, for easy cleaning and dual espresso and brewed coffee use
• An optional-use timer. The grinder has a manual mode and a timer to automatically control dosing. The timer isn’t perfect (less dense beans will grind faster, so time doesn’t equal dose), but it’s a good start.
• 0.6lb / 275g hopper capacity
• Commercial 58mm flat burrset, with a grinding rate of 11-15 pounds/hour
• Stepless, micrometrical grind adjustment
• 16.5″ height: fits easily under standard American 18″ kitchen cabinets
• Attractive, comes in black or polished aluminum
• 1 year warranty on parts and labor.

Compak K3 Elite

The K3 Elite is Compak’s doser model. Ground coffee flows into the “doser” on the front of the machine, and you pull a level to push grounds out. What a doser will do at home, though, is break up clumps. Static in the grinds causes them to clump together at finer grind levels, and these clumps can be a headache when trying to achieve a perfect espresso. The action of the doser hitting the grinds tends to break up the clumps. Features :

• A doser design, for dedicated espresso use, with a 0.45lb / 200g capacity doser
• 0.6lb / 275g hopper capacity
• Commercial 58mm burrset, with a grinding rate of 11-15 pounds/hour
• Stepless micrometrical grind adjustment
• 16.5″ height: fits easily under standard American 18″ kitchen cabinets
• Attractive, available in Black or Polished Aluminum
• 1 year warranty on parts and labor
• More images and commentary of the K3 Elite

The Rancilio Rocky grinder

Available on Rancilio Stainless Steel Rocky without doser and Rancilio Stainless Steel Rocky with doser. You can find it as an all-around mill, with a favorable front-mounted switch, or as a dedicated espresso mill, dressed up with a doser and coffee handle holder. It has commercial grade 50 mm flat burrs and 55 grinding adjustment steps, enough to pinpoint the exact grind requirement for the most specific espresso machine. And it covers a full range of grinds from fine to coarse, from Espresso to French Press. It’s right as a French Press grind but really the Rocky excels in the medium to fine to ultra-fine grinds; filter-drip, vacuum pot, espresso, and Turkish). Be aware that new Rocky mills are tested at the factory, and you might see a little grind residue on the burrs or in the doser.

The Mazzer Mini Espresso Mill

The Mazzer Mini is merely the best home espresso mill you can buy. The 58 mm hardened steel grinding discs are blowed in a mount by 3 high-tensile springs. This grants for seamless, continuous grind adjustment. I have found there is no static electricity in the grinds, and the doser is sturdy, easy to use, and easy to adjust. They call this color Aluminio in Italy, but it is not made of Aluminum – it means silver. The newest version of the mill features the “shorter” hopper – total height is 17″ from base to top of hopper.  The new models also include a stainless steel grounds tray and a power cord that comes out the bottom of the machine.

The Technivorm KBTS

The Technivorm KBTS has a 1 liter (34 oz.= 8 four oz. cups) capacity, and brews directly into an all stainless steel thermal carafe (which is included). Height 13″, Width 11.2″, Depth 6.7″

The Technivorm KBT 741

The Technivorm KBT 741 is the big brother to the KBTS. It features a 1.3 liter carafe (42 oz. = 10 four oz. cups). It too brews directly into an all stainless steel thermal carafe (included). Height 14.8″, Width 12″, Depth 7.1″

The Moccamaster with Thermal Carafe

The Moccamaster with Thermal Carafe is the same round design as the Moccamaster CD and has a 1.3 liter (42 oz. = 10 4 oz. cups) capacity with a thermal carafee. It has an updated appearance by Clementdesign studio. We swithed to this model because we had many requests for it and it has the same drip stop switch as the other brewers, which is a feature that we find very helpful. Height 15″, Width 10″, Depth 6.5″

Yama Vacuum Brewers

The Yama Vacuum Brewer is a stovetop model that resembles the long-gone Silex and Cory glass models made in the U.S. for over 50 years. It’s capacity is 5 cups by Japanese standard (where the Yama is very popular). It has a cloth filter that fits over the metal filter assembly. The brewer is easy to use. The 8 cup model has more aesthetic, rounded glass parts. The box it comes in is a little amusing, a little cheesy. but you are not buying a box, you are buying a very effective vacuum brewer. You can also use a Cona glass filter rod in the 5 and 8 cup Yama brewer. Tom and I use the 5 cup brewer with the glass drainer to brew coffee at home on the weekends and it works well. Whenever you are brewing with the replacement glass drainer, be sure to watch the brewer, and if it stalls, just wiggle the drainer to release the pressure. If it does not release – relight the flame on the bottom bowl, the increased temperature ought to equalize the pressure.

Cona Vacuum Brewers

This is the king of vacuum coffee brewers. We are one of a handful of coffee sources that offers These are beautiful, elegant, and a bit scientific-looking; aficionados of these believe it’s the ultimate brewing method. It’s main features is that the coffee is entirely prepared in glass; there’s no contact with metal or plastic components. It’s the brewing method for romantics, and is prepared at the table with heat provided by the spirit lamp. Denatured alcohol must be used, and is widely available at hardware stores (in the solvents section) and camping/boating stores. The lamp does not ship with alcohol.

Chemex Coffee Brewers

Invented by a chemist to improve filter-type (infusion) brewing, Chemex have a devoted following of folks. count my own mother as one of them. The glass one-piece brewer seems like the cornerstone to this method, but actually it is the Chemex brand filters. The extra filtration of the Chemex filter seems to counteract this better than any other brewing system. You will need to buy filters separately. Other brands of filters don’t work well with Chemex because the drip opening is large.

Hand-Blown Glass Chemex brewers in the 8 cup size and the 13 Cup Size. Here is what I have noted about them that differs from the machine-made ones:

• The shape is slightly different, more of a true hourglass shape. with sharper bends at the bottom and a wider, flatter bottom.
• The glass seems very dense and heavy, clearly a higher quality than the machine-made. It has a slight greenish cast. Ironically, it seems more perfect in form than the machine made. It is hand-blown into a mold.
• The size: The CM-3 Handblown 8 Cup by all appearances this is larger than the CM-10A. It certainly stands taller and is heavier. It appears to hold as much as the 10A so I am really not sure why this is called an 8 cup. The CM-4 13 Cup is the largest brewer Chemex makes, ideal for 4-6 people.
• It comes in a plain box. Don’t be disappointed. The brewer includes the one-piece glass coffeemaker, and wood collar handle with leather tie.

French Press Brewers

We carry the Chambord French Press in different sizes and with a choice of glass or unbreakable plastic beaker.

Bodum Chambord 4 Tasse (16 oz)

Chrome frame, black bakelite plastic knob and handle, special Bodum-designed insulated lid. Replacement glass and other parts available below. Excellent press size for one person. This is a 3.5 inside diameter press like the 8 Tasse size, so all the filters for the 8 cup also fit this 4 cup.

Bodum Chambord 8 Tasse (32 oz)

Chrome frame, black Bakelite plastic knob and handle, special Bodum-designed insulated lid. Replacement glass and other parts available below. Great size for 2 – 3 people. Works great for brewing half batches too.

Bodum Chambord – 12 Tasse (48 oz)

Chrome feet, black Bakelite plastic knob and handle, special Bodum-designed insulated lid. Replacement glass and other parts available below. Great for 3-4 thirsty people

Double Wall Bodum Chambord 8 Tasse (32 oz)

This 8 Tasse has a double wall insulated glass beaker. It makes the same coffee as any other french press – but the insulated glass helps to keep it hotter, which is a good thing since heat loss during extraction can be a big problem in a French Press. Only difference is the frame is larger to accommodate the double wall glass.

The Nesco Home Coffee Roaster

The roast controls are, like an Alpenrost, a bit lacking in that you can only set the roast time, then hit the Roast button. I keep hoping for a roaster with roast curve controls to truly allow custom roasting (the next generation Precision due out in May 2003 boasts this). But I think appliance manufacturers, trying to simplify machines, avoid customer confusion, and limit liability, are uninspired to build more user-programmable controls into machines. With the Nesco, you simply choose the time you want to roast (default is 20, max is 30) and hit the roast button. But what I think is a nice improvement over the Alp is that the roast setting actually does correlate to time, and counts down as the roast progresses: a setting of 26 is a 26 minute roast+cool cycle (cooling is 5 minutes.) Roast batch size is optimally 4 oz. To roast darker you can reduce the amount of coffee in the batch too (same as the Alpenrost, but opposite of the air roasters, where you get a darker roast by increasing the amount of coffee.)

New Fresh Roast models: SR 500 and SR 300

New Fresh Roast models SR 500 and SR 300

The new Fresh Roast models are available…both machines feature a larger capacity, more stable build, and quieter fan than the FR+8. The Fresh Roast is an easy-to-use, quiet, quick roaster, a great value for the price. The roast time is about 7 minutes for a Full City (medium-dark) roast, with a 3 minute cool-down cycle. This includes 4 or 8 types of green coffees, 1 pound of each, and your choice of a Brewed Coffee Sampler, Espresso Sampler, Half Decaf-Half Regular, or All Decaf selection. The SR500 model has a rheostat to adjust fan speed (+/- 10%), a digital timer and three heat settings.

The Fresh Roast SR 500 uses the body of the new SR 300 and adds in some much appreciated controls: a simple mechanism for setting low, medium or high heat, and a rheostat for adjusting fan speed (+/- 10%), as well as a digital timer. Temperature settings for the three settings:

• High temp. = 490 degrees
• Medium temp. = 455 degrees
• Low temp. = 390 degrees

To have a nice slow heat warmup I liked HIGHEST possible air flow early in the roast, no matter the heat setting (I used both medium and low heat settings throughout the roast). In terms of price and control over the roast, the SR500 is in line with the Hearthware iRoast2. I used the highest fan speed and got an acceptably even roast with the SR500. If you add a bit of stirring to the beans, or switching to cool to extend the roast, it becomes a great little roaster. In my opinion – the SR500 is a better roaster than the SR300, and worth the extra money.

Fresh Roast SR 300

The Fresh Roast SR 300 is essentially an improved model of the Fresh Roast +8 roaster that we’ve sold for years. The SR300 has a more stable base than older models. Roasts take about 6.5 to 7 minutes to get to a City+ roast level. You can control roast time, but, as with older Fresh Roast models, you have no control over the heating element or fan. The SR300 essentially is the SR500, running on high heat and the medium fan setting. To be totally honest, I have a few problems with this roaster: the fan doesn’t move the coffee well at the beginning stages of the roast, so roasts can end up with scorched beans if you don’t take care to prevent them. These problems existed with the Fresh Roast +8 – so it is not new.

Hearthware i-Roast 2 Coffee Roaster

Hearthware i-Roast 2 Coffee Roaster

Fresh Look at the i-Roast 2

There are more roasters available, more choices in batch sizes programmability. The i-Roast 2 gives you 2x the batch size of the Fresh Roast + 8, a longer, more even roast and better control. The quality of the roast is very good. The cooling cycle is effective and the machine is easy to use on the preset settings. The i-Roast 2 is a good choice for a 1 or 2 coffee drinker household, especially if you know that you like the brighter, cleaner style of roast that an air roaster produces.

It is very important to not overload the machine. The design of the machine means it is sensitive to the amount of chaff the coffee produces, so with dry-processed coffees you need to use a smaller batch size. Because decaf produces less chaff, it is best to leave a bit of chaff actually in the chaff collector from a previous roast to get an even decaf roast.

It is very important to clean the top screens on the unit. Over time, the screens in the top lid can clog, restricting air flow, so it is important to brush and periodically soak the screens in a strong cleaner. This makes the motor work harder and can shorten the life of the roaster and can reduce the roaster’s capactity.

The i-Roast 2 has good air flow, and agitates the coffee well, resulting in a very even roast. As a result of that high speed fan that moves the coffee so well, the machine is LOUD, like a hair dryer at first, and is a bit more quiet after the fan speed drops in the middle of the roast. 4) While the machine has all this programability, I think that eventually people (meaning me, Tom) stop using this feature, and start to simply use the factory default roast settings, because the result is good, and the interface to program the machine is not fun to use. The roaster seems designed to use at eye level, because the controls face horizontally. Hearthware has improved their customer service customer too – so I can feel good about selling the roaster again.

The Hearthware i-Roast 2 has the following features:

• convenient batch size for 1 to 2 people (8 ounces by volume, 6 ounces by weight)
• 2 presets that offer a good roast and very easy operation
• Programmability of time and temperature for further customization
• Allows for storage of up to 10 memorizes roasting profiles, even when the machine is unplugged

Please Note: Profiles for Prest 1 and Preset 2 are significantly different from the presets on the i-Roast #1

Preset 1 on i-Roast 2: Stage 1: 450F for 10 min.

Preset 2 on i-Roast 2: Stage 1: 455F for 6:00min; Stage 2: 400F for 4:00; Stage 3: 435F for 1:30

The Whirley-Pop 6 Quart Popper

The Whirley-Pop 6 Quart Popper

Stainless Steel Stovetop Popper

The stainless steel pot had metal gears – this was an improvement over the plastic gears on the aluminum pot that could fail prematurely. The Whirley-Pop 6 Quart stovetop popper just happens to be a competent coffee roaster (in the right hands!) and has been our standby stovetop popcorn popper – roaster for years. This is the same stovetop popper you will read about in Home Coffee Roasting by Ken David’s (it is also labeled the Theater II by the same manufacturer). It does produce smoke (more coffee in the batch and darker roasts means more smoke) but a good range hood will handle it. You can also use this method on a gas camp stove or other portable heat source. The Whirley-Pop is light-gauge aluminum but it is the best stovetop popper for roasting coffee out there. Here’s instructions for stovetop roasting. You can get the Whirley Pop 6 Quart with our one of our Samplers at a discounted price – $10 for the 4 Pound Sampler ($17 ala carte) – or $20 for the 8 Pound Sampler ($32 ala carte). This includes 4 or 8 types of green coffees, 1 pound of each, and your choice of a Brewed Coffee Sampler, Espresso Sampler, Half Decaf-Half Regular, or All Decaf selection. You really need to preheat your popper to a set temperature to get consistent roasts. Stovetop coffee roasting in a popcorn popper has some great advantages and a few caveats that you need to know before trying this method.

The benefits of Stovetop Popper roasting:

You can roast more in one batch than air roasters, and more than some expensive drum roasters! With the Stainless popper you might be able to roast a bit more too. You can get good roast results through the entire range, from City roasts to Dark French/Spanish roasts. Lighter roasts are a bit more difficult with this method. You can have total control over the length of the roast, getting more of a “drum roast” profile, which some people prefer for espresso.

The problems with Stovetop Popper roasting:

Stovetop roasting produces a lot of smoke, mainly because you are roasting more coffee in each batch. You need to be patient … to roast coffee well the process takes 8 to 15 minutes, and you need to stand there and slowly crank the roaster the whole time. Stovetop poppers might require some adjustments and occasional repairs to keep working right. Poppers are for DIY people (do-it-yourself). Some coffees don’t get along with stovetop roasters and tend to jam them up … namely the Yemeni coffees and other small-bean types. Peaberry coffees roast especially well because they “roll” in the popper.