Drum vs Fluid Bed Roasters Round 1

One thing I've definitely been finding about the nature of the coffee industry is that it adheres to that tired old adage that the only constant is change. It seems like technology and technique is constantly being reviewed and revised and finally made obsolete...sort of. Trends come and go, the changing of the seasons, match maker match maker, yadda yadda yadda and on and on it goes. One endangered species that we at world cup specialize in is the Fluid Bed Roaster. I had one roast-curious customer ask to view our facilities in the hushed and awed tones that one would think should be reserved for the last unicorn or dodo bird. This attitude seems strange to me because I know other fluid beds are out there, and they do their jobs, they really do (and a fine one at that if you ask me!). Having said all that the specialty coffee industry (in terms of micro roasters...at least from what I can tell)loves the drum roaster. So here we are, just getting started roasting on our Diedrich IR-12, so far it has been a very interesting experience. The hardest part was realizing that I didn't understand the roasting process the way I thought I did. Let's just say there have been many humbling experiences so far where things just plain got out of hand. From grossly under roasting some coffee to charring another batch and all the seesawing back and forth between extreems the process has constantly pushed me to become a more attentive roaster. I love the idea of trying to master a new piece of equipment because it will only make us better at what we do. We've been gingerly roasting a coffee here and there putting them out on the sly for customer consumption shyly hoping they will like it but afraid to entirely make the switch. My goal for the next month is to get at least half of our production on to the new roaster. I feel that this is a good time as new crop centrals should be coming in soon so in away it is kind of like the coffee new year or something like that (opa!) Anyhoo...I hope to post a couple of times a week with our progress and painfully earned insights I have no doubt. Right now I feel about 1 part shaken and three parts stirred to greatness! (aha see what I did there!) To being a better person and reaching for the stars and winning one for...that guy!


Sincerely,
Jill