Enkerli Senior Member Joined: 1 Aug 2004 Posts: 711 Location: Montreal, Qc Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: (At cafés, not at home) Grinder: Hario hand grinders Vac Pot: (Moka Pot) Bialetti Brikka Drip: Steep and release pour-over Roaster: iRoast-2
Posted Fri May 27, 2011, 10:55am Subject: Re: iRoast 2 Home Coffee Roaster
While my wishlist was unrealistic, seems like it'd be even more difficult to have foolproof profiles. There are so many factors to take into account, so much variability with so many of them… But it'd indeed be nice to have better profiles.
javaorelse Senior Member Joined: 9 Sep 2006 Posts: 4 Location: California Expertise: Pro Roaster
Espresso: Bialetti/Also French Press Grinder: KitchAid burr Roaster: Bravi
Posted Fri Jun 3, 2011, 6:12am Subject: Re: iRoast 2 Home Coffee Roaster
javaorelse Said:
Only thing I could see IRoast doing for #3 would be to eliminate the stage settings and then provide built in settings based on coffee type. A fool proof method for each type bean. Then it could be called IRoaster for Dummies. Boy, would there be complaints then. I must admit, it would be nice for a list of suggested roast temps and times for a particular roast, for a specific bean. I hate hitting cool when I think the roast is dark enough. Makes you wonder why have stage 5 at all. I've noticed that stage 5 preset can either be cooler or hotter than #4. A paragraph or 2 from IRoast explaining it's inten for the final stage would be nice
While my wishlist was unrealistic, seems like it'd be even more difficult to have foolproof profiles. There are so many factors to take into account, so much variability with so many of them… But it'd indeed be nice to have better profiles.
You are so right. Even a particular bean, say Colombian, has different qualities, batch to batch. A programmed profile to achieve a city+ for beans received a month ago may roast a new bean, just received to a full City. It's sad to say but it is quite impossible to dedicate a given profile to achieve a desired roast based on bean type. I supposes the best we can do is provide a series of profiles that seem to most often provide a certain roast quality. Once we decide to use that profile, I'd suggest watching the roast until the conclusion of stage 3, making adjustments there if required. Then continue to watch roast until the complete cycle is finished in order to depress cool down if the roast was too hot. I do know that changing (adding) profiles, with my machine, is a necessity as the pre-programmed ones are both too hot and take all my beans to French.
Well, that's what makes roasting so interesting! ;-) What I'm dreaming about is a way to control the roast in realtime. The way profiles are set up (including custom ones), they're like autopilot. It'd be nice to override that autopilot and adapt the roast profile to the bean. It's still useful to have preprogrammed profiles and you can leave the roaster relatively unattended for a couple of minutes. But I wish I could have a bit more control. Otherwise, I find the i-Roast relatively similar to my hot air popcorn poppers.
What makes me dream is the possibility to monitor all of this and keep data on multiple batches from different or the same beans. We could even exchange data on this and it might help others make the most out of certain beans. Eventually, we should be able to improve our collective understanding of the roasting process. In a way, homeroasting could have some of the same effects homebrewing has had. There are many craft roasters out there but there's a disconnect between them and homeroasters. In fact, I've heard a lot of dismissive comments about homeroasting, from the perspective of craft roasters. Thing is, some of my homeroasted beans provide me with more pleasure than from many craft-roasted beans. I'm sure they'll argue that my palate isn't up to snuff but that's beside the point. I'm not trying to make “The Best Coffee in the Whole Wide World” as I don't believe in such a thing. I'm making coffee that I personally enjoy, given my own tastebuds and brewing equipment. Doing so, I'd argue that I'm learning quite a bit about coffee. Roasting notes can help me appreciate coffee in a special way.
javaorelse Senior Member Joined: 9 Sep 2006 Posts: 4 Location: California Expertise: Pro Roaster
Espresso: Bialetti/Also French Press Grinder: KitchAid burr Roaster: Bravi
Posted Sat Jun 4, 2011, 10:57am Subject: Re: iRoast 2 Home Coffee Roaster
What I'm dreaming about is a way to control the roast in realtime
The IRoast2 gives you a little of that. It allows setting changes in stage 3 I don't know enough about those changes yet. Even though I've been forced to add time during that stage, based on bean color and crack, I'm not sure if I can lock in the change. If it can be locked in, it would be a good method to achieve a roast profile for that particular bean. As mentioned earlier, the profile would be for that particular bean and not for the country of origin. I do see the IRoast providing the type of control used by home brewing but I don't think we will ever achieve a profile that fits all beans roasted to a certain level (C+, FC, FC+, Vienna, etc.) even if the beans all come from same country. There is almost as much difference in the farm a bean comes from as there is the country. I'll bet that many IRoast users will eventually use the two basic presets and will base their roast on what happens in stage 3. As I play around with settings, it's very clear the importance of that stage. Stage 3 can be set at a higher temperature and yet produce a lighter bean, all dependent.on the earlier stage heat ups and the amount of time dedicated to the third stage As you play with this machine, you begin to realize that the change in temperatures is not immediate. It's probably the first rule one should remember when setting up the profiles.
While coffee roasting may be high on the Hearthware priority list, customer service is not. I agree that the iRoast2 is a good roaster, and I loved it while it was operational, but just two years after buying one, and using it according to the mfg instructions, the computer in the base died. No computer = no function. So, I contacted the company to see about getting a replacement part, and this is what I got in response:
"Cherie, Good Morning. I truly apologize for the inconvenience in regards to your IRoast2 not functioning properly. Unfortunately we do not do any repairs for the IRoast2, only replacements if they are within the one year warranty.
"Jane" (I changed the reps name to ensure her privacy ... she isn't the one to blame) Customer Service Representative"
I don't know about you, but when I spend $200 for an appliance, I have a certain expectation of longevity. I'm also a realist. I know that with an appliance like an electronically controlled coffee roaster, that operates at very high temperatures, and has a fan that has to work very hard, there is likely to be some problems along the way. I'm ok with that, however, I also have the expectation that if something does go wrong with my $200 appliance that I should be able to get it fixed.
The bottom line is this, if you plunk down the $200 for this roaster, you are taking a gamble. If it breaks within the warranty period, you are ok. If it breaks after the warranty period, you are out of luck. If you price it out, pound for pound, that home roasted coffee becomes quite expensive. I for one, will not be taking another chance with an iRoast. If they want to keep a loyal customer base, they had better make customer service and satisfaction as high of a priority as making coffee roasters.
I agree with you 150%! Just look at the exemplary customer service from Baratza & Behmor also.
All grinders & roasters are completely covered with any type of parts replacement all the way from a tiny screw to a major part/s., & with Baratza warranty support.., exemplary tech & parts support that can be years out from the original 1 year warranty. "Re: Baratza Virtuoso- durability problems?"
At the link but a partial quote from there by head Coffegeek Mark Prince himself:
"One thing that you'll see a lot of people talk about is that Baratza products aren't just about the product, but the after sales service. There is no other company in coffee or espresso machines that I know of that can match Baratza's service and support. It is, frankly, legendary. Even though the products carry a 1 year warranty (I have to check that), I've had direct confirmation of Baratza supporting five, seven year old grinders in some fashion. At most, people have to pay shipping postage on some issues.
To me, that doubles the value of the product, at least. Ever try to get support from Mazzer for a grinder? Vendors are the only "support" and some are hit (ie Chris Coffee), some are definitely miss. Baratza supports their products directly. I don't know of any other company in this specialist market that does that, at least to their level."
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