Great for smaller batches/daily roasting...A good price for a reliable product.
Positive Product Points
Transparent roasting chamber, chaff collection basket work well and allow the user to view the roast as it progresses. Very quick roasting time.
Negative Product Points
Inadequate mechanical timer, leaves some chaff in with roasted beans
Detailed Commentary
Basically a glorified hot-air popcorn popper, but very nice for roasting smaller volumes. Perfect for the one- or two-coffee drinker household, in that it's easy to spend just 10 minutes every couple of days and enjoy freshly-roasted coffee I find that for some darker roasts I have to re-set the timer before the cooling stage, but the roasting time is so short (6 minutes or less) that it‘s not an inconvenience at all. Price is OK (bought mine for $60) but hopefully will go down. NOT worth $100-plus price found in some places. Because this roasts so quickly, it's good for those who like a bright, lively cup, such as with Ethiopian or Yemeni coffees or some Central American varieties. There are no 'pre-programmed' roast profiles, and no provision for ramping up the temperature during the roast, just a linear or perhaps curvilinear warmup/cooldown. With a little more effort and attention you can tweak the roast so it produces a cup with more body, either by moving the timer back or cooling the roast for a few seconds after first crack and then resuming the roast (kind of iffy, but it works OK for me.) The only problem i've really had with this roaster was that after putting about 20 lbs. through it, I noticed that first and second crack started to overlap and the roasts became VERY uneven. The mesh screens on the chaff collector had become clogged with chaff particles and interfered with the airflow through the coffee, so I had to use an old toothbrush to clean them, which helped greatly. This is a great 'starter' roaster, and for those on a tight budget it's a very good buy. Perhaps one day I'll upgrade to something else, but honestly, this is a very reliable roaster. Not many features, but it does a fine job.
Buying Experience
Quick and painless, and a sampler of 8 half-pound bags of different varieties of green coffee was included.
