Roasting coffee is often portrayed as very complicated to the outside world, and those searching for information on the internet are at best overwhelmed.
The fact is, however, that there are some (obvious and unspectacular) factors in coffee roasting that have such a clear impact on the taste that everyone can taste it. And there are many factors that even very experienced roasters can hardly distinguish in blind tastings - yet these hardly relevant factors are often emphasized. Don't let yourself be confused by this, as the only thing that matters is that the coffee tastes good.
And here we come to one last important preliminary remark - taste preferences vary extremely from person to person, so you should really pay attention to your personal sensory perception and focus on what tastes good to YOU.
The density of the green coffee used has the greatest influence on the choice of the roasting profile. Kaffelogic tries to take this into account by sorting the profiles according to the altitude at which the coffee is grown. However, altitude is only one of the factors that influence density, so I would recommend measuring the density of the coffees in the future and selecting the profile accordingly. You can find the density of our green coffees directly in the description.
0 - 1200m REST
Coffees with density up to 700g / Lt
1200 - 1500m REST
Coffees with density 700 to 725 g / Lt
1500 - 2000m REST
Coffees with density 725 to 750 g/L
2000 - 2700m REST
Coffees with density from 750 g / Lt
Cupping, Robusta, Decaf, and Super Dark
are self-explanatory profiles
RTD Profile
See more information below
As mentioned earlier, the colour of the roasted coffee has a significant impact on the taste of the coffee. Therefore, it is important to find the roast colour that best suits your taste. Kaffelogic makes this easy with the so-called roast levels.
Kaffelogic roasts the coffee along a predefined curve. The roast level is the point on the curve where the roasting ends. It is a function of the time and energy that has flowed into the bean, directly correlating with the colour of the roasted coffee. Therefore, it is a very simple parameter to experiment with different roast levels or roast colours.
When photography was still analog, the so-called bracketing technique was used - a picture was taken three times: once darker, once medium, and once brighter. Then the images were compared, and from the one that was the most beautiful, another series with finer gradations was made. This is also recommended for roasting with the Nano 7, for example. 1. 3 roasts of a coffee with the same profile: Level 2 / Level 3 / Level 4 2. Assuming Level 2 tastes best to you, but is not yet perfect, then make two more roasts with the same profile and compare: Level 1.8 / Level 2 / Level 2.2. 3. Keep doing this until you have found the perfect setting for you.
Light Roasts
As mentioned above, the roasting time has a significant impact on the taste. The profiles provided by Kaffelogic are generally quite long for the machine's spectrum, ranging from approximately 9:30 to 12:30 minutes each. These profiles are very suitable for medium and dark roast levels and are enjoyed by most people.
However, if you prefer light filter roasts, these profiles may be too long, and you should roast a bit faster. For example, here is the roasting profile of World Brewers Cup Champion Carlos Medina - his roast only took 7:30 minutes:
https://kaffelogic.com/competitors-page/wbrc-chile-2023
For light roasts, you have the following options:
- Choose one of the standard profiles designed for very dense beans and select a light roast level.
- Choose the cupping profile.
- Edit a profile in Kaffelogic Studio, making it shorter with a steeper curve.
- Here you will also find a collection of roasting profiles that I like to use for lighter roasts. Some are from the community forum, while others are from championship participants. Feel free to try them out. You can download them here in a ZIP file: Kaffelogic Profiles
I use these profiles when I run out of coffee at home and am always surprised at how well the RTD roasting works. Give it a try, I'm curious to know how you like it.