Roasting with the Kaffelogic Nano 7e

The Kaffelogic Nano 7e is a very easy-to-use coffee roaster that allows for experimentation thanks to its small quantities and fine adjustment options, enabling you to find the perfect roast for your taste. Here are my tips.

Roasting with the Kaffelogic
Nano 7e

Kaffelogic Nano 7e is a very easy-to-use coffee roaster that allows for experimentation thanks to its small quantities and fine adjustment options, enabling you to find the perfect roast for your taste. Here are my tips.

Simply to the perfect coffee

Roasting with the Kaffelogic Nano 7e is very easy. The machine comes with some pre-set profiles that allow you to roast a good coffee without any prior knowledge. Each roasting profile can be set in 60 stages from very light to very dark. So, all you have to do is:

Simply to the
perfect coffee

Roasting with the Kaffelogic Nano 7e is very easy. The machine comes with some pre-set profiles that allow you to roast good coffee without prior knowledge. Each roasting profile can be adjusted in 60 steps from very light to very dark. So, all you have to do is:

Fill in 90 - 120g of green coffee beans.

Choose roast profile

Choose roast level (colour grade)

Press start

What matters when roasting

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.

Coffee bean selection:
The choice of the right coffee beans has the most significant impact on the coffee's taste. Try different coffees here, paying attention to acidity, sweetness, aroma, mouthfeel, aftertaste, etc.
Roast colour / Roast level selection:
Scientific studies show that roast colour influences about 80% of the taste differences caused by roasting. So, try out different roast colours / roast levels. It's easy with the Nano 7.
Roasting time / Development phase:
After the roast colour, it is mainly the roasting time that influences the taste, specifically the time in the development phase (from First Crack to the end). After the first two points, when working on roast profiles, focus mainly on these two factors.

Choice of green coffee:
The choice of suitable green coffee has the most significant influence on the taste of the coffee. Try different coffees here, paying attention to acidity, sweetness, aroma, mouthfeel, aftertaste.
Choice of roast colour / roast degree:
Scientific studies show that the roast colour influences about 80% of the taste differences caused by roasting. So, try out different roast colours / roast degrees. It's easy with the Nano 7.
Roasting time / development phase:
After the roast colour, it is mainly the roasting time that influences the taste, namely the time in the development phase (from first crack to the end). After the first two points, when working on roast profiles, one should focus mainly on these two factors.

Which roast profile for which coffee

Which Roast Profile for Which Coffee

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

Which roast level

Which Roast Level

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.

Bracketing

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

Ready to Drink Profile

It turns out that with pure fluid bed / hot air roasters like the Kaffelogic Nano 7, the coffees degas and are ready to drink significantly faster. Why exactly is not yet clear. One hypothesis is that the structure of the bean closes on the outside when the beans meet a preheated roasting drum, and therefore less CO2 can diffuse out of the bean in the drum roaster during the roasting process, resulting in a higher CO2 content after roasting. However, since the Kaffelogic Nano 7 builds up heat at room temperature, more CO2 can escape from the bean during the heat build-up, resulting in less CO2 in the roasted bean in the end.

In any case, the Kaffelogic team was able to develop roasting profiles that taste significantly better directly from the roaster than in conventional roasting and also provides these roasting profiles with the designation RTD, meaning:

Ready to Drink Profile

It turns out that with pure fluid bed / hot air roasters like the Kaffelogic Nano 7, the coffees degas and mature much faster, ready to drink. The exact reason is not yet clear. One hypothesis is that the structure of the bean closes on the outside when the beans meet a preheated roasting drum, which means that less CO2 can diffuse from the bean in the drum roaster during the roasting process, resulting in a higher CO2 content after roasting. However, since the Kaffelogic Nano 7 builds up heat at room temperature, more CO2 can escape from the bean during the heat build-up, resulting in less CO2 in the roasted bean in the end.

0 - 1200m RTD

1200 - 1500m RTD

1500 - 2000m RTD

2000 - 2700m RTD

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.