Kaffelogic Nano 7 - Roasting Results

Beverast

Took the plunge and got a Kaffelogic Nano 7. Here are the results of my first ever roast - beans are from Cafe Granja La Esperanza, Lupe Maria natural. Used the altitude profile (1500-2000masl) and “Ready To Drink” profile. Surprisingly pretty decent after roasting straight away - flavours a little muted but has a really nice finish. Will taste the beans again tomorrow.

spasypaddy

this is really relevant to me as i want to potentially start doing my own roasting as i reckon i can pay back the cost of a machine in 2 years.

Was going to get an ikawa home, but they’ve just announced that they are going to be putting their prices up by a third!!! £300! So the kaffelogic is now my first choice. So following with great interest

Beverast

spasypaddy Yeah, I also considered the Ikawa Home, but felt for the price the Nano 7 is a better deal. Interesting they are raising their prices for the Ikawa Home - it seems expensive at the current price of £970. The Nano 7 came in at around £940 (includes shipping/customs/tax etc). I will continue to play about with the machine and post my results here :)

spasypaddy

what are the better features of the kaffelogic over the ikawa? i liked the look of the app stuff on the ikawa and being able to edit on the fly. is the software for kaffelogic intuitive?

Beverast

spasypaddy Got to be honest here, can’t say if it has “better” features as I have never used an Ikawa. Currently I don’t think you can use a smartphone app on it - all adjustment of profiles would be done on a desktop/laptop, which personally suits me better. I have not played about with the software, however Kaffelogic do have in-depth tutorials on their website: https://kaffelogic.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=153

Have not really answered your question, but I have only just started using the Kaffelogic, so it would be unfair to say too much until I have used it for a good few months. Most important thing are the results in the cup - I roasted a Sidra natural yesterday and tasting it this morning - I can honestly say it is pretty much on par with some of the “best” coffees I have tried. All subjective of course, but for my first few roasts I am very impressed with the results and the coffee tastes good. That’s what matters most for me.

I guess it just comes down to choice, personal preference and possibility of future upgrades - my understanding is that Kaffelogic are working on a BOOST package as a future upgrade, which will increase the capacity (200grams instead of 100grams is my understanding) and an upgraded chaff collector. The current chaff collector is functional and works, but feels a bit flimsy on top in my opinion.

Beverast

Roasted a washed Sidra from Cafe Granja La Esperanza today - lighter roast at 1.8 on the roasting setting. Will let these rest 5 days or so before tasting. Nice fresh fruity aroma from the beans on this one.

Beverast

Done another test roast of the Lupe Maria Natural - the first roast I did (in my 1st post) was at a roasting level of 2.7 on the Kaffelogic. I initially thought the flavours were a little muted a few hours post roast. After 24 hours the flavours were more there but felt the beans could give more.

Tried out a profile called D-Roast, courtesy of Damien on the Kaffelogic forum, and the results in the cup in my opinion are a lot better. This particular profile requires a lot of power (240V) however as my roasting level is a lot lower than what this user uses, it appears to be a bit of a non issue as there is no flattening of the power curve. Also toned down the roasting level to 2.0. Wholebean and especially ground they are funky/boozy - not quite as much as the Sidra Natural but really happy with the results. Much more full bodied and creamier than my first attempt and the boozy/funky elements really come out, which I did not notice on my first roast of these beans. I think the initial roasting level of 2.7 is too high for these beans. Red fruits, medium acidity and good sweetness are all coming out nicely.

MediumRoastSteam

They could improve the app by having a different scale for the RoR line :-)

MediumRoastSteam

I’ve been following the development of this roaster with interest for a few years now. The results look good! I also had the opportunity to try some coffee roasted with the Nano7 and it was very good (I’m not a super taster) and a direct competitor with the Sandbox Smart, but they are very different machines indeed.

In any case, thought I’d put this excellent video here, as it gives you a great idea on how this little roaster works.

dfk41

Flip me! You would need a PHD to work one of those!

Ernie1

Really interesting thread, thanks for sharing. That video is a great insight too.

One question I’ve always had when reading about home roasters; do these approaches and roast profiles scale up to industrial machines? So is it basically the same process as you might see on a huge Diedrich or Probat, just on a far smaller scale?

DavecUK

Ernie1 So is it basically the same process as you might see on a huge Diedrich or Probat, just on a far smaller scale?

No, it’s not and they don’t scale up….A huge roaster is like an articulated lorry compared to a dodgem car.

MediumRoastSteam

DavecUK huge roaster is like an articulated lorry compared to a dodgem car.

I now wonder why I can’t roast with the Gene or the Behmor very well. I always crashed those damn dodgem cars! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

tohenk2

I bought one - after a good friend got one when we talked about it. Got it before the new chaf collector or boost or connect kit were available - retrofitting those was easy.

The new chaf collector is nice, functional the same but easier to clean. It came with a new top plate - in case the glass tube fits too tight on the old top plate.

The boost kit is mainly software. And a ring so the larger volume roasted beans doesn’t fall out before you want it to.

The results are (very) good, you don’t need a phd. Depending on what you want you can go as deep as you want. There is an absolute beginners profile that works ok. You can select it, set the roast level (light, medium or dark) put in about 100 gram green beans and go.

If you know a bit more you can select a profile based on the beans (altitude). If you really know what you’re doing you can alter profiles, fan speeds fan speed multipliers etc - or get some specific profiles from the user forums and tweak and discuss them there.

For me it is a whole new rabbit hole 😀

tohenk2

On the user forum there are quite a few people that claim to use it as a sample roaster. (Or roaster for barista competitions, even the WBC).

And the people from Nucleus tools (formerly ONA) developed their own version and software, the Link. I believe they take density, moisture content, more environment variables and whatnot in account when operating.