After a few weeks of hearing several online misconceptions about my work, I thought I’d take the opportunity to share what I do for clients on a weekly basis. 

Being a roasting consultant is not about telling clients how their coffee should taste, telling them to end at a certain DTR, trying to influence them to roast lighter, etc. 

Being an effective roast consultant is about giving clients the tools to consistently make their coffee taste they way they want it to. 

When beginning work with new clients, I have them share information about their machine, installation, software, and current approach. There are almost always problems to fix related to machine tuning, warmup procedure, and between-batch protocol. It is necessary to solve those problems before attempting to optimize roast quality and consistency. 

For example, in just the past week, I helped clients around the world with the following:

• I helped client with a new Probat tune his burner, fan, and drum RPM, establish appropriate warmup and BBP, and troubleshoot some installation problems.

• I helped a client learn how to find the optimal airflow level, between-batch protocol for his machine and batch size, how to log his warmups and BBPs in Cropster, and how to prevent massive flicks in his roasts.

• I helped a client understand which noise in his temperature data is misleading, and which is relevant, as he was undermining his roasts by reacting to the misleading data.

• I helped a client avoid spending money on a green loader he did not need.

• I helped a client source a badly-needed digital manometer, manage a problem in his RORs, overhaul his BBP, and figure out how to manage problems caused by a merged chimney.

• I helped a client improve his manual roasts so they are tastier and more consistent than his automated Loring roasts.

• I helped a client tune his airflow and drum RPM to decrease conductive heat transfer and reduce roastiness in the cup.

• I helped a client identify some problems in this green-buying system that were holding back his otherwise-excellent roasting.

All of that was in addition to working with dozens of clients on managing their roasts to be more consistent, and answering dozens of questions about roasting in my online roast-coaching forum.

Roasting isn’t just about cupping, or managing curves, or any other one thing. Anyone can roast a tasty batch here and there. Successful roasting is first about proper machine installation and tuning, second about having a system to ensure consistency, and finally about the day-to-day work of cupping and curve analysis and adjustment.

Learn more about my consulting services here