Bellwether Coffee Roasting System

#1: Post by **TomC** » February 2nd, 2017, 9:22 pm

I've heard about this coming for a little while. Some of my friends in the Bay Area roasting scene are behind its development, but I don't know the chief engineer or much about the fine details of the roaster, but it should be interesting to watch. It may not land much on a home roasters radar, but from what I heard, it's capabilities are quite impressive.

Features mentioned on their site:

A responsibly curated green coffee market
An inventory management system
Complete creative control of roast profiles (Master Roasters)
A guided roast process (no roast experience required)
A customizable roast schedule
Organized roast logs with all the bells and whistles
A maintenance schedule with push notifications
All the purchasing, inventory, and roast data you could want

I'm not aware of any being out in the wild yet. It looks to incorporate a lot more software and connectivity for people who want to index not just roasts, but certain coffees ( similar to Cropster). It was described to me as a Loring style roaster with way more features and control options.

More here.
https://www.bellwethercoffee.com/

#2: Post by **pngboy** » February 3rd, 2017, 5:04 am

interesting...

#3: Post by **btreichel** » February 4th, 2017, 1:27 am

No emissions, ventless, ummmm.

#4: Post by **JavaMD** » February 4th, 2017, 2:16 pm

Looked small till I saw the picture of it against kitchen height cabinets. Then it looked Small Kitchen Refrigerator size. Hmmm ...
Doesn't say how much it roasts at a time - or I couldn't find that statistic.

Steve

February 4th, 2017, 2:59 pm

So I just asked Dani Goot, he said that the large unit mentioned above will roast up to 6 pounds. But it doesn't go down to small 500g batches very well. But they are also coming out with a smaller roaster that will.

But here's something else that's kinda cool. If you've dialed in a preset profile for a coffee, it will alter the algorithm automatically to correspond to the weight of the coffee. 2 pounds or 6 pounds, it'll come out the same profile.

#6: Post by **JavaMD** » February 4th, 2017, 8:39 pm

But here's something else that's kinda cool. If you've dialed in a preset profile for a coffee, it will alter the algorithm automatically to correspond to the weight of the coffee. 2 pounds or 6 pounds, it'll come out the same profile.

very cool ... thanks for the update Tom

#7: Post by **moreshots** » February 5th, 2017, 1:40 pm

Signed up as a 6 pound unit would be great

#8: Post by **Séb** » February 7th, 2017, 1:27 pm

I had some interest into this roaster....until i learn the price! Ouch

Here is what they told me:

"Our roaster is rated to do 24 lbs an hour and will cost under $50,000. We will be financing which will allow you to keep pricing down below the cost of having a wholesale coffee. It is a continuous fluid bed roaster with zero emissions and no permits needed to start roasting. "

Way too much expensive IMHO if we compare to other fluid bed roasters of similar capacity. I have a hard time figuring why it cost so much for a 6lbs fluid bed roaster?!

#9: Post by **ira** » February 7th, 2017, 5:09 pm

It's one word, "Support."

You give then that and they take care of the rest. Beans, profiles, and everything else to have a successful startup roasting add on to your shop. I doubt it's intended for people who are passionate about roasting or for people starting a roasting business. Same audience as a Sonofresco, just way upscale.

IMO anyway.

Ira

#10: Post by **Chert** » January 13th, 2022, 7:17 pm

This came to mind in recent Ikawa discussion and because their system is in the wild, coming to a cafe near me soon.

Here's their quote that gets me:

Cleaner Coffee Roasting for Our Planet

We compared the greenhouse gas footprint of two conventional roasters to the Bellwether Roaster-one with a fixed-drum single flame and one with an open-flame drum. Conventional roasters use natural gas as their primary heating source. They pull in air and then use it to heat coffee beans which makes the hot, smoky air required to be exhausted as quickly as possible.

The results prove Bellwether produces 98% less CO2 emissions. Reducing emissions from the coffee roasting process is an important step in reducing the negative impact of coffee production on the environment. This reduction in greenhouse gas emissions makes the Bellwether Roaster the most sustainable commercial coffee roaster in the world by a significant margin. - https://www.bellwethercoffee.com/roaster-details/

Is this marketing copy pure and simple or is it a thing? Just by not burning petroleum to roast the coffee?

The local shop is also claiming that no form of exhaust management is needed either, but that difficult-to-imagine notion is a separate question.

Intriguing.