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  • Gene Café

    what is a good price for a Gene Café?
    l am ready to move on l have tried the iroast 2,precission roaster which l thought was better than the iroast because you could let it roast without having to stand there.l am hoping the Gene Café will be bigger and better than both.
    thanks in adv. greenbe

  • #2
    Re: Gene Café

    Do you have your heart set on a Gene. I say that as I was thinking the Gene was the roaster for me although after seeing it side by side with the Hottop, IMHO, the Hottop is a much better roaster. Yes the price is a little more but as they say "you get what you pay for". I am in no way saying the Gene is a bad roaster, Im simply saying the Hottop is a better one of better build quality and if you can save a few more dollars it might be worth looking at the Hottop.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Gene Café

      Greenbe,

      The RRP of the Gene Cafe is $780, however a number of sponsors sell them for below that.

      Its best to not leave any home roaster unattended, be it an iRoast, a Gene Cafe or a Hottop. So it would be unwise to make a choice based on that. Having said that, none of them require constant human intervention.

      The Gene Cafe will allow you to choose a temperature and a time and it will keep heating until it reaches that point, at which time it will cycle the heater on and off until the time expires and then it will start its cooling cycle. If you want to change the temperature or the time you can do this manually.

      Since Luvacaps mentioned the Hottop, the Hottops are similar except you can program your roast settings, so you can program a temperature or fan speed change so it takes effect at a particular time rather than having to manually make the adjustment. The Hottop P is the more automated solution, the Hottop B gives more control.

      Both products have their pros and cons. Neither product is perfect and neither product is ideal for everyone. Any sensible person with access to the right information will recognise this.

      We sell both the Hottop and the Gene Cafe and Ive used both as a private user before selling either of them. I bought a Gene Cafe on the recommendation of a number whose opinions I respect, but ultimately found my opinions concur with luvacaps as I found the Hottop was superior for my needs in a number of ways. I say for my needs because I say again (if you missed it up there) everyone is different and a Gene Cafe may suit you better. Or it may not. I wrote up my findings at http://www.coffeetamper.com.au/**/reviews/gene-hottop/ if youre interested in having a read on the pros and cons which may help you decide which suits you best.

      You might think Im being a bit pedantic about emphasising that each product has its pros and cons, in fact it might seem like a given. As a general note, you will find a lot of supporters for the Gene Cafe on Coffeesnobs because theyre a good product and theyre well priced. However you will find amongst them a few who pick on the Hottops disadvantages while conveniently overlooking the plethora of benefits of a Hottop - the Pullman site sponsor area has some info on the benefits of a Hottop. Curiously, the knockers have more often than not never actually even used a Hottop, or if they have used one its most likely the older unprogrammable models (model D), not the newer programmable units (models B and P). Many criticisms of the unprogrammable Hottops from 2005 get regurgitated ad infinitum and unfairly applied to the current programmable Hottops which employ an entirely different control system so make sure you know the information source. Or they just happen to not sell Hottops so criticise the competition.

      I dont seek to tar all Gene fans with one brush as the majority do the right thing; but just be aware you may occasionally come across a somewhat imbalanced opinion.

      As sellers of both the Hottop and Gene Cafe who achieve similar profits on both, we can offer truly unbiased advice without any need to push someone in one direction or another. For what its worth, on receiving the facts the vast majority of our customers have chosen to go with a Hottop, but again I state this does not necessarily mean it is the right solution for your needs.

      Do your homework and decide which is the best solution for your needs without being distracted by smokescreens.

      Greg

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Gene Café

        Hi

        Sorry to confuse the issue here but the Gene build quality is not lower than the Hottop. Both are well built. The Hottop has more metal, the Gene uses a high temperature matt black plastic. All the parts fit well and it performs nicely.

        I suspect the some of the difference between the Hottop price and the Gene price is the Korean money to the US dollar. The sponsors here would know more.

        Both machines roast well as can be found by browsing the posts on this forum. Best would be to speak to a sponsor and better still to have a look at both if you are near a sponsor that sells both. You will be happy with whatever you get.

        Mike

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Gene Café

          thanks for the review it was great although l thought it favoured the hottop,but stated the facts on both.How do the gas roasters compare particulary the green bean one.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Gene Café

            Originally posted by 637661616A6661040 link=1243225363/4#4 date=1243239400
            How do the gas roasters compare particulary the green bean one.

            Ooh, now youre in a very different league, price wise to say the least!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Gene Café

              Originally posted by 4D584F4F44484F2A0 link=1243225363/4#4 date=1243239400
              thanks for the review it was great although l thought it favoured the hottop,but stated the facts on both.How do the gas roasters compare particulary the green bean one.
              They compare in that you had better have at least $10k burning a hole in your pocket to get anything worth thinking about

              2mcm

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Gene Café

                Hurry up there is on in the FOR SALE SECTION !!!!!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Gene Café

                  Originally posted by 425740404B4740250 link=1243225363/4#4 date=1243239400
                  thanks for the review it was great although l thought it favoured the hottop,but stated the facts on both.How do the gas roasters compare particulary the green bean one.
                  If stating that one product performs better than another means the review favours that product then I stand guilty as charged. : I thought identifying the good and bad points of comparable products was the whole point of doing a review :-?

                  speleomike: Id agree the Gene isnt poorly built. In fact theres a whole paragraph in that review which criticises the fit and finish of the Hottop (so how is that favouring the Hottop, I ask... :-?). I guess build materials would have been a more accurate term for luvacap to use - the Gene gives the impression of inferior construction because its plastic, not metal, and the drum being glass is more liable to break when handling it than the Hottops which is all metal; plastic is still plastic and metal is still metal, but the way those plastic parts fit together on the Gene is nicer than the metal parts on the Hottop. Id like to see a few gaskets employed on the Hottop to seal things up a bit better. Having said all that, neither of these points add to or detract from the quality of the coffee the roasters produce.

                  There are sure folks who have both and are happy here on CS. I guess in anyones terms $700-$1500 is not a trivial spend so its worth doing ones homework because there are differences and just because someone else finds roaster X suits their needs may not automatically mean it will suit yours.

                  Greg

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Gene Café

                    Originally posted by 55525659515B4E5E5950370 link=1243225363/7#7 date=1243252380
                    Hurry up there is on in the FOR SALE SECTION !!!!!
                    Not any more! Ill be joining the ranks of Gene owners very soon.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Gene Café

                      Originally posted by 3138233A313C34590 link=1243225363/9#9 date=1243372699
                      Ill be joining the ranks of Gene owners very soon
                      I thought you werent interested in roasting, preferring to leave it to the experts? Well welcome to the "Dark Side" (but definitely not more than CS11 ).

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Gene Café

                        l thought the greenbean company did a 500g gas roaster for about $3000.Has anyone used one of these machines.l spoke to a lady who owned a cafe in the Blue Mountains who had one .She seemed pleased with although l did note she also liked her beans a bit over roasted.By the way l thought the review on the gene and hottop was very informative thankyou.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Gene Café

                          Originally posted by 61746363686463060 link=1243225363/11#11 date=1243376086
                          l thought the greenbean company did a 500g gas roaster for about $3000.Has anyone used one of these machines.l spoke to a lady who owned a cafe in the Blue Mountains who had one .She seemed pleased with although l did note she also liked her beans a bit over roasted.By the way l thought the review on the gene and hottop was very informative thankyou.
                          Dunno if Im missing something, but I see green bean, I see big popper- and the day wil come when you desire more control... :-?

                          FWIW, I reckon youd be better off with 2 x Gene or Hottop...

                          2mcm

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Gene Café

                            Originally posted by 697C6B6B606C6B0E0 link=1243225363/11#11 date=1243376086
                            l thought the greenbean company did a 500g gas roaster for about $3000
                            Actually its a 600gm roaster and I think its $8k+. They recently added a 1.2kg to the range and no idea how much that costs. Theyre a fluid bed roaster and as the roast progresses, the beans spend quite a bit of time suspended in hot air.

                            I had the opportunity to try one out a few months ago and theyre certainly well built and produce a nice roast, BUT, control is minimal, ie. pick a number between 1-5, 5 being the darkest, and it does the rest.

                            My feeling is that roasts from the gene are comparable.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Gene Café

                              I spoke to those guys at Cafe Biz.

                              The 1.2kg was $7.4k plus gst and the 600gm was $5.8k plus gst from memory. Andy said they had moved their price down substantially.

                              Dennis is right, no programming allowed apart from setting final destination.

                              And as Andy said that day and 2mcm says here - its an overgrown popper...

                              Thats a whole lotta cash for a popper...

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