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Re: Gene Cafe V Hottop
HotTop “P” Upgrade
I’ll keep this as WIP document as I’ll add some photos and further notes as I become more familiar with it.
A bit about myself and how it relates to coffee.
I’ve only been roasting for 12 months and have absolutely loved it and the additional benefits if has brought to my coffee enjoyment as well as the fun along the way!!
Prior to that it was purchase some “roasted” beans and then grind those......as you all know it doesn’t really matter how fresh they are (bought ones) they always appear to be lacking that “something” which is always present in “roast your own”.
I currently use the HotTop for roasting, Mazza Mini (Great service from Chris) for the espresso machine, a Isomac Gran Macinino for non espresso grinds, MACAP Automatic tamper (Coffe Parts) and an ISOMAC Millenium Single E61 Group HX System.
I have a couple of mods on the Hottop – I use a variac to regulate and stabilise power and have “butchered” it to have a thermocouple inserted which sits nicely inside the roasting bean mass. I’m going to modify it again to have another probe sitting inside the drum measuring environmental drum temperature as the standard Hottop sensor appears to sit half in and half out of the rotating bean mass i.e it measures neither correctly. The thermocouple(s) are connected to a dual recording OMEGA datalogger.
I pretty much keep a record of every roast I do which allows me to “near” replicate roast to roast if I strike something I particularly like or wish to single roast to make an additive blend, or simply, take it to a certain stage or color.
OK – the Hotop “P” Upgrade
1st - Is it worth the US$500 price......well it depends!! (that great get out of goal phrase – can probably tell from that, that I am a computer consultant!!)
Let’s put the Hottop in perspective. It’s NOT a commercial day in day out roaster of “biggish” roast volumes (250-300gms) nor is it really a machine for someone who may roast once a month, unless it’s for convenience i.e simply turn it on and be done. It’s certainly not in the lower price range of the “do it yourself” roasting with a frypan or popper and it is considerably more expensive than the “gene cafe” But then again commercial 1kg machines start at $6K and the sky is the limit. Not only is the $s of concern with commercial roasters, but so to is space, smoke extraction etc.
So this places the HT at the pointy end of “do it yourself” market followed by the great void between 250g and 1kg machines.
So back to the “it depends” answer..........
Personally I find that the upgrade pricing is at the point where you need to consider it closely. For me it was a simple decision as I love to experiment and the upgrade certainly offers additional scope to experiment and does offer the ability to “create your own” profiles based on temperature and air flow Vs previous fixed time based ones.
What I have noticed on the roasts to date is that the HT is now creating tastes and color that I hadn’t been previously getting either as 1 offs or repeat roast and those tastes have definitely been for the better. Another thing I have noticed is that the “created profile” that I initially entered is creating a very noticeable “after effect”. Well 2 after effects actually. The 1st one is that the post roast de-gassing (resting) period to “quality” cupping is much longer than previously. I’m consistently finding the taste profile possible peaks at a post 1 week rest period. The 2nd effect is that while I haven’t taken any of the roasts to 2nd crack, nor even that close actually, is that the dumped beans show NO sign of oil (they do have a sheen but it’s definitely not oil droplets) immediately following the roast BUT oil becomes quite evident after 24-48 hours resting......quite a bit of oil.
The aroma which continually wafts from my bean resting cupboard contains the most intense aromatics of roasted coffee that I have smelt anywhere.
OK – the Upgrade Kit and Installing it.
The kit comes fully boxed, components bubble wrapped, extra screws, new cables etc and a 1st class “How to do it” color manual. To those that have “no idea” for mechanical/electrical things or don’t like tinkering with 240 volts (and you should take 240 volts very seriously as its abuse could be potentially lethal) then the how to manual is for you.......it is a very comprehensive step by step process with checks in place. The only thing I found missing was the step to remove the earth strap prior to breaking the machine into 2.
Both the new processor board and screen are quality products and if you follow the manual you won’t have any problems in safely installing the upgrade.
It takes less than an hour, but as I had the system in pieces I did some poking around to satisfy my curiosity. Found the reason why some earlier posts had water leaking around the rear feet......the initial drying vents the water vapour back through the left hand side of the system which condenses and runs down the side walls and out through the outside of the feet. The residues are not baked on and a damp cloth quickly removes all traces from inside the machine.
My initial impressions are that the upgrade does offer additional flexibility in creating different roast profiles and isn’t simply a gimmic. I personally like what it has added but then anyone considering the upgrade needs to decide for themselves as it isn’t an upgrade that all would want, unless you where in the market for a new roaster.
HotTop “P” Upgrade
I’ll keep this as WIP document as I’ll add some photos and further notes as I become more familiar with it.
A bit about myself and how it relates to coffee.
I’ve only been roasting for 12 months and have absolutely loved it and the additional benefits if has brought to my coffee enjoyment as well as the fun along the way!!
Prior to that it was purchase some “roasted” beans and then grind those......as you all know it doesn’t really matter how fresh they are (bought ones) they always appear to be lacking that “something” which is always present in “roast your own”.
I currently use the HotTop for roasting, Mazza Mini (Great service from Chris) for the espresso machine, a Isomac Gran Macinino for non espresso grinds, MACAP Automatic tamper (Coffe Parts) and an ISOMAC Millenium Single E61 Group HX System.
I have a couple of mods on the Hottop – I use a variac to regulate and stabilise power and have “butchered” it to have a thermocouple inserted which sits nicely inside the roasting bean mass. I’m going to modify it again to have another probe sitting inside the drum measuring environmental drum temperature as the standard Hottop sensor appears to sit half in and half out of the rotating bean mass i.e it measures neither correctly. The thermocouple(s) are connected to a dual recording OMEGA datalogger.
I pretty much keep a record of every roast I do which allows me to “near” replicate roast to roast if I strike something I particularly like or wish to single roast to make an additive blend, or simply, take it to a certain stage or color.
OK – the Hotop “P” Upgrade
1st - Is it worth the US$500 price......well it depends!! (that great get out of goal phrase – can probably tell from that, that I am a computer consultant!!)
Let’s put the Hottop in perspective. It’s NOT a commercial day in day out roaster of “biggish” roast volumes (250-300gms) nor is it really a machine for someone who may roast once a month, unless it’s for convenience i.e simply turn it on and be done. It’s certainly not in the lower price range of the “do it yourself” roasting with a frypan or popper and it is considerably more expensive than the “gene cafe” But then again commercial 1kg machines start at $6K and the sky is the limit. Not only is the $s of concern with commercial roasters, but so to is space, smoke extraction etc.
So this places the HT at the pointy end of “do it yourself” market followed by the great void between 250g and 1kg machines.
So back to the “it depends” answer..........
Personally I find that the upgrade pricing is at the point where you need to consider it closely. For me it was a simple decision as I love to experiment and the upgrade certainly offers additional scope to experiment and does offer the ability to “create your own” profiles based on temperature and air flow Vs previous fixed time based ones.
What I have noticed on the roasts to date is that the HT is now creating tastes and color that I hadn’t been previously getting either as 1 offs or repeat roast and those tastes have definitely been for the better. Another thing I have noticed is that the “created profile” that I initially entered is creating a very noticeable “after effect”. Well 2 after effects actually. The 1st one is that the post roast de-gassing (resting) period to “quality” cupping is much longer than previously. I’m consistently finding the taste profile possible peaks at a post 1 week rest period. The 2nd effect is that while I haven’t taken any of the roasts to 2nd crack, nor even that close actually, is that the dumped beans show NO sign of oil (they do have a sheen but it’s definitely not oil droplets) immediately following the roast BUT oil becomes quite evident after 24-48 hours resting......quite a bit of oil.
The aroma which continually wafts from my bean resting cupboard contains the most intense aromatics of roasted coffee that I have smelt anywhere.
OK – the Upgrade Kit and Installing it.
The kit comes fully boxed, components bubble wrapped, extra screws, new cables etc and a 1st class “How to do it” color manual. To those that have “no idea” for mechanical/electrical things or don’t like tinkering with 240 volts (and you should take 240 volts very seriously as its abuse could be potentially lethal) then the how to manual is for you.......it is a very comprehensive step by step process with checks in place. The only thing I found missing was the step to remove the earth strap prior to breaking the machine into 2.
Both the new processor board and screen are quality products and if you follow the manual you won’t have any problems in safely installing the upgrade.
It takes less than an hour, but as I had the system in pieces I did some poking around to satisfy my curiosity. Found the reason why some earlier posts had water leaking around the rear feet......the initial drying vents the water vapour back through the left hand side of the system which condenses and runs down the side walls and out through the outside of the feet. The residues are not baked on and a damp cloth quickly removes all traces from inside the machine.
My initial impressions are that the upgrade does offer additional flexibility in creating different roast profiles and isn’t simply a gimmic. I personally like what it has added but then anyone considering the upgrade needs to decide for themselves as it isn’t an upgrade that all would want, unless you where in the market for a new roaster.
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