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Instant Brewesta
This small fluid-bed appliance is one efficient; easy to use coffee bean roaster. You pour your Tolima Colombian green beans into the 43cc scoop twice, spilling them into the small roasting chamber. Plug it in. Turn the timer knob to seven minutes and that's it. A stream of hot air does the rest. It's virtually silent, emanates a nice rich smell and it's smoke-free--if you put the chaff collectors & the roast chamber into the dishwasher after each roasting project. The green beans slowly turn kaki, then light brown and finally (after the second crack) a dark shiny brown. Pour dem roasted coffee beans into the grinder cup of your automatic grind and brew coffee maker--pour in twelve cups of filtered water--set the timer--and it's incredibly fresh coffee in the morning! Too simple!
[Tuesday, June 17, 2008]
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Great when it works
I purchased this roaster, the FreshRoast Plus, a little over a year ago. In that year I used it roughly every two days and after a bit of a rough start had no problem getting just the roast I wanted. Thats not to say that you can just turn the dial and get the same roast each time. Slightly different amounts of beans or different types could require 2 to 3 minutes less to roast often because the first crack was so exothermic that it caused a very rapid second crack. Still, with some experience and good timing the variables were easy to adjust for.
Unfortunately, just days after the 1 year warranty expired, the fan on the roaster started making strange noises and a couple roasts later a small flame shot through the center of the roaster. Only being able to get a year's worth of roasting and risking a major fire in the process more than outweigh the initial savings. I have since bought an I-Roast as a replacement. It roasts more at one shot but is much louder and smokier.
[Thursday, February 16, 2006]
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Fun and easy to use.
I love coffee and view my obsession as a hobby. Roasting ones own beans is almost an essential activity for one to be consider a coffee snob (or hobbyist). The FreshRoast plus 8 was a cost-effective way to proceed with my hobby.
After an experience in Peru roasting my own beans over a fire (poor results) I knew that good results would require a coffee roaster. I have friends who have tried using an air popper and the oven to roast green beans, with results mimicking my "open fire" experience.
The FreshRoast plus 8 is as close to being ready to use "out of the box" as possible. Using the supplied Sumatra beans, a six minute roast produced A) More smell than smoke B) a good "French press" roast. I was please with my first pot, although the first go-round only netted 32 oz. of coffee, not 48-60. This may be a reflection of taste on my part.
Adding a minute produced a darker roast with a slightly oily bean. I ground this into espresso. Excellent results. It is really hard to "mess up."
Observations: Coffee will need to be roasted outside. Even roasting under the kitchen exhaust fan failed to "clear the air" with my non-coffee drinking wife. On the bright side, clean up is easy, the cats enjoy watching the beans "bounce" while roasting and the smell is intoxicating for a coffee lover.
[Tuesday, January 03, 2006]
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