6 reasons why Matt Winton roasted on ROEST for the World Stage
Roasting your own coffee for competitions can be a thrilling experience, and a perfect opportunity to develop and finesse your roasting skills. However, it is also an essential part to learn and understand inside out. You will need to create a perfect roast profile and deliver a consistent roast throughout the whole process.
Now, how can we make this process easier? Matt Winton’s solution was to acquire a ROEST Sample Roaster to stand by his side when preparing for competitions. Thereafter, Matt and his team created a beautiful blend with the help of ROEST that earned him the title of the 2021 World Brewers Cup Champion!
In this blog post, we will share the reasons why Matt decided to use ROEST for the World Stage. Exactly how can ROEST be of assistance in these competitions?
1. 100 grams - the perfect batch size
Prior to sample roasting, Matt’s experience mainly consisted of production roasting. In order to save time, costs and increase efficiency, he realized that he would need another solution for competitions, and decided to take a chance on the ROEST Sample Roaster. With a capacity of 50-120 grams, he would be able to make the most out of every single lot.
“When we're getting coffees for competition, it's not always the largest lots that we get. So it's nice to have the ability to roast smaller batch sizes. Around 100 grams is perfect, especially for Brewer's Cup, where we can get a good amount of brews per roast.” he says.
With ROEST he would also be able to reduce coffee waste. “It’s an optimum batch size that I've come to use, because most of the samples I get are around 100 or 200 grams. So then there's less waste, which is great.”
2. Simple transaction from gas burner to ROEST
Switching from one roaster to another may seem like a complicated process, but rest assured - it might not be as difficult as you think.
“I think coming from larger drum gas roasters where we had these variables of controlling your gas percentage, airflow, RPM, basically the way of thinking of the energy going in terms of a percentage, was similar to ROEST. I could convert it in my head sort of one-to-one,” he says. “I didn't need to overly think and come up with a whole new way of roasting just because I was using a different roaster.”
3. Straightforward - for both the novice and experienced
It took Matt about 2-3 months to completely understand and use ROEST to its full potential. “The learning curve was steep at the start, but then you just keep on learning. It's very intuitive,” he explains.
“It's straightforward. It's just so easy for me to make really tasty coffee. I don't consider myself the best roaster in the world. I think there's plenty of other people out there who have much more experience and understanding than I do, but I’m still able to get a really good result out of it.”
Whether you have roasting experience like Matt or are less experienced, ROEST is made easy and accessible for anyone despite previous skills. Thanks to smart technology, the passionate coffee novice can begin roasting automatically with Pre-set Profiles and First Crack Detection, and achieve a delicious cup of high quality coffee. And for the ones ready to explore manually - you are in for a treat with lots of variables to play around with!
4. Easy to bring, easy to set-up
Another perk of having a small-sized sample roaster? You can bring it wherever you want!
Matt can simply pack the Sample Roaster in the ROEST Peli Case and take it with him to his next competition or wherever else he’s flying off to. The padded interior features individual cut-outs for the Sample Roaster and equipment, keeping everything organized and safely stored the entire time he’s on the move.
“I'm able to bring it and set it up basically wherever I am - exhaust out the window, plug it in, connect online and just roast.” he says.
5. Consistency and repeatability
By using ROEST, Matt could ensure consistent, repeatable roasting. “The repeatability is really great and the speed is a lot faster than other roasters that I would have roasted with.” he tells us.
The ability to reliably reproduce the same flavor profiles is crucial in competitions. It can also be seen as a great challenge. Nevertheless, with ROEST’s digital precision, Matt could easily repeat the roast and avoid environmental variables and human error.
6. Features and sensors
ROEST makes it effortless to experiment by providing the ability to adjust different factors and manipulate the innate flavor locked within the green coffee.
“A machine like ROEST brings out a lot of variables to play with. In terms of having the green product, being able to give a roasted product, and then unlock them further through the brewing. We're able to tweak and see, for example, if I need to push the development a little bit further, a little bit less, bring out more brightness or want more body. With the ROEST, we're able to manipulate all of those factors.” he says.
Furthermore, all the adjustable parameters available on ROEST open up the opportunity to roast various types of coffees and obtain the desired flavor profile.
“I've got so many different types of coffees that I like to enjoy. Everything from mega fermenty naturally processed experimental lots all the way through classic clean coffees, some commodity coffee, some robusta, some everything - and I have the ability to roast everything how I want it.”
To sum up, Matt Winton decided to use ROEST due to its optimal batch size, straightforward roasting, various features and sensors, waste reduction, travel-friendliness and consistency.
Matt, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to have a chat. It’s been two great years working with you, and we look forward to another year together in 2022!