The voice of coffee
At ROEST we focus on smart solutions to improve the coffee experience. From the consistency in roasting, to the evaluation of the cup, and bringing the quality of your coffee.
Our latest feature will turn your sample roaster into a coffee lab assistant. Then you can focus on what really matters: bringing the best quality coffee to your customers.
We are introducing a new feature:
FIRST CRACK DETECTION
THE VOICE OF COFFEE
“Imagine that the roaster would be able to listen to the coffee and
recognize the first crack.”
From 2016 to 2018, we collaborated with two students at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) who experimented with different sensors and algorithms for first crack detection. The result was so good that we decided to take the project to the next level. We signed a development agreement with The University of Austin in Texas in June 2019, and engaged an expert in the field. After a few weeks, we had a prototype up and running. Even after analyzing only a few roasts, we got a very successful hit rate. Since then, we have been working on perfecting the electronics and the algorithms.
LESS MISTAKES, MORE CONSISTENCY
Since different coffees need different development times, we are today dependent on a human to determine when the roasting process is finished. Most of our customers do this by listening for the first crack, registering the first crack, and then letting the roaster finish the roast based on a pre-set development time. With our new technology, this is not needed: the roaster can do this on it’s own.
People make mistakes. No person is consistent. “When I’m roasting, I’m certain about recognizing the first crack and pressing the button after a certain amount of time. The process of the first crack is not rhythmical. You can catch the crack of one bean and another bean, then someone pushes the button. When I’m roasting, I wait for the rush of the first cracks, that is when the beans start to develop. If everyone who’s roasting will start counting development time at various times, we will have very different results,” explains Kaya Carreta, Quality & Lab Manager at Nordic Approach.
No person thinks the same or acts the same in the same situation. You will always get different results from the same recipe. This is what The First Crack Detection solves. To unleash the full potential, we had to remove the human inconsistency. That’s the great value coming from the technology.
How can you go back and be sure that the first crack was marked correctly?
First crack is on most roasting software a mark on a graph. How can you then go back and be sure that it was marked correctly? Impossible, unless you have the data. Compare the two graphs below and you will see that the graph with first crack registered is clearly much easier to analyze both during roasting and after.
Research and Data Collection
As a roaster, you now have the chance to see the intensity of the first cracks, also known as crack rate. You can also see how the crack rate is changing with different profiles. It can give more value both during and after roasting. We hope to unlock a new way of understanding different coffees and roasting profiles. The final question remains; “What can we learn about the coffee from the behaviour of the first crack?”
ready TO PURCHASE
All roasters with serial number starting on P11 and above are compatible. Installing the hardware is easily done in a few minutes. Tools will be included.
Read more about it here.