#probat roaster

Probat Tribute (more photos)

Here is my tribute post to Probat coffee roasting machines, on which some of the best coffee I have ever had has been roasted. From the many coffee roasters in Central Europe I saw using them, to some of my favorites in the Southwest and Wisconsin. From the to the oldest vintage Probat I have ever seen at Kickapoo Coffee, to the newest machines at Luna Coffee Roasters and Coffeeville, and the in-between Probats at Ritual Coffee Roasters, Ruby Colorful Coffee, and JBC Coffee. I also offer this post as a tribute to the Probat roasters I have yet to see as I explore the 3rd-Wave of coffee, like the one at Kin Kin Coffee in Madison.

In coffee specialty coffee industry, I have often heard Probats referred to as a fine piece of German engineering, the Mercedes-Benz of coffee roasting machines.

Public Cupping @ Kickapoo Coffee Roastery (more photos)

Was able to attend the 01/19/17 public cupping at Kickapoo Coffee Roastery in Viroque, Wisconsin. The event started out with a nice introduction to coffee, which included emphasis on Kickapoo’s core values of sourcing high quality fair trade and organic coffee. This presentation was followed by a tour of the roasting area which houses their vintage 1930s Probat coffee roasting machine, as well as their green coffee climate controlled storage area and innovative silo system. The event ended with an introduction to cupping, where nice samples of Kickapoo’s coffees were presented.

Over 30 people turned out, from as far away as Minneapolis and Milwaukee, all of which seemed highly interested in learning more about coffee and had a great love for Kickapoo Coffee.

Although I have been to a number of similar public cupping and educational events, I was impressed with the breath of information shared, as well as the passion for coffee of the presenters. It seemed to me that these are people who are more than just good at their job, but actually love coffee and care about their craft. I was also impressed with the number of questions asked by those attending, as well as the depth of their questions.

What was most exciting to hear about at this public cupping, was Kickapoo’s plans to install a second vintage Probat roaster and the progress on opening their coffeehouse in Viraqua. Hope to be able to make another trip up in April to blog about both of these major developments for Kickapoo.

SCAA Roaster Level 1 (more photos)

Although I have training and experiencing in the coffee industry, for some time now I have been wanting to jump into the SCAA's Educational Pathways program to broaden my education. Had been watching with interest the recently SCAA certified Royal Coffee and Topeca training labs and liking much of what I was seeing and hearing about them, as well as some of the more established SCAA campuses.

However, I had a while back I had read about the Probat Burns training lab on the Daily Coffee News and how they were seeking SCAA certification, so I thought I would wait for that to happen. In early December I noticed that this happened so I asked some friends in the coffee industry about Firedancer and Mike Ebert who provide the education. All the responses came back extremely positive, so I signed up for my first SCAA Pathway.

Here is what I experienced...

(1) The coffee training lab at Probat Burns is one of the best roasting and tasting labs I have never seen, even surpassing what I saw at Kickapoo's lab. Probat is using the top of the line La Marzocco espresso machines and Mahlkonig grinders and have a well supplied set of cupping and brew bar devices to practice on. They also have a wide range of scientific testing devices to measure the weight, volume, mustered, and color of the green and roasted coffee. Best of all, they have the Probat sample roasters, 1kg Probatino, and the 12kg Probat P12/2 to practice roast on.

There were only two things I wish they had. The first being the recently released Probat Color Analyzer (the Colorette 4) and something like the Modbar Pour-Over System. Both of these items would have enhanced the class experience.

(2) Firedancer via Mike Ebert did an amazing job teaching the classes. He has such broad experience in the specialty coffee industry and a wonderfully balanced view on many issues. In the classroom, he encourages healthy dialog between opposing points of view, which keeps things lively. Mike's knowledge of the history of coffee and every stage of the coffee chain is impressive. Likewise, he is good at coaching students and helping them develop roasting and brewing skills.

If your crew needs barista or roasting training or if you need consulting work on your coffee business, I would highly recommend Firedancer as a solution.

(3) The SCAA curriculum used was well develop and covered all the foundational issues in coffee roasting, as well as all the major and minor areas of skill development. However, there are a few area where I think it needs development.

I wish it was organized around real world workflow in the roastery. Walking it from choosing between green samples, dialing in a roast profile that brings out the best of the selected bean, and develops flavor profiles based not only on traditional cupping, but also espresso and brew bar extractions.

Exploring different roast profile software, from what Probat offers to Artisan and Typica, as well as using theses software options on our student projects.

Advanced analytics that bring together the green offer grading, roast profiles, and cupping and tasting flavor profiles so that we an make better business decisions based on number crunching. Without this, all the data collecting we do seems to lack an overall purpose and many will leave he class not knowing why they need to collect all the data in the first place.

Roasting Factory - JBC Coffee Roasters - Madison (more photos)

One of the things I love to see when visiting coffee roasting factories is Probat coffee roasting machines, as these are a fine bit of German engineering. Walking into JBC’s roasting area pleased to see two Probat roasters, one 12kg and the other 25kg. Like Ruby Colorful Coffee and Kickapoo Coffee, who also roast on Probat machines, JBC has modified their Probats to improve temperature profiling, air flow, and gas pressure control. 

Just as with all the best roasters I have seen, including Ruby and Kickapoo, JBC practices small batch computer assisted human contorted roasting. This means that they have better quality control over full automated systems with much larger roasting capacity.

What was most impressive about JBC roasting operation, however, is what takes place before the beans are roasted. Here is where Michael‘s extensive knowledge, experience, and skills come into place. Michael is an absolute perfectionists in sourcing the best green coffee, including traveling the world to visit coffee farms in person, as well as taste testing samples. Sometimes they go through as many 30 samples of coffee from a micro-region before they pick they one they want to roast.

Michael is equally a perfectionist in dialing in the roasting profiles, to find the right setting for the drum speed, heat, and air flow to pull out the beans ideal flavor profile.

The end result of all this expertise and perfectionism at JBC is amazing award winning coffee. Although I have only tried three of their coffees, so far I have been greatly impressed with the quality in the cup. JBC Coffee has quaintly proven itself to me, to be among the best coffee roasters in the Midwest.

On a side note, it is also good to that JBC Coffee is being distributed a cold brew and in a coffee ale. as these are trending ways for the best coffee companies to expand their sales.

Roasting Factory - Ruby Colorful Coffee (more photos)

In terms of roasting equipment, Ruby Coffee is using the smaller Husky and Quest roasters for their lab roasters. For their production roasters they are using a 10kg Samiac and a 25kg Probat. Each of these coffee roasters have a great reputation in the industry, as well as have a vintage look and feel to them.

What makes Ruby Coffee so unique, however, is bean selection philosophy as their entire focus is on highlighting the nuanced flavor of the bean. Their roasts are all lighter, they only offer one blend, and the single origins are all seasonal limited additions from small farms, co-ops, and micro-lots. This stands in direct contrast with many other coffee roasters, that sill make center a majority of their sales from darker roasts, blends, and easily accessable common beans.

More than any other roaster I have encountered in the Midwest, Ruby is fully devoted to the the core values of the 3rd-Wave of coffee movement, in their bean selection and roasting practices.

In terms of buying Ruby Coffee in Wisconsin, besides the ordering from their website or visiting their tasting room, there are a number of coffeehouse in Appleton and Madison that are brewing Ruby and selling their whole beans. All Seasons, Seth’s Coffee and Bakery, Bradbury Coffee, and Field Table are a few examples. In Milwaukee Ruby Coffee as whole beans can be purchased at Beans and Barely on the Eastside.

There are also many coffeehouses and fine restaurants offer Ruby Coffee in 3rd-Wave coffee hot-spots like Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. Contact Ruby Coffee for more information.

… just wanted to end this post by saying that I am so excited to have recently discovered Ruby Colorful coffee, as i am finding that their philosophy of coffee closely matches my own.  I am grateful to have easy access some of the worlds rarest and unique coffees through their roasting business. Looking forward to trying more of their beans at home, in coffeehouses around Wisconsin, and future visits to their tasting room in Nelsonville.

Kickapoo Coffee Roasting Factory - Viroqua, WI  (more photos)

Having fell in love with Kickapoo’s coffee and being impressed with their tasting room, my next stop was their roasting factory area.  

Here they are roasting on a vintage 30-kilo Probat roasting machine, that has been outfitted with newer technologies such as a system for improving air flow in the drum and thermocouples for helping with computerized roast profiling. What I like best about this set up is that, unlike many other coffee roasters, the computer does not control the roaster, but rather assists the roast master to change the settings on the roaster when needed. Keeping an actual professorial manning the machine allows for better quality control over the roast.

This strategy of computer assisted manual roasting allows Kickapoo to legitimately be called an artisan micro-roaster, as apposed to a roaster that lets automation and software control everything.

Other things that impressed me was Kickapoo’s climate contorted green coffee storage area with silo delivery to the roasting room. This helps keep the green coffee from taking on moisture and unwanted aromas, as well as keeps the roasting area better organized and efficient. They are using Probat sample roasters and a javalytics for judging the true color/level of the roast.

In terms of green coffee beans, Kickapoo only buys in the top 14% of quality coffee in the world and is 97% fair trade and/or organic. They are also part of a exclusive co-op of the best specialty coffee roasters in North America, to help give them better access to small and rare coffee farms. Perhaps it is this “farmer focused sourcing” that impresses me the most about Kickapoo. This allows them to work directly with the farmers and select the beans down to the lot and micro-lot. The end result is some of the most amazing coffee on the market.

Visiting Kickapoo Coffee’s roasting factory, learning about how they roast and do business with farmers has given me a greater appreciation for them as a roaster. Just as with Anodyne Coffee and Valentine Coffee, seeing things from from behind the closed doors has made me a believer and highly devoted follower.