Hearthware i-Roast 2 Full Review

Rating:

Like many lovers of the bean I lived my life thinking that ground coffee beans were the closest I could get to freshly picked coffee.

The Hearthware i-Roast 2 personal coffee bean roaster has changed my entire outlook on what is fresh coffee. When Brotherhood of the Bean was approached to review the i-Roast 2 personal coffee bean roaster I readily accepted the invitation. What coffee loving person could pass up the opportunity to be like Juan Valdez and roast his/her own coffee?

After accepting the offer to review this product I set out to buy some green coffee beans for roasting. Initial calls to local grocery stores proved unsuccessful. I was told that some Whole Foods stores carried green coffee. But as luck would have it, two bags of South American Bolivian Organic Typica coffee beans (GCB-5000) from Hearthware were included with the review unit.

A second pound of green coffee beans was purchased from Sweet Maria’s (Hawaii Kona – Kowali Farm Typica) to test the i-Roast 2 with coffee from another region. A full review of Sweet Maria’s site and the Kona coffee purchased will be posted at a later date.

The i-Roast 2 stands slightly smaller than a typical automatic coffee machine. It consists of a power base, a glass roasting pot and a chaff collector lid. The unit ships with an optional smoke vent attachment that can be connected to a 4” dryer hose.

I have to admit to being a bit leery of the smoke vent attachment. Visions of smoke billowing out of the unit coupled with the fact that green coffee beans have a unique smell (I found it a bit unpleasant) had me a bit worried, so my initial tests were completed in an area other than my house.

After performing a number of roastings I have yet to see any smoke. The unit roasts the beans with hot air that is vented out of the top of the roaster. The smell that quickly inundates the area you roast the beans is intoxicating to say the least. The smell is what every coffee house should smell like.

What surprised me most was the time needed to roast the coffee beans in the i-Roast 2. The maximum roasting time of the unit is 15 minutes. The i-Roast 2 cooks the beans in three phases. At any point during the roasting process additional time can be added. In addition the cooldown phase can be immediately started.

For those wanting to roasting right away, the i-Roast 2 comes with two built in roasting presets (for light and dark roast). Preset 1 cooks the beans at 450 degrees for all three phases for a total cook time of ten minutes. Preset 2 starts the roasting process at 455 degrees (6min), then steps down to 400 degrees (4min), and finally to 435 degrees (1.5min).

It should be noted that preset 1 should only use 80g of coffee for the roasting process. For those without a scale, that equates to .348 cups of coffee. The manual included with the unit tested appears to have been from an earlier printing, as this information was hand written in the manual.

Something you should know is that the unit is loud when it operates. I would have to say that it is about as loud as a shop vac. To Hearthware’s credit they do reference this fact in their documentation.

Coffee roasted can be enjoyed right away, however the manual recommends that beans be allowed to sit for 24 hours before use. In all of my testing I immediately bagged the beans in airtight Ziploc bags and allowed let them sit for 24 hours before use.

One of the most interesting features of this unit is the chaff collector in the lid of glass roasting pot. The chaff collector consists of a solid top with sides made out of a metal screen. It sits on top of the lid and is held on place by a locking lid.

As the coffee beans are roasted they “pop” and shed a thin skin, or chaff. The best way to describe the chaff is that it is like the skin you find on shelled peanuts. As my initial beans roasted I began to see chaff bouncing around inside the roasting pot.

During the roasting process the i-Roast 2 blows air up through the center of the roaster, this causes the beans underneath he blower to fly up and back down into the chamber. This constant motion allows the beans to uniformly roast and makes the beans in the pot appear to be constantly moving down.

When the roasting process completes and the cool-down phase begins the i-Roast 2 blower increases in speed. This forces the beans and chaff up at a much faster rate. The heavier beans fall to the pot, the lighter chaff gets caught in the metal mesh of the collector. The collector does an excellent job of collecting the chaff.

I would have to say that I found the i-Roast 2 coffee roaster to be a very well designed, option rich and easy to use unit. That being said, it all comes down to the coffee now doesn’t it? How did it taste, what was it like?

The Taste Tests

As mentioned earlier brewing were done of both the Bolivian and Kona beans using presets one and two for a total of four batches of coffee beans. Each batch was tested with a French press and automatic drip coffee maker.

To test the coffee I decided to enlist the help of several co-workers. We started with the French press. Brew time in the press was approximately 6-8 minutes and both produced a rich ebony colored coffee. I prefer the French press because I feel it extracts more of the essential oils in the coffee and this could be seen on the surface of each brewing.

The Bolivian coffee beans (light preset) was tested first. The taste was smooth and silky, noticeably missing was the bitterness and slight acidic bite I find most store bought beans to have. The press was quickly emptied. Brewing of the dark roast in the press provided a stronger coffee taste while still keeping the bitterness to the absolute minimum.

By this point in the process we were all bouncing off the walls from the caffeine. Bare in mind that we drink a significant amount of coffee and have grown largely immune to the effects of caffeine.

Later that afternoon we decided to give the automatic drip coffee machine a try. Slightly more coffee than normal was added to the filter. Our initial test of the light roast produced a pot of coffee that was weak and lacking in taste. We decided to move onto the dark roast.

While the dark roast was better than the light roast in color and taste, it was still lacking in color and taste. Slightly disturbed by these results, a review was done of the i-Roast 2 documentation. It was at that point that I discovered a notation regarding the amount of coffee to use on the dark roast setting. As it would turn out I had used a half cup of coffee when I should have only used 80g (.348 cup). So I set out to roast the Kona beans using preset one (with the correct amount of beans) along with a batch using preset two.

Given that the Kona beans cost sixteen dollars for a pound I decided to use the French press at work, and my personal coffee maker at home. The French press again came through with flying colors. Let me say this – this was the best coffee I have ever had in my life. Both the light and dark brewing produced coffee that was smooth and silky with a full aroma and body. The dark roast gave the slightly fuller body that I would expect out of a dark roast.

I could not be happier with the results that the i-Roast 2 gave me with the French press. The lower amount of beans used with the dark roast made a significant impact on the taste of the dark roast in the French press. But how would it stand up to my automatic drip?

Grinding the beans I was unsure what to expect from my Braun coffee machine, I was anxious to see how the dark roast would perform. As the Braun began to steam and drip I waited in anticipation.

I am happy to report that the pot of coffee produced had a rich dark amber appearance and the smooth taste I had experienced the previous day with my French press. The light brew produced a pot of coffee of slightly less intensity and color. While acceptable, I prefer my coffee to be a little darker and stronger.

Which raises an excellent point – the i-Roast 2 gives you the flexibility to tailor your roasting to “your” specific likes. And it should be noted that different beans from different regions could very well produce different results.

The point being that if a preset does not give you the results you want, experimentation with roasting times and temperatures are sure to give you the results you want. The i-Roast 2 can record up to 10 custom presets that can be stored and retrieved easily to give you roasting flexibility beyond the presets included with the shipped unit.

In conclusion I am very happy with the Hearthware i-Roast 2 coffee roaster. It has opened a new world of coffee to me and is fun to use. It has produced excellent results in the French press and adequate results in the automatic drip (I am confident that with further testing of roasting temperatures and times I could produce the exact results I am looking for in the automatic drip coffee machine). This unit sells for approximately $179.00 and would make a great addition to any coffee aficionado’s kitchen.

I would like to thank Field & Associates for the opportunity to review this fine product.