Jen Apodaca: How to Improve Your Roasting Skills
Jen Apodaca has been pushing the roasting industry forwards for nearly 13 years. And now she’s agreed to talk with me about the different ways...
Roasting Fundamentals
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Recent Articles
August 25, 2025More roasters are rebranding than ever before – but it's easier said than done
August 6, 2025Roasters raise prices again, but things are different now
June 30, 2025Should coffee roasters sacrifice margins or increase prices?
June 24, 2025How to transition from small-batch to large-scale coffee roasting
May 21, 2025Roasters are now thinking twice before scaling operations
June 25, 2026
A guide to preventive maintenance for coffee roasters
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes Key takeaways Preventive maintenance protects roasting equipment and prevents costly, unplanned failures. Chaff removal after every session is a non-negotiable safety task. Modern roasting machines now flag anomalies and automatically prompt maintenance tasks. Detailed maintenance logs help roasters track issues and protect equipment in the long term. For coffee roasters, machines are the engines of their businesses. When equipment underperforms or fails without warning, the… read more
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes Key takeaways Preventive maintenance protects roasting equipment and prevents costly, unplanned failures. Chaff removal after every session is a non-negotiable safety task. Modern roasting machines now flag anomalies and automatically prompt maintenance tasks. Detailed maintenance… read more
Buyer Insight: How to Deal With Green Bean Defects
Quality control starts at the farm but it finishes with the barista or roaster. And checking for green bean defects is an important part of...
What Do Competitions Mean For Small Roasters?
Another year, another opportunity to participate in coffee competitions. But for small roasters, how much value do roasting competitions actually add? We spoke to two...
7 Green Bean Defects Roasters & Producers Need to Recognise
The SCAA state that specialty green beans can have no more than 5 full defects in 350 grams of coffee – and no primary defects...
Roaster Insight: How to Source Coffees & Create Varied Offerings
How do you start your own roastery? Build meaningful relationships with producers? And create a variety of coffees that will excite your buyers? Jared Linzmeier...
How to Successfully Launch an Online Specialty Coffee Shop
Selling online is an excellent way to increase your income and reach new audiences. Global e-commerce sales are set to exceed 3.5 trillion USD by...
Should More Roasters Do International Apprenticeships?
I’m currently working in a roastery in Medellin, Colombia. But I’m not from Medellin, nor am I planning to stay here. You see, I’m here...
Coffee Education: How Do You Pick a Course?
Coffee education offers so many benefits, from career progression and job satisfaction to just a deeper understanding and appreciation of our favourite beverage. Hobbyists and...
Micro Festival El Salvador: We Need Events in Producing Countries
Our industry is driven by the people in it. And it only gets better when we connect. That’s why so coffee festivals are the starting...
Smoking Hot: Why Is The Korean Home Roasting Scene Taking Off?
Between 2007 and 2013, the Korean coffee market grew by nearly 300%, and the number of coffee shops grew by 680% (according to World Coffee...
Roaster Legends: Introducing the New European Roasting Competition
There’s a reason premium micro lots do so well in competitions. They’re sensational. They prove that coffee is as a specialty product that deserves respect....
James Tooill: I Competed in the Brewers Cup to Be a Better Roaster
If you’re going to spend hours preparing for and then competing in the Brewers Cup, not just once but three times, it’s probably because brewing...
5 Reasons Roasters Should Shadow a Barista
PDG previously published an article about why baristas should shadow roasters. My first reaction? That’s great, but roasters also need to shadow baristas. Over the...
Interview: Can Education-Focused Green Coffee Demystify Roasting?
Richard Sandlin is passionate about coffee education – so passionate, in fact, that he’s become a part of Royal Coffee’s education center, The Crown. Together with...
Omni Roast: Is There One Roast to Rule Them All?
Roasting sets the stage for eye-opening coffee experiences. After all, no amount of brewing technique can salvage a poorly roasted coffee. But do we need...
Rural Roaster: Can You Learn How to Roast Coffee ONLINE?
I learned how to roast when I moved to Iowa, a rural state in “flyover country” – a place you fly over, not to. Iowa’s...