In November 2025 a lot of things happened. As well as quitting my corporate job, I ordered a big, state-of-the-art, shiny, new roasting machine.
Not only had we reached a point where our volume required a bigger capacity, I also identified a machine that I believed to be at the forefront of roasting technology and, as a result, expression of flavour.
This machine - whose manufacturer will not be named for reasons to become clear herein - was due to arrive in March of 2026.
Bigger roasters require more room and so the search also began for a commercial premises from which to operate. Ultimately, we moved into a space in March this year and began work provisioning and eagerly awaiting the new machine’s arrival.
March came, and went.
The manufacturer was “waiting for a part” and then “waiting for the factory” and then they ran out of reasons altogether and simply said, “it’s going to be even longer”.
In July the manufacturer defaulted on their own contract.
Since they were based in the EU, the process for getting the deposit back was for from straightforward. However, I’m happy to say that, as of last week (August 2026), the matter is finished.
Fortunately, in the time between July and now I have been able to find, what I believe to be, the most advanced roasting machine on the planet.
The Roest P3000
With 18 sensors, this all-electric machine is an engineering marvel. By controlling the inlet temperature of each roast I have access to unmatched consistency. In addition to this, the amount of data collected from the 18 sensors allows for deep analysis and understanding of each coffee’s roasting journey.
With a modest batch size of 1-3kg, I can give the same care and attention to high-volume cafe coffee as I give to ultra-rare microlots.
Due to a clever “counterflow” system where beans are pushed into the air stream, the roast is a lot quicker than traditional drum roasters, allowing me to roast up to 25kg/hr.
Now, this is still not a large volume roaster by any means.
But here’s the thing.
I don’t want a bigger machine. I want the control I have in a 3kg batch, always.
To borrow a phrase from my time in software and compute infrastructure, instead of scaling vertically - in which larger and larger machines are used - I’ll scale horizontally by adding more of the same.
When the time is right I’ll add another, and another.
The small footprint and modest power requirements make the P3000 the perfect choice for this kind of roasting infrastructure.
For now, I’m very happy with one P3000, I’m in the process of re-profiling all of our coffees and I’m really enjoying it. More importantly everything tastes incredible, and I believe it will get better as I learn more about this amazing roaster.
The stoics say “amor fati” which means to love our fate, I can honestly say that in this instance, I do.
Stay tuned for more updates about our new location, all will be revealed soon…
