Early on in a friendship with someone I tend to ask or observe the way a person takes their coffee.
I can’t say why, precisely; I guess I just take coffee preparation seriously. (It’s also a good icebreaker if you don’t want to talk about the weather.)
If someone told me in response to that question that they had a $5,600 countertop sample roaster at home that they finished their single-origin beans on …. first I would curtsy, because I’m obviously in the presence of royalty, and then I’d remark on their commitment to the pursuit of perfect roast (it would come across as a joke in person).
The machine, called Røst (roast in Norwegian), purports to be a giant leap in the technology of at-home coffee roasting. It won the Best New Product award at the 2017 World of Coffee event in Budapest. With all manner of new coffee gadgetry on the market, that’s a good bit of credence to that claim. The wifi-enabled device allows you to make profiles for different beans and has the full ventilation specs to ensure an even finish.
Generally I’m skeptical of any coffee apparatus besides a grinder that has to be plugged in. I have a lot bad feelings about Keurigs: the burning smell and robotic gurgling during the brewing, and that’s before you get to the taste (salty plywood sawdust?), an affront to stomach linings everywhere. But considering larger-scale roasters can easily cost $40, 60, 80 grand and up (seriously), this $5K option could be a good buy for a serious hobbyist.
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