Flavour notes that were once prominent are now full in your face (so to speak) To give you some idea about the varying degree of technology involved between the two roasters and without getting into too much detail I would compare the Probat to say a Morris Minor and the Loring to the latest Mclaren.
In fact there is little comparison between the two, totally different technologies, even the computer control interface and touch screen is something you would only expect to see on the much larger plant roasters. Even only after roasting a couple of days on the Loring we already get the feeling how did we produce the quality we did. However, the quality of the coffee we are now producing because of the investment in the Loring is in a different league altogether. Enough waffling - let me try to explain – we roasted our Rwanda Kopakama both on the Probat and on the Loring to the same roast profile, we cupped the coffees side by side this morning and we could have been drinking two different Rwandans.
The Rwanda roasted in the Loring was crisper and had a wider (longer) sweet spot, very sweet. The cup was crisper which brought about a very convincing clarity, beautifully clean in the mouth – in basic terms the base notes of the coffee are brought to the fore and the sub notes of the coffee could be found layered through the cup with no distractions matting / mingling them together - an altogether brighter and more pronounced cup over the roast on the Probat. We are so pleased.
So why the big difference – well, it is due to that technology I mentioned in my crude comparison earlier. This refers to the fact that the burner is part of the roast system and not detached and thus any smoke produced during the roast is instantaneously vaporised in the burner which can reach temperatures of 1000 degrees centigrade. This coupled with the fact that the roasting chamber is pressurized with low oxygen which makes oxidisation during the roast null and void. We also cupped a Kenyan this morning where the base note is grapefruit and the coffee had been elevated to another level – such sweetness and so much fruit, cupping the coffee cold could have tricked you into thinking you were drinking juice.
This coffee is on a completely different level where you discover tastes you never thought possible.