This roasting machine created by William Edison (28) and sold for of Rp. 7,5 million can be a doorway to new roasters or anyone who wants to learn how to roast coffee. During a Q Grader event in Bali, I was already offered by William to see how this machine worked, but due to a tight schedule, my friends and I was only able to see it demonstrated last Saturday (11 February 2012). If you’re reading this article because you’re tempted by the title alone, by now you’re probably wondering how this relatively affordable machine works.

With or Without Electricity.

With the capacity of one kilogram, this roasting machine is equipped with a stainless steel drum with several features, such as flame control, drum temperature indicator and coffee bean temperature indicator; using gas as its energy and electricity to drive the 125 watt dynamo. For those of you who have problems with unstable electricity source, you can rotate the drum manually as it’s equipped with a wrench. So if you’re halfway roasting and a blackout occurs, you only have to attach the lever to continue rotating the drum.

A Coffee Roasting Machine Doesn’t Need to Be Expensive.

Back when he was still pursuing his education at Sekolah Tinggi Manajemen Informatika dan Teknik Komputer Bali (Bali Academy of Information Management and Computer Engineering),  William already worked part time as a tour guide to Kopi Bali factory (Owned by Wirawan Tjahjadi) for five years, to 2008. After finishing his degree in Computer Engineering, he worked for a Taiwanese company that specialized in exporting Toraja coffee which assigned him to travel back and forth to Toraja – one of the coffee producing regions in East Indonesia.

He became gradually interested to develop his own specialty coffee, and he started to feel the need for a roasting machine. However, he felt hesitant to purchase one – as with prices that range from tens to hundreds of million rupiah, it was a difficult decision to make. Reminded of one of his cousins who was self-employed and worked in the machinery industry in Johor, Malaysia, he proposed in creating a simple roasting machine using local materials (except for the motor) to reduce cost.

Ten Units To Produce Each Month

The first prototype was tested in the beginning of 2011, however, it needed a lot of adjustments, and the one that he finally brought home was the last modified version with a renewed design and worthy to be introduced to potential buyers.

Up to now, customers from all over Indonesia, including Takengon, Aceh, have ordered his roasting machines, and it is expected that the monthly production can reach up to 10 units. According to William, there hasn’t been any serious complaints from his buyers and overall they are pretty satisfied with the machines’ performance.

How It Works

Heating up only takes 10-15 minutes and William suggests using high-pressured gas regulator so the roasting time can last for around 20 minutes or so. Even though the drum’s stainless surface are ventilated with small pits, he guarantees that the coffee will not have direct contact with the flame, which is why he calls it the semi hot air system.

Image 1: High-pressured Gas

To make sure the roasting process takes place with the recommended time (16-20 minutes), a high-pressured gas regulator needs to be used.

We tested the capability of this machine, which drum has the maximum capacity of 1,2 kg. Right from the time the flame was turned on, the temperature rises up until the drum reaches 160°C within 10 minutes. Half a kilogram of raw Toraja coffee beans were placed inside the drum, which made the temperature drop to 120°C. Unfortunately, the wind was pretty strong that day, so the drum’s heating was a little bit difficult to control, due to unstable flame position. Around 18 minutes – or 2 minutes after the first crack was heard – the coffee was taken out and the color was not yet uniformed.

The next trial went on much smoother without any wind disturbance, and the roasting result looked pretty uniformed when the second crack was heard, and the coffee was taken out immediately. Unlike commercial roasting machine, there was agitator (roasting result knob), so you must cool your coffee manually. Duration: 18 minutes.

From William’s experience, it takes a bit of a learning curve to recognize the characteristics of his roasting machine, but it shouldn’t be difficult. It only takes a couple of roasting trials and it’s hoped that the users can understand the machine’s characteristic, especially when it comes to temperature adjusting.

I waited for several days to enjoy the result of the roasted Toraja coffee and I have to say that in terms of taste, it was quite satisfactory. Even more so when my fellow roasters told me that Toraja coffee is a bit tricky to roast when compared to coffee from other regions. Nevertheless, my tastebud thinks that it was a decent coffee to enjoy and I finished it to the very last drop.

Image 2: Roasting Result. As you see, for a roasting machine in the seven million range, it’s quite satisfactory. I’ve tasted the Toraja coffee roasted from this machine and frankly speaking, it’s pretty decent.

I’m glad I’ve met people like William Edison, who not only thinks about business per se, but he also thinks about the needs of future roasters, or even small coffee shop owners who probably want to roast their own coffee but are unable to, due to the highly-priced roasting machines that are currently offered. For further information, you can contact William – who resides in Bali – at 0812 36395588.

* * * *

Mesin roasting 7 jutaan

Mesin roasting kopi buatan William Edison  (28 tahun) yang dijual dengan harga 7.5 juta bisa jadi sebuah pintu masuk bagi para calon roaster atau siapa saja yang ingin belajar “menggoreng” kopi. Saat Q Grader berlangsung di Bali saya sudah ditawari William untuk menyaksikan cara kerja mesin ini, tapi waktu yang sempit membuat baru hari Sabtu kemarin (11/2) alat ini didemonstrasikan di depan saya dan rekan-rekan yang hadir. Anda tentu penasaran bagaimana kinerja sebuah mesin yang relatif sangat murah ini bukan ?

Dengan atau tanpa listrik

Dengan kapasitas satu kilogram, mesin roasting ini dilengkapi dengan drum yang terbuat dari stainless steel dengan beberapa fitur seperti pengatur besar kecilnya api, suhu drum dan suhu biji kopi. Menggunakan energi gas sebagai bahan bakar pemanasnya dan listrik untuk menggerakan dinamo yang hanya berdaya 125 wat. Bagi yang punya masalah dengan listrik byar-pet, drum mesin ini masih bisa terus berfungsi karena disediakan engkol untuk memutar drum. Jadi walau listrik mati saat roasting baru setengah jalan, pengguna hanya tinggal memasukan tuas untuk melanjutkan memutar drum.

Mesin roasting tak harus mahal

Dulunya saat kuliah di STIKOM Bali, ia magang sebagai pemandu tur di pabrik Kopi Bali milik Wirawan Tjahjadi selama lima tahun hingga 2008. Setelah menamatkan kuliahnya dibidang komputer ia bekerja pada perusahaan Taiwan yang khusus mengekspor kopi Toraja dan mengakibatkan ia harus pulang pergi ke wilayah penghasil kopi di Timur Indonesia ini.

Lalu secara perlahan mulai tertarik mengembangkan specialty coffee secara mandiri, dan mulai merasakan kebutuhan akan adanya alat untuk roasting. Tapi harga mesin roasting yang puluhan hingga ratusan juta membuatnya berpikir dua kali untuk memiliki alat tersebut. Teringat dengan salah satu saudaranya yang bekerja pada sebuah industri rumahan  dibidang permesinan di Johor Malaysia.  Ia menawarkannya untuk membuat alat roasting sederhana dengan bahan dari dalam negeri kecuali motor untuk menekan harga.

Produksi hingga 10 unit per bulan

Prototip pertamanya mulai dicoba di awal tahun 2011, namun perlu berbagai penyempurnaan dan yang di bawanya ke rumah adalah versi terakhir dengan desain yang sudah diperbaharui dan layak diperkenalkan kepada publik kopi tanah air.

Saat ini sudah beberapa pelanggan yang memesan mesin roasting-nya hingga ke Takengon, Aceh dan diharapkan produksi bulanan bisa mencapai 10 unit. Menurut William sejauh ini belum ada keluhan yang berarti dari para pembeli mesin roasting-nya yang cukup puas dnegan kinerja mesin ini.

Cara kerjanya

Pemanasan hanya sekitar 10-15 menit saja dan William menyarankan untuk menggunakan regulator gas tekanan tinggi hingga waktu roasting bisa sekitar 20 menitan. Walaupun drum berupa stainles yang permukaannya bolong-bolong kecil, William menjamin bahwa kopi tidak akan bersentuhan langsung dengan api hingga ia menyebut sistemnya sebagai semi hot air.

Kami lalu mencoba kemampuan mesin ini yang kapasitas maksimal drum-nya bisa menampung hingga 1,2 kilogram. Sejak api mulai dinyalakan, temperatur perlahan naik hingga suhu di drum mencapai 160 derajat celsius dalam waktu 10 menit. Setengah kilogram kopi Toraja dimasukan ke dalam drum yang membuat suhu turun kembali ke angka 120 derajat. Sayang angin bertiup cukup kencang saat itu sehingga panas drum agar sukar dikendalikan karena posisi api yang tidak stabil. Sekitar 18 menit atau dua menit setelah crack pertama kopi dikeluarkan  dengan warna yang masih belum seragam.

Tapi percobaan kedua dan selanjutnya tanpa gangguan angin, hasil roasting sudah terlihat rata saat crack kedua mulai terjadi kopi langsung dikeluarkan. Tentu tidak ada agitator atau pemutar hasil roasting seperti pada mesin komersial, jadi Anda harus mendinginkan kopi secara manual. Waktu : 18 menit.

Dari pengalaman William, perlu sedikit learning curve agar bisa mengenali tindak tanduk mesin roasting-nya, tapi itu tidaklah terlalu lama. Hanya beberapa kali melakukan roasting diharapkan pengguna sudah memahami karakter mesin terutama dalam hal pengaturan temperatur-nya.

Saya menunggu beberapa hari agar bisa menikmati hasil roasting kopi Toraja hasil dari mesin ini dan perlu saya katakan bahwa rasanya sudah sangat memadai. Apalagi menurut beberapa rekan roaster, kopi Toraja sedikit tricky saat di roasting di banding kopi dari daerah lain. Baiklah, tapi menurut lidah saya kopinya sudah layak untuk dinikmati dan saya sudah menghabiskannya.

Catatan : Temperatur biji kopi adalah optional. 

Saya senang bertemu dengan orang-orang seperti William Edison, yang bukan hanya berpikir untuk kepentingan bisnis semata. Tapi ia juga mencoba memenuhi kebutuhan para calon roaster atau bahkan pemilik kedai kopi yang ingin menggoreng kopinya sendiri dengan banderol harga yang cukup terjangkau.

Bila Anda tertarik untuk mendapatkan keterangan lebih lanjut, William yang berdomisili di Bali bisa dihubungi di nomor : 0812 36395588.

Catatan : Terima kasih buat Willy SIdewalk Coffee yang telah merekomendasikan dan meminta saya untuk mencoba sendiri mesin roasting ini 🙂