In a coffee market where consumers value quality, craft and authenticity above all else, DirectRoaster, created by the mastermind behind iStill, is an energy-efficient precision coffee roasting solution that requires minimal investment and training. World Coffee Portal spoke with iStill founder and CEO, Dr Edwin van Eijk, about his mission to support growth for premium craft coffee businesses
With more than 1,000 flavour compounds, coffee is one of the most chemically complex beverages we consume. Chlorogenic acids deliver many of coffee’s bitter notes, while furan and furanones are associated with caramel and pyrazines evoke nutty flavours.
For Dr Edwin van Eijk, these chemical reactions are all in a day’s work as the founder and CEO of iStill, the world-leading automated distiller manufacturer that has now turned its expertise to craft coffee roasting.
With more than 15 years’ industry experience, van Eijk is a master of the distillation process, but first and foremost, he remains an inventor. When a good friend asked if iStill’s technology could be applied to coffee roasting, van Eijk got to work immediately.
“I realised coffee roasting has three basic principles: firstly, adding energy to the coffee beans, secondly, making sure the energy is evenly distributed, and thirdly, stopping the reaction, usually with cooling.”
The resulting innovation was DirectRoaster, a five-kilo electric coffee roaster that delivers energy-efficient precision roasting with minimal investment and training requirements. In fact, DirectRoaster’s innovative thermal energy recovery system can deliver 75% energy savings compared to comparable gas-fired roasters, making it the ideal solution for today’s high-cost business environment.
“We want customers to be able to grow their businesses without costly reinvestments”
Ease of use is also a key feature of the DirectRoaster. Through a digital interface, users can control temperature to within 0.2 °C, automate the rate of rise and cooling program, along with first and second crack detection.
For start-up specialty coffee roasters looking to take the next step into scaled production or coffee shops seeking to bring roasting in-house, DirectRoasters’ suite of precision automated tools delivers artisan results reliably, consistently and cost-effectively without the need to invest in years of training.
“With a small replacement part, you can upgrade to a ten-kilo capacity. We want customers to be able to grow their businesses without costly reinvestments,” says van Eijk.
DirectRoaster also enables coffee businesses to tell the story of their product, a key differentiator of specialty coffee and craft alcohol. “A vital part of specialty coffee is transparency – understanding where the product comes from, how it was produced, how it was transported – and how it’s been roasted,” van Eijk says. That being said, van Eijk also knows that good storytelling must be complemented with long-lasting design. Having worked with distilling businesses for more than 15 years, he is committed to producing the best, reliable products engineered to the highest standards in the Netherlands.
“Reliability is not something we are willing to outsource for any of our customers,” he says.
Greater understanding of product origin and craft is a major global consumer trend that shows no sign of slowing. With the DirectRoaster, today’s hospitality operators and coffee roasters can become tomorrow’s artisanal success stories – and tap into this lucrative consumer trend with ease.
Founded in 2012 by Dr Edwin van Eijk, iStill has revolutionised the craft distilling industry with its energy-efficient stills that can make any spirit – whether whisky, gin, vodka, rum or liqueurs – to perfection without the need for manual mashing, fermenting or distilling. Having applied its decades of precision engineering expertise to coffee, the company is now poised to revolutionise the market for independent coffee roasters with DirectRoaster – a five-kilo electric coffee roaster with expandable capacity that delivers energy-efficient precision roasting with minimal investment and training requirements.
