Hottop B KN-8828B-2K+

This is my fourth roaster and was a Christmas gift from my wife. It is replacing a six month old Behmor 2000 AB plus (also purchased at CBC). The Behmor is a great roaster for the price, and I was very happy with it. But, The Hottop, where do I start? First, it is a very sturdy machine, and looks like it will be very durable. The main practical improvements over the Behmor are 1) chaff control, 2) cooling. The Hottop captures the chaff very well, and I have far less cleanup after roasting. The beans are automatically ejected when finished, onto an agitating tray with a fan, which quickly cools the beans. The Behmor also has a cooling cycle, but unless you open the door, it doesn’t cool fast enough. If you open the door, some chaff will blow out, although the majority of the chaff is captured into a chaff compartment. The real improvement over all my other roasters, is the ability to track and/or control your roasts with the Artisan software. With the free Artisan software, you can completely control the Hottop with your computer, either Mac or Microsoft. You can record your roasts, and once you develop the perfect profile for a particular bean, you can replicate that roast perfectly. The dual filter system dramatically limits the smoke compared to other roasters. The little smoke that is left is easily vented with a range fan. The only downside I can see is that it takes a little longer to cool down between batches. If you’re roasting multiple batches, you may have to wait a few minutes between batches. Since I’m always multitasking, this isn’t an issue for me :). I highly recommend this roaster! Also, the service at Coffee Bean Corral is second to none. Steve and Katie spare no effort to make sure you are comfortable with your decision! And the support after you purchase is just as diligent.

I just got it last week! I've only done a few roasts on it so far but it's easy to change the controls if you want to. I haven't used the software yet but definitely excited about it.

Love this roaster, the capabilities are endless. It’s a big step up from the behmor, with the ability to control your temperature and fan in ways you can’t with some others. Also artisan is super helpful for monitoring roasts and making sure things are turning out nicely. You don’t have to wait as long between roasts to do another, which is VERY helpful. If a bullet is out of your price range this is a good alternative.

So, I never thought I would have one of these, as I used the Gene Cafe for several years and it made good coffee. The good: Like one other person said in a different review, albeit for a different purpose, "I didn't know what I didn't know". Here's the thing, and it's just my opinion after roasting several batches in the hot top. It's all about consistency. I have not yet made a roast in the hot top that I couldn't have made in the gene cafe, however I am certain that I can make the same roast exactly the same every time. For repeatability there is no comparison. I have connected it to the MacBook, and I've used it in each of the settings it's capable of. Artisan is good, although it has a couple of glitches; yet I can use it to make sure I can repeat a roast exactly the same next time. Once I have it down, then I can just set it up on manual and use or not use artisan at that point. For making light roasts, there's no comparison. Getting the roast to stop exactly at the right time is a breeze on the hot top, where it was not so simple on the gene cafe. Sure, on the gene you could preheat the drum, and then carefully stop the roast and remove the drum and forego the gene cafe's cooling cycle to manually cool it in a colander, and you would get it pretty close. Far cheaper. Yet nowhere nearly as exact. Again, getting exactly the roast you want every time is what this hot top thing can excel at. Is there anything bad? The chaff catcher was far better on the gene cafe. I have a salad colander I use to separate the chaff now because although the hot top will catch a little, most is still in the coffee, especially on lighter roasts. On darker roasts it breaks down more, and most of it gets caught in the chaff catcher. Back to back roasts are problematic. You really need to let the hot top cool off before doing another roast. If you try to rush it, it goes into a cooling mode, and it will cool it off for you, but I've found that it doesn't take a lot longer to just wait tbh. If you have the money, get the hot top. It's a really good roaster. The chaff catcher, not so much, but if that's the only complaint, then I can live with it, and it's really a problem for me only because I like making light roasts so much. If you don't have 1800 to toss out, then get the gene cafe. It really does make good coffee, and while not being so exact, once you know what you're doing with it you can make great coffee with it as well.

11/25/2022, purchased my Hottop KN-8828B-2K+; this week my roast session batch numbers started at #101. My very first roast was an auto roast and since then I’ve only done one other & only a few manual roasts; I bought the roaster wanting to learn Artisan. Initially did 8 practice roasts; after a few turned out fair to good I began tracking my roasts. At the time I bought my Hottop I purchased a single dose grinder & espresso cappuccino machine. I mostly use my HotTop for espresso beans I take into 2nd-K; the Artisan control of temp, duration, RoR is fantastic and you can see, hear & smell well enough to assist your roasting. Before my purchase I joined the Hottop Coffee Roaster Facebook group; it’s worth a look around; was previously a FreshRoast group member. I mostly studied members’ screenshot of Artisan roast profiles and roast notes. I learned more from trial & error (mistakes) than any video but they are initially helpful. I’m 72 & retired and I’ve given this hobby lots of time but my memory is shit; so a younger person can learn & remember it lots easier but there is lots more than you would think that one needs to learn to best utilize the machine & software. Also it helps if you’ve read a few books; on coffee roasting & on coffee farming & bean varieties round the world. Before my SR8 I roasted for years with a Motorize Kaldi, WhirleyPops & Korean ceramic Nuvo. My next roaster may be the Aillio Bullet, to further my skills and to roast larger batch sizes. With my SR800 I roast 215grams; my Hottop only 175 grams. I learnt roasting first at 160g & moved up to 175g and then 200g & 225g and returned to 175g for the most consistent results & it would become boring if roast Times were longer. The 175g size is one reason I continue roasting my favs with my SR800; I’m on my 4th & 5th units and my skill with it has improved with my acquired Hottop skills. I mostly roast medium to med-Dk to Dk; never been a light roast guy; though lots of roasters like roasting light with the Hottop. FYI, my fav espresso blends normally include 25% of: 1) Indo: Sumatra or Sulawesi using the Giling Basah, or wet hulling process. 2) Brazil: a natural process w/varieties Mundo Novo, Catuai, Bourbon, etc. 3) high elevation washed Central American, GUATMARGARITA, CRLAGLAD, CRELCON or others that nicely roast med-Dk+. 4) A single varietal like the Caturra, Maracatu, Bourbon, etc from a good region. It may sound simple but the different factors all mean a different Drop temp° & style of Drop (not dump) ascending, level, or descending & Turn Point data & period of heat soak, different lengths of Dry, Maillard, & first crack & second crack Finish to Drop (Dump). Controlling each stage is what makes roasting with the Hottop fun. I always load a background template to replicate or for reference. I always save my roast files & records the Roast Properties (Bean, Roast Notes, Cup’n Notes info) for roasts that cup VG to Ex & export & save their data. Final note, I get the routine maintenance / replacement parts from CBC.

I was fascinated by roasting ever since I got my Swissmar Bravi. It was a simple drum roaster that only let me adjust the time. But I wanted more. I wanted to master the art of roasting at home. That's when I discovered the Hot Top 2K+. It was perfect for me. It gave me the control I needed to experiment with different profiles and settings. And with the Artisan software, I could monitor and record every roast. It was also affordable and easy to use. Coffee bean Corral made my dream come true. They delivered it fast and followed up with a friendly call. I'm so grateful to them for their amazing service.

I was fascinated by roasting ever since I got my Swissmar Bravi. It was a simple drum roaster that only let me adjust the time. But I wanted more. I wanted to master the art of roasting at home. That's when I discovered the Hot Top 2K+. It was perfect for me. It gave me the control I needed to experiment with different profiles and settings. And with the Artisan software, I could monitor and record every roast. It was also affordable and easy to use. Coffee bean Corral made my dream come true. They delivered it fast and followed up with a friendly call. I'm so grateful to them for their amazing service.

This thing is great to learn on. Artisan is absolutely clutch. You can control the roaster from your laptop, no need to use the manual knobs.

I previously had a Gene Cafe for 10+ years. I wanted to move to a roaster that had more controls for roasting. I'm still a novice with the Hottop, but I really like it so far. I can now hear the first and second crack of the beans that I was unable to do with the Gene Cafe because of the hot air blower noise. I haven't yet used the Artisan software for further control of the roasting process, but have been experimenting with the time and temperature on the Hottop. I'm very pleased and would recommend this roaster to anyone roasting their own coffee beans. I really like the fact that you can go with the automatic roasting cycles, like I'm still doing, but can move up up advanced control with the Artisan software when you want.

This is my third roaster and my 7th roast on the Hottop. It’s my first drum roaster so my experience is limited. As far as quality goes, I’m very impressed with the “fit and finish” of the machine. Past user reviews give me no reason to doubt longevity. Functionally, it’s as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. I started out using the “auto” mode and was very pleased with the coffee that it roasted. It also allows you to roast manually or program a roast using alarms on the software. It’s a slick application and a very nice link with the dual thermocouples. I enjoy the data aspect of the roast, so the Artisan software hookup was a requirement for me. Had I known that I would become addicted to roasting coffee, I should have started out with the Hottop. However, there are numerous great options for getting started in this hobby. Cleaning will be the biggest downside that I see. This unit gets smoky, and I suspect that the roasting chamber will need a good scrubbing after several roasts. Cleaning between roasts is easy in my opinion. Also be aware that you must let the unit cool down between batches....no back to back batches. Happy Roasting!!