Hottop B KN-8828B-2K

One small step for me, one giant leap for my coffee!!! UPS delivered this afternoon and within an hour I was doing the "dry run" suggested by Hottop. All went well so on to the first roast...sample packs arrived couple days ago so did an Auto 225g Honduras. Awesome roast...just one roast in and lovin' it. It's quiet...wow I can hear the cracks. CBC made this first part of the journey seamless...thanks to them and the folks at Hottop!!!

I've been using a pod based coffee machine from Cafeitaly for years (on my third) and buying proprietary pods from a company in California. I was getting fed up with the spotty availability of the pods and regular price increases which led me to watch a couple of videos on YouTube. One video in particular was a TED Talk about coffee by a coffee expert. He began by saying that 99.999% of the world's coffee drinkers consume stale, old, dead coffee that has none of the amazing health benefits that fresh coffee offers. It turns out that once roasted, coffee beans only retain their goodness and vitality for about a week regardless of how they're packaged. This was the moment I decided to take control of my coffee destiny and start roasting beans. I went back and forth between this model and the more expensive 2K+ version but ultimately decided that this one would work just fine for me. After a month of ownership and 20+ roasts this model has exceeded all of my expectations. I was very pleased to see that it's made in Taiwan rather than China, and the build quality of the roaster is readily apparent. It's easy to use and it does a phenomenal job of roasting beans. The Hottop shipped with some sample packs so I started out roasting them using AUTO mode. It did an OK job but the beans didn't get to second crack. Now I'm roasting using a couple of custom profiles and getting excellent results with Guatemalan beans. I'm staying with 250g of beans per roast at the moment, going into second crack (around 405F) and experimenting with ejecting the beans at different stages in second crack. I have a "prosumer" grade espresso machine and grinder made by ECM and there's no question that I'm making lattes, flat whites and cappuccinos that I simply can't buy in a coffee shop ... anywhere! Everyone that's tried a coffee that I've made has been amazed by the flavor and the freshness. With around 18g of ground coffee for each double shot of espresso combined with 2/3 cup of steamed milk, I figured out that it costs around $0.60 to make an amazing latte using beans that I roasted and ground. Obviously there's the investment of the roaster, espresso machine and grinder, along with some "necessary" accessories, but I got into this so that I could make the freshest, tastiest and healthiest espresso drinks possible rather than to save money. Lastly, not only does Coffee Bean Corral sell great beans and excellent roasters, they also support their products with knowledgeable and friendly staff. Catherine has been nothing short of amazing throughout this journey from old, stale, dead coffee bought in stores or served in coffee shops, to fresh, vibrant, healthy coffee with all of the benefits that come from that. Coffee Bean Corral has found another lifelong customer!

Picked this up after using a Behmore for 15 years. This is quite a step up.

This is a 5 Star Plus Review. The B-2K is a fantastic coffee roaster!!!! Have had mine since December - several roasts on auto mode and now on my 18th roast using various profiles with simply great results - no a fan of using software to control the roast process as it seems that software has a habit of controlling me - so really enjoy the hands on approach - used the FrenchRoast SR500 for about 18 months before it literally went up in smoke, then the SR540 for a little over a year but with constant issues - daughter gifted me the Hottop and it had revolutionized my roasting abilities - Coffee Bean Corral are great folks to deal with, super knowledgeable and have great coffee. Did I mention that the staff has their customers relationships and interests at the forefront of their business model.!!!!!