Profile Roasting of Coffee
What is Profile Roasting of Coffee?
Everyone knows that a great Chef or Baker follows recipes that he knows are tried and true. These recipes have been developed for consistency and quality purposes and are relied upon to ensure that the finished product is the same from day to day.
In coffee roasting, these recipes are referred to as profiles. A profile is a collection of data that indicates how to roast a particular bean to achieve a desired result. The data gathered may include the following factors:
• Bean temperature
• Time elapsed
• Exhaust temperature
• Drum rotation speed
• Airflow rate
• Burners on/off
• Burner power (in %)
• Bean Humidity
• Environment Humidity/Temperature
• Charge Weight
Profiles are used to insure that the roasted coffee has the same flavour every time it is roasted.
Profile Development
As coffee is an agricultural product, the flavour profile of any given origin can change from season to season based on environmental & processing issues. When the roast master receives a new green bean, it is roasted manually based on experience and judgment from past crops in an attempt to gain the ideal flavour of the bean. Samples are drawn from various points in the roast, and are then cupped, evaluated and compared to the current crop being roasted. This data, and the data of how the roast was done is recorded to create an initial “rough” profile.
Through rigorous cupping, the resulting coffee is judged and the profile is adjusted. This process occurs several times until the peak flavour of the bean is achieved. The final roast profile is then used every time that bean is roasted in order to consistently achieve the desired peak flavour.
Craftsmanship, ability and experience play a vital role in developing a profile, and certainly dictate the quality of the product.
Profiles can be followed in two ways, manually and automatically. Manual profile roasting has its limitations, and requires the ability of a dedicated and trained operator to monitor the process as the roast progresses. Automatic profile roasting uses software that has been developed specifically for the process at hand. Typically, profile software is integrated into all controls available to the machine including filling the hopper, initiating the roast and termination of the roast.
Because manual roasting is a reactionary process and many variables come into play throughout the length of a roast, including environmental and human error factors, profile roasting requires the full attention of the operator. It takes skilled and highly experienced Roasters who maintain focus solely on the task at hand.
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