Who Said You Have to Choose Between Body and Clarity?

The Coffee World loves a good debate. We prefer a good cup of Coffee.

There are certain arguments in the coffee industry that seem destined to go on forever.

Light roast or dark roast? Espresso or filter? Washed or natural?

And then there's the old favourite.

Drum Roasting versus Air-Roasting:

Pull up a chair, pour yourself a coffee, and prepare for some strongly held opinions.

For years, coffee enthusiasts have debated the merits of these two roasting approaches.

Drum roasting is often associated with rich body, depth and that satisfying mouthfeel that makes a great espresso so memorable.

Air roasting, on the other hand, is frequently praised for its clean flavour, clarity, smoothness and ability to showcase the distinctive characteristics of specialty coffee.

At least, that's how the argument usually goes.

But here's a thought.

Who decided we had to choose?

The Great Roasting Divide:

Traditional drum roasters use a rotating metal drum, with heat reaching the coffee mainly through contact with the heated surface of this metal drum.

Traditional Air roasters rely on heated airflow to move and roast the beans.

Different machines. Different approaches. Different ways of managing heat.

And, depending on the coffee and the roasting profile, potentially different results in the cup.

But the assumption that one method must deliver body while the other delivers clarity is rather simplistic.

Great coffee is considerably more complicated than that.

Which got us thinking.

What if the real opportunity wasn't choosing one side of the argument?

What if it was finding a different way to control the roasting process?

Enter Air-Motion:

At Air-Motion Roasters, we've taken a rather different approach to moving coffee through a roasting chamber.

Instead of relying on a rotating drum, the heated air lifts the beans through the centre of an open roasting chamber.

As they rise, the beans spread outward, descend along the chamber and are guided by a conical base back towards the rising airflow.

Up they go. Around they come. And up they go again.

A continuous cycle of movement.

And while the beans are doing their little dance, something rather interesting is happening.

They're experiencing different forms of heat transfer.

Heated air transfers energy through convection. Contact with the chamber and neighbouring beans allows conductive heat exchange. Radiative heat transfered from heated surfaces radiating into the bean mass also plays a part in the cycle.

It's not simply a question of blowing hot air at coffee.

It's about how the coffee moves through that heat.

Now here's where things get interesting:

In an Air-Motion Roaster the roast chamber design allows the operator to adjust the airflow independently of the electrical heating power.

Reduce the airflow, and the beans circulate lower in the chamber.

Increase it, and they rise higher.

So, by adjusting the airflow, we can now change how the beans circulate through the roasting chamber while influencing the rate of exposure to convection, conduction or radiative heat transfer, resulting in the ability to decide how much body and clarity one wants at the same time.

That gives the roaster another way to shape the roasting process.

And for us, that's where the excitement lies.

Because the objective isn't to win an argument about which roasting method is better.

It's to give the person roasting the coffee meaningful control over how that coffee develops.

But what about the flavour?

Here's where we return to our original question.

Body or clarity?

Our roasting philosophy is built around pursuing both: the definition and character of the coffee's flavour, alongside the satisfying body and mouthfeel that make a cup memorable.

We believe that controlling bean circulation and heat delivery, provides an interesting way to pursue that balance.

Of course, the relationship between roasting method and flavour is complex. Coffee origin, processing, roast profile and brewing all influence the final result.

But there's no magic setting that guarantees the perfect cup.

However, there is something rather satisfying about having more ways to shape it.

So, which side are we on?

Drum Roasting or Air Roasting?

Body or Clarity?

Conduction or Convection?

Perhaps we've been asking the wrong questions.

Perhaps the more interesting question is, "how much control we have over the Coffee as it roasts".

Because at the end of the day, nobody drinks a Roasting Machine.

They drink the coffee.

And that's what matters.

Air-Motion Roasters.

It's Not Magic. It's Motion.

Written by: Julia Platt