By Dan Fitzsimmons, The Coffee Roaster (www.coffee.com.au) with edits and inclusions by Shu

Sunday Roast Cupping Tickets: 🎟️ Link to tickets (limited)
Link to blog post: Sunday Roast

The Sunday Roast Workshop is a hands-on coffee roasting experience hosted by The Coffee Roaster, Australia’s leader in Fluidised-Air-Bed roasting technology, in collaboration with Syd Coffee Tours on 2 November 2025.

This hands-on workshop invites coffee enthusiasts to experience the art and science of modern coffee roasting using cutting-edge air-based roasting technology.

Participants will experience the complete roasting cycle—from charging green coffee to dropping the finished roast—under expert guidance from professional instructors who explain airflow dynamics, heat transfer efficiency, and digital roast profiling.

The workshop accommodates teams who rotate through roasting sessions and technical learning stations, ensuring every attendee gains both practical experience and theoretical knowledge.

What We Will Be Roasting On

At the heart of the session are two Piccolo Chinook Rotating-Fluidized-Air-Bed roasters, precision-built machines renowned for their consistency and versatility.

➥ Shu: If you’re wondering what a fluidized-air-bed roaster is – here’s a 🔗 quick primer (with pictures!)

Each Piccolo model effortlessly handles batch sizes from 200 g to 4 kg of green coffee, allowing teams to explore both test roasts and production-scale profiles. The unique rotating fluidized-bed design ensures even bean development and precise thermal control, resulting in exceptional cup clarity and repeatable roast outcomes.

Teams of participants will take turns operating these Piccolo roasters through the full roasting cycle — from charge to drop — under the guidance of professional instructors who will explain airflow dynamics, heat transfer efficiency, and digital roast profiling.

Rotating Group Activities

While roasting teams are at work, other participants will rotate through three technical stations designed to deepen understanding of the green-to-roasted coffee transformation.

➥ Shu: If you’re wondering what beans are available to roast, have a quick sticky beak

• Testing Green Coffee for Moisture Content
  Participants will measure initial moisture and density using portable digital analyzers, learning how these variables influence roast time and uniformity.
• Analyzing Roasted Coffee Using the Agtron Gourmet Roast Scale
  Using a Lighttells CM-100+ near-infrared reflectance instrument, attendees will assess the reflectance intensity of roasted beans both externally (whole beans) and internally (ground samples). The Lighttells device provides precise Agtron-equivalent readouts, helping roasters quantify roast degree and visually correlate near-infrared readings with flavour development.
• Exploring the Anatomy of a 30 kg Chinook Rotating-Fluidized-Air-Bed Roaster
  A guided walkaround of the larger 30 kg Chinook system offers an inside view of industrial air-bed roasting technology, including hot-air recirculation, energy-efficiency features, and the modular control system shared with the smaller Piccolo models.

Coffee Packaging and Tasting

Once each team completes their batch, they will bag and label their roasted coffee, noting key roast parameters and sensory expectations. Bags will be stored for one week to allow post-roast degassing and flavour maturation.

A tasting session will be held seven days later, where participants will cup and compare the results from the different roasts — discussing development time ratios, roast colour uniformity, and how air-flow modulation impacts cup profile clarity.

Available Single Origin Coffees

The Sunday Roast Workshop offers six exceptional single-origin coffees, each with distinct characteristics and flavour profiles. Participants can select from the following origins:

Uganda Coffee
Variety: Typica, Kent
Processing: Natural
Flavour notes: Caramel, spice, herbs, nuts, tropical fruit/ dried fruit, and chocolate. Citrus aftertaste.
Body: Medium
Sweetness: Medium
Acidity: Bright and lively

Uganda’s microclimate is characterised by warm days and cool nights at various altitudes. The volcanic soils impart deep, grounded flavours while maintaining refreshing citrusy notes.

Indonesian Mandheling Grade 1
Variety: Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Catimor
Processing: Wet hull
Flavour notes: Caramel, roasted nuts, dark chocolate, earthy tones, herbal aroma, and subtle berry notes. Long, lingering, sweet aftertaste.
Body: Syrupy
Sweetness: Medium
Acidity: Low

Sumatran Mandheling Grade 1 is one of Indonesia’s most premium specialty coffees, sourced from the Mandheling region in northern. Grown at altitudes of 1,100 to 1,500 meters above sea level by local farmers using traditional farming methods. The wet hulling process gives this coffee its unique and recognisable flavour profile, characterised by depth and intensity. Sumatra. This coffee is processed using the unique “giling basah” (wet hulling) method.

Ethiopian Lekempti Grade 5
Variety: Heirloom/landrace
Processing: Natural
Flavour notes: Black tea, dark chocolate, dried fruit, with pronounced perfume-like characteristics. Expect sweet, light citrus, fruity, wine, berries, and milk chocolate notes
Body: Tea-like
Sweetness: Medium
Acidity: Medium

Ethiopian Lekempti (also known as Nekempti) coffee originates from the Wollega region in western Ethiopia, an area characterised by its moderate temperatures year-round and distinctive highland coffees. The coffee is known for its large bean size and complex flavour profile. As with most Ethiopian coffee, it’s grown in “gardens” under shade trees, typically cultivated by local farmers managing 150-200 trees.

Colombian Jambalo Excelso
Variety: Castillo
Processing: Fully washed
Flavour notes: Chocolate, roasted hazelnut, sweet lemon, almond praline, caramel, toffee, and stone fruits.
Body: Medium
Sweetness: Medium
Acidity: Medium

“Excelso” translates to “Excellent” from Spanish. Colombian Excelso represents a quality standard in Colombian coffee, with beans sized between Screen 12 and 16.5. Jambalo coffee originates from Colombia’s renowned coffee-growing regions, which are famous for producing elegant, well-balanced cups.

Guatemalan SHB Huehuetenango
Variety: Typica, Bourbon, Caturra and Catuai
Processing: Fully washed
Flavour notes: Maple, milk chocolate, orange, blackberry, and stone fruits
Body: Buttery
Sweetness: Medium
Acidity: Medium – high

Guatemalan Huehuetenango is grown in one of Guatemala’s highest and most distinguished coffee regions. The SHB (Strictly Hard Bean) designation indicates that the coffee was grown at an altitude above 1,350 meters. Hot air from Mexico’s Tehuantepec plain mixes with cool air from the mountains, creating a unique microclimate that protects from frost and allows cultivation up to 2,000 meters. This slow development results in exceptional coffee quality.

Brazilian Santos Fine Cup
Variety: Catuai, Mundo Novo, Acaia
Processing: Natural
Flavour notes: Milk chocolate, toasted hazelnuts, nuts, mild citrus, caramel
Body: Medium
Sweetness: Low – medium
Acidity: Low

Brazilian Santos Fine Cup is one of Brazil’s most renowned and widely exported coffees, known for its balanced profile, smooth body, and mild flavour. Fine Cup coffees are carefully selected and classified according to the NY2/3 grading standard ensuring uniform bean size and consistent quality. This coffee is blended from three growing areas: the Highlands of Alta Mogiana, Cerrado de Minas, and Sul de Minas.

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Drum Roasting vs. Fluidised Air Bed Roasting

Understanding the fundamental differences between traditional drum roasting and modern fluidized air bed roasting helps illustrate why The Coffee Roaster has chosen air roasting technology.

Drum Roasting Method

Drum roasting uses a large rotating drum positioned over a heat source, roasting coffee as beans meet the hot metal surface through conductive heat transfer.

➥ Shu: A very popular example of a drum roaster is a Probat

Characteristics:

• Heat transfer primarily through direct contact with the hot metal drum
• Coffee beans tumble inside the rotating cylinder
• Chaff (shed bean skin) remains in the drum with nowhere to escape
• Hotspots can develop where chaff sticks and burns on the drum surface
• Can result in an underlying smoky taste from burned chaff
• Enhances carbohydrates and oils in coffee, producing thicker, denser flavours and aftertaste
• Each batch may vary slightly due to inconsistent heat distribution

Flavour Profile: Drum roasting produces heavier, oilier flavours with enhanced body and density, regardless of origin. Traditional drum roasting requires considerable skill and precision to achieve consistent, high-quality results.

Fluidised Air Bed (Hot Air) Roasting Method

Hot air roasting suspends coffee beans in streams of hot air, with the air enveloping every single bean evenly through convective heat transfer.

Characteristics:

• Coffee suspended and agitated by hot air currents
• Even heat distribution across all beans simultaneously
• Chaff is pulled from the roasting chamber as beans expand and crack
• No smoky flavours from burning chaff
• Sophisticated temperature control sensors provide real-time monitoring
• Consistent, repeatable roast profiles
• Elevates aromatics in coffee, resulting in sweeter, cleaner flavours
• Energy-efficient: no preheat and more efficient heat transfer

Flavour Profile: Air roasting produces sweet, clean flavours with a pleasant aftertaste. The precision control allows roasters to take coffee to the edge of flavour development without compromising clarity. The Coffee Roaster uses this method specifically to achieve their signature sweet, clean, and consistent flavour profiles.