How to Become a Coffee Roaster

Often, baristas become coffee roasters. This is one of the career paths for those who are tired of communicating with people at the bar and want to focus on monotonous work in the shop. We tell you how to get what is perhaps the ideal profession for an introverted coffee lover.

What does a roast master do?

The roaster spends most of his day at the roaster, a device for roasting beans. You pack green coffee into portions (batches), load it into the roaster, get roasted beans, load a new batch, and so on in a circle. The work is routine and also physically difficult: bags of coffee weigh tens of kilograms.

Typically, the roasting cycle lasts up to 15 minutes at a temperature of 200-250°C. But the specific parameters during this time change and depend on many factors. Among them are the coffee variety and region of origin, the year of harvest, the type of roaster, and the recommended method of preparing the drink.

The approved roasting parameters are called profiles. These are instructions for the roastmaster, according to which he controls and regulates the roasting process. The idea is that the same type of coffee should be predictably the same in color, taste and aroma from batch to batch. This is checked after roasting in the laboratory and by tasting - cupping.

There is also an element of creativity in the work, but its share is much lower than it might seem from the outside. First of all, roasters test new varieties of green coffee to choose the best positions for ordering and launching into production. Plus, they create and adjust those same roasting profiles.

How to get into the profession

There is no specialized higher or secondary specialized education in the specialty of "Coffee roaster". The surest way to become a professional in this field is to start understanding coffee and work in the industry to learn the world of coffee in practice.

A common path to becoming a roaster looks like this:

Barista Assistant

The first step that will help you understand the database: types of equipment, beans, coffee drinks, preparation methods.

↓Barista in a chain of coffee shops with their own production

Often, roasters are not hired from outside, but are grown within the company. For example, from baristas who are interested in trying themselves in production processes.

↓Production Assistant

A variety of work that does not require special skills and knowledge: from cleaning premises to sorting and packing coffee. Helps to understand how production is organized.

↓Assistant Roaster

Work with a mentor who shares knowledge and experience.

↓Roaster 🔥

The more experience, the more responsible work is entrusted to the roaster. From simply following ready-made roasting profiles to composing them.

This is just one of the options. Roasters can be cuppers, coffee shop managers, or office workers at coffee companies. One way or another, one thing is true: it is easier to master the profession for those who already understand coffee.

There are many career opportunities for a roaster. For example, you can grow within the company and become a production manager. Or continue to work with your hands, make a name for yourself in the industry and earn more thanks to the status of a guru. Another option is to expand your specialization and, for example, take up blending, that is, creating blends from different beans. Other roastmasters go into teaching. And some open their own roasting business: you can even start with a small workshop with one roaster.

Where to study

Offline courses from industry practitioners will help you immerse yourself in the world of roasting. For example, at our Poetti Academy we have two intensive courses at once: a two-day course called “Roasting. Basic Level” for beginners and an in-depth three-day course called “Roasting. Advanced Level” . The classes are taught by current Poetti employees, and the group size is comfortable for a maximum of four students.

You can study roasting theory yourself using online courses, video tutorials, and roastmasters' blogs. It is believed that barista courses from trainers certified by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) can provide a good foundation. They teach all over the world, including in Russia.

And if you can't wait to start practicing, buy a sample roaster for home. These are mini roasters that are also used in production. They are needed there to experiment with new samples of green coffee and create roasting profiles without starting up large machines.

What books to read on the topic

The World Atlas of Coffee: From Bean to Cup by James Hoffmann. A guide to the world of coffee, from growing and processing to roasting and brewing methods, to put it all into context.

"The Roaster's Handbook" by Scott Rao. A reference book for the aspiring roastmaster, written by a world expert who has been working with coffee since 1992, to help you understand the intricacies of roasting and the processes that occur with the beans during thermal processing.

"Good Coffee" by Irina Shubina. A series of interviews with professionals in the Russian coffee industry to understand how things work in our country.