The Roaster
House Cup Coffee Roasters was launched like so many iconic Silicon Valley companies - in a garage - well, in our case, a shed - in Havertown, Pennsylvania in 2017. Brian started roasting on a small ARC 800g roaster - basically a scalled-down, table-top version of a typical larger roaster. Within a year House Cup moved into a 1,700 sq ft. facility and installed a 2004 Diedrich IR12 (12kg) - a classic staple of small-batch coffee roasters.
In 2022 we took a BIG leap forward - literally and figurative - by installing a 30kg beauty from Mill City Roasters out of Minneapolis, MN. Besides being three-times the size it replaces, this roaster came with modern technology to maintain consistency among each batch roast, faster turnaround between batches as well as greater energy efficiency.
The House Cup Coffee Roaster Story
30 kg Roaster Installation
Putting it Together
With a little help from our friend Sebastian, he and Brian were able to put the pieces together fairly quickly.
On the left is the chaff collector cylinder. The middle section is the actual roaster with a cooling tray connected to the right. In the back is the loader - a big vacuum that sucks the green (raw) coffee up and into the roaster staging area a the top.
The Roasthouse Post-Installation
Transition Complete
And here's a quick tour of the roasthouse post-installation. You get to see our outgoing Diedrich IR12 in the foreground and pass by it and the fulfillment tables to the right so we can meet the newest member of the team, the Mill City 30kg "beast" roaster now up and running.