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January 18, 2017
The Ultimate Coffee Experience at Home. Panasonic Launches "The Roast" Home Roaster | PANASONIC
PANASONIC
A New Coffee Life Begins at Home
Your favorite beans, your chosen grinder, your preferred brewing method. With the booming cafe culture filling our streets, it’s likely that many of you secretly believe that the coffee you brew yourself is the best.
But if you’re that dedicated, why not try roasting at home? PANASONIC is set to launch "The Roast," a home roaster, in early April. A new coffee life will begin, accompanied by a rich aroma.
Text by SHIMOJO Shingo
The Quality of Coffee Depends on "Green Beans" and "Roasting"
Typically, coffee bean roasting involves several steps: loading green beans into a drum, steaming them, applying heat and airflow to roast, and then removing the beans once their flavor and aroma are fully developed, followed by cooling. Furthermore, within each step, it's crucial to finely adjust temperature, airflow, and time according to the size, density, and moisture content of the green beans. Roasting is such a critical process that it's said to determine 90% of a coffee's deliciousness.
Of course, you can obtain professionally roasted beans from coffee shops. However, even beans roasted to perfection begin to oxidize the moment they leave the roaster, gradually losing freshness and deteriorating in taste and aroma over time.
Panasonic's "The Roast" makes the ultimate experience of brewing coffee with freshly roasted beans at home a reality, thanks to cutting-edge technology and innovative ideas.
Reproducing "The World's Best Roast" in Sync with an App
"The Roast" was born from a technical partnership between Panasonic and IKAWA, a UK-based venture company. It roasts evenly with hot air and automatically separates chaff (the skin on the surface of green beans), which can cause off-flavors.
Naoki Goto
What's most remarkable about this machine is its ability to reproduce the techniques of professional roasters in sync with a smartphone app. Overseeing the creation of the roasting profiles was Naoki Goto, the only Japanese winner of the 2013 "World Coffee Roasting Championship" and owner of "Mametora Coffee." For each type of bean, three profiles are available: light, medium, and dark roast.
When you purchase "The Roast" unit, you can also subscribe to receive a monthly delivery of carefully selected beans from around the world. Simply scan the QR code on the package with the smartphone app, select a profile, send it to the roaster, and then add the green beans.
Once roasting is complete, grind the beans with your chosen grinder and brew your coffee using your preferred method with your favorite dripper.
The aroma of freshly roasted, freshly ground, and freshly brewed coffee filling your room offers a truly ultimate coffee experience. Why not indulge in that blissful sensation yourself?
Smart Coffee Roaster AE-NR01
Scheduled Release: Early April, available at Panasonic Store
Estimated Unit Price: ¥100,000 (excluding tax)
Green Bean Pack (200g per type)
Contract Type: 1-year contract (monthly delivery, 12 times total)
・Green Bean Pack: 3-type set (¥5,500/month)
・Green Bean Pack: 2-type set (¥3,800/month)