Gene Cafe CBR-101
Arabica Honey Sundried, French roast
Fruit sugar dried onto the bean browns and scorches faster, so it charges ~10°C cooler and cracks a little earlier.
Batch
200-220 g
Preheat
Empty drum at 200°C for ~4 min
Charge
220°C
First crack
~8:45
Stop at
~14:00 (DTR 38%)
Rest
2-4 days
Bean colour
Green
0:00
Yellow
4:23
Light tan
7:45
First crack
8:45
Second crack
12:45
French
14:00
Roast profile
- 220°C
0. Load
0:00You'll see: Charge beans into the heated drum
Do: Start the timer as soon as the drum is back in.
- 220°C
1. Drying
0:00 - 4:23You'll see: Green turns yellow, grassy smell
Do: Let the heater run to push heat into the bean core.
- 235-240°C
2. Ramp
4:23 - 8:45You'll see: Yellow to tan brown; smell turns bread-like and sweet
Do: Turn the dial up to build momentum into first crack.
- 220°C
3. First crack
8:45 - 11:00You'll see: Sharp popcorn-like snaps, beans swell, chaff flies
Do: Note the time and drop the dial to 220°C so the roast doesn't race.
- 215°C
4. Second crack
12:45 - 14:00You'll see: Quiet crackle like rice krispies, oil spots, smoke
Do: Drop to 215°C and watch colour closely - it goes fast from here.
- STOP
5. Dump
14:00You'll see: French colour
Do: Long-press Stop, pull the drum with gloves and dump into an external cooler.
Cool outside the machine. The Gene's built-in cooling cycle takes 8-10 minutes and keeps baking the beans. Dump them into a colander or bean cooler with a fan and get them to room temperature within 2-3 minutes.
Troubleshooting
- Sour or grassy
- Underdeveloped centre. Stretch the drying phase or give it 15-30 s more after first crack.
- Flat or baked
- It took too long to reach first crack (past ~11-12 min). Charge hotter to push through drying.
- Uneven colour
- Drop the batch to 180-200 g for better tumbling and airflow.
- Burnt tips or smoky
- Too much heat late in the roast. Drop the dial earlier at first crack.
- The dial reads exhaust air, not bean temperature - roast by time, sound and colour.
- First crack is hard to hear over the fan: watch for beans swelling and chaff pouring into the collector.
- Keep preheats brief and under 200°C to protect the drum seals.
- Roast by an open window or under a hood, and never leave the machine running unattended.