A side view of the Coffee Crafters Valenta 3 roaster, which replaces the Artisan 3-e machine in the Coffee Crafters line. All images courtesy of Coffee Crafters.
Idaho-based roasting equipment company Coffee Crafters last month rolled out the next machine in its Valenta line of all-electric fluid-bed roasters, the Valenta 3.
The 3-pound-capacity Valenta 3 launched for sale last month with prices ranging from $4,800 up to $6,899 for the most feature-loaded version. The release comes approximately 16 months after the line debuted with the Valenta 7. The larger Valenta 15 rolled out earlier this year.
The Valenta 3 was designed to perform identically to its 7- and 15-pound-capacity siblings in a package compact enough for a table, counter or cart. Coffee Crafters said the machine is intended for low-volume commercial uses, or even for ambitious home-roasting or side-hustle uses.
“We design our roasters to be very easy to use, so even people who don’t have a roasting background can hop on one of these machines and feel like a professional roaster in no time at all,” Coffee Crafters Vice President Bryce Bull told Daily Coffee News. “Most customers tell me they get the hang of using their new roasters after just a couple of roasts. Once they feel comfortable with using their roaster, they can move onto the fun part of roasting coffee, creating their own unique flavors and blends for their customers to enjoy.”
Central to the build of all Valenta roasters is a proprietary roasting chamber designed to envelope beans in an efficient flow of hot air while also maintaining a more consistent loft throughout the roast.
Valenta machines offer automation capabilities through the Hermetheus Roaster Co-Pilot automation, which comes standard on the Valenta 15 and is available as an option for the 7 and the 3.
Bull told DCN the company chose to launch higher-capacity Valenta machines first, since they filled a gap in the company’s equipment line.
“We had a 3-pound roaster already in place, the Artisan 3-e, that worked very well and had been our starter roaster option for many years,” Bull told DCN. “Once we got the Valenta 15 and the Valenta 7 dialed in, we decided it was time to retire the Artisan roaster line, which meant we had to replace the Artisan 3-e with a Valenta-style 3-pound roaster.”
Retirement of the Artisan line was motivated primarily by the company’s desire to reduce dependence on third party components and bring more manufacturing in house.
“We still relied on outside vendors for some of the Artisan parts, whereas the Valenta roaster parts are, for the most part, all made here in our warehouse in Post Falls, Idaho,” said Bull. “This means we have more control over the quality of our products and can build and manufacture these parts faster than if we were still going through outside vendors.”
Coffee Crafters also recently redesigned its Fill & Seal Station for better maneuverability and easier packing for shipment to customers, lowering the shipping costs as a result, according to the company. A Coffee Crafters whole bean weigh-and-fill machine is currently in the works, as are upgraded chaff cyclones and quieter exhaust blowers.
“We have made coffee roasting the easy part,” Bull said. “Now we want to help our customers excel in other parts of this industry and improve on what we have already built.”
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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