The Ikawa Pro50X in Houston. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Among numerous small roasters drawing long lines at last month’s SCA Expo in Houston was the Ikawa Pro50X, a small-scale, feature-rich sample roaster.
The latest in the UK company’s Pro X series, the Pro50X follows last year’s launch of the Pro100X, offering smaller capacity and a slightly lower price point with the same advanced set of features, including moisture monitoring and first-crack detection.
Like all Ikawa machines, the Pro50X is also designed for customized automation, portability and device connectivity.
“The Pro50X is likely ideal for someone who values all the advanced features of the X Series, like automated first crack detection and moisture release data, but doesn’t need the full 100-gram capacity,” Ikawa Marketing Executive Ioana Bombea told Daily Coffee News. “This might include labs with lower sample volume, training purposes, smaller roasteries, or users of the Ikawa ProV2 or ProV3 that are looking to upgrade to using the X Series features.”
Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Alongside Ikawa’s new metal catch cups at the brand’s Expo booth in Houston, the Pro50X was shown occupying the same dimensions as the existing Pro50 (9.4 x 5.1 x 12.8 inches), and fits into the same case that accommodates the Pro50, Pro V2 or Pro V3.
(Find all of DCN’s 2025 Expo coverage here.)
A humidity sensor in Pro X machines collects data that is transformed into real-time graphs showing the release of moisture from beans as they roast. Moisture data is also utilized in the line’s first-crack detection system.
“When we first released these features on our Pro100X, we didn’t yet know the full potential of the data that resulted from the moisture-release graph and humidity sensor,” Bombea said. “The data is all meaningful, but each user interprets the data differently for their own purposes. Some users use the moisture release graph to guide their production roasts, and some others use the humidity sensor and moisture release graph as an indicator of green coffee quality.”
Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Target Development Mode on the Pro X models allows users to automate roasts based on desired “development” time (i.e. the duration of roasting after first crack), and the machines also feature an LED roast chamber light and USB-C power-out charging.
Ikawa revealed its original Pro Sample Roaster at a World of Coffee event in 2012. Now in its fifteenth year in operation, the company offers a total of four different models to choose from, with its original Pro line now in its third generation.
Bombea said that while pricing differs by region, the Pro50X generally lands between 11%-13% less than the Pro100X.
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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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