Coffee Crafters Returns to its Roots with New 2-Pound Roaster, the Duo

A Coffee Crafters Duo roaster. All images courtesy of Coffee Crafters.

Idaho-based fluid-bed coffee roasting equipment maker Coffee Crafters is launching the Duo, a compact commercial roaster with a batch capacity ranging from 200 grams to 2 pounds.

Starting at $2,995, the all-electric commercial machine runs on 240-volt, single-phase, 20-amp power and is designed to roast up to 10 pounds per hour.

Standing 58 inches tall and weighing about 65 pounds, the unit is intended to stand on its own or be installed on an industrial cart. Coffee Crafters Vice President Bryce Bull told Daily Coffee News the Duo is intended as an accessible upgrade for experienced hobbyists taking their first steps into commercial roasting.

“What we built this company on, early on, was people looking to have a side business just roasting out of their homes,” Bull told DCN. “That’s what we catered to, and so we wanted to get back to that.”

The exposed, cone-bottomed cylindrical steel roast chamber at the center of the Duo marks a return to the legacy form of Coffee Crafters’ discontinued Artisan machines, which helped the company grow before it shifted focus to the higher-capacity Valenta line launched in 2023.

Coffee Crafters Duo.

The Duo also differs from the Artisan models in several ways. Its more powerful brushless loft motor is rated for 5,000 hours of performance, 10 times the rating of the Artisan 3-e’s motor. For controlling a similar 3,550-watt heating element, the Duo displays live voltage, wattage and amperage readings in real time, while the Artisan displayed only live temperature readings.

“[The Artisan] just had a number on a dial for the heat setting. Now you can actually see what wattage is going to the element, and it helps you to be more consistent,” Bull said. “As the roasting environment changes, such as in cold weather, if you’re roasting in your garage, it helps.”

Coffee Crafters still offers parts and service for Artisan machines, though it has ceased production of new units and removed the product pages as the Valenta line took center stage. Subsequent Valenta models now range in capacity from 3 to 18 pounds. Coffee Crafters achieved the higher capacities in part through fully enclosed chambers and heat recirculation.

After developing the Valenta line and bringing manufacturing in-house in 2021, Coffee Crafters determined that, for batches of 2 pounds and under, a smaller, exposed, conical chamber offered the right balance of cost and performance. Bull said that conclusion was also shaped by customer-turned-owner Jason Scott’s perspective.

The company is accepting orders now for machines expected to ship within the next few weeks. The Duo is compatible with the Hermetheus Co-Pilot automation add-on, and Coffee Crafters is developing cyclone chaff collection systems for the Duo and other models.

“We’ve learned so much in the last couple years when we started manufacturing everything ourselves. When we applied that to the old design, it got us thinking that this is a way to get back into the ‘even smaller than Valenta 3’ market that we kind of missed,” Bull said. “We want to get those people in the door to start roasting coffee at some level of production, so when their business grows, we can grow with them and be there every step of the way.”