Sometimes it’s the cute stuff that catches my eye. I’m only human. And so that’s why I couldn’t get enough of this happy little roaster at SCAA 2015, called the Aillio Bullet R1, with its cute little legs and round little butt. It’s a 1-kilo sample roaster designed in Denmark and built in Taiwan, where twin brothers Jacob and Jonas Lillie reside.
You can plug this little bug right into a household outlet, and it’s certainly an aesthetic step up from your average home roasting enthusiast’s popcorn popper setup. We were told by the brothers that the home roasting gurus at Sweet Maria’s will be testing this machine in their facilities soon. From what we saw at the show (very little, honestly, because the Washington State Convention Center forbids roasting on-site), we can say that it’s totes cute, and if it does what it says it does, it will be a sturdy companion in QC labs, small cafe situations, and, um, my house.
When asked why the machine looks like a little animal, they noted that their Danish background had an influence on its design. It has clean lines, a simple shape, and was designed to feel like a classic coffee roaster. The beans fall out of the drum with a lift of a lever, like a conventional batch roaster. The sightglass is lit by a bright LED light.
Some additional specs worth noting:
The machine is capable of logging and storing roast profiles. The machine boasts “variable power direct heating” with nine settings/steps between 200W and 1500W. The temperature of the drum is displayed on the face of the machine. There’s a cute little cooling bowl with a fan that connects to the roaster.
The machine’s rear has an “easily dismountable” chaff collector to prevent those nasty little roasting fires.
Keep an eye on this device. If the Aillio Bullet R1 operates as good as it looks, it’s going to be quite popular. This adorable little roaster is available for pre-order for $1500, and begins shipping in July 2015.
Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and senior editor at Sprudge.com.