The Nuvo Eco is a ceramic coffee roaster that was designed to be one of the simplest ways to get into home coffee roasting. It’s also a real roaster, compared to other methods of coffee roasting involving repurposed popcorn makers.
Although the roaster can only roast enough coffee for a couple of cups, it is a great way to get your feet wet in coffee roasting with minimal financial investment.
- Material: Body- Ceramic, Grip-Genuine cowhide
- Eco Ceramic Roaster: 100% ceramic
- Waffle-shaped internal structure: equal roasting
- Can enjoy a popping sound due to the rear hole
- Content: 1xCeramic Handy Roaster, Made in Korea
Last update on 2024-06-14 at 01:17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Pros
- Stylish – The Nuvo Eco handheld coffee roaster is a pretty stylish little device. It looks like a cross between a pot and a pan
- Heavy duty – The ceramic unit has a heavy feel to it, similar to how a ceramic mug feels
- Easy to learn – The handheld roaster is very easy to learn, unlocking delicious home roasted coffee for the budding roaster
- Become self-sufficient – Roasting your own coffee at home makes you feel self-sufficient; you no longer have to count on the coffee shop
Cons
- Completely hand operated – This roaster has no bells or whistles; it’s just a handheld coffee roaster. You have to keep shaking those beans as they roast or they’ll end up burning on one side
- Smokey – Since this roaster is entirely manual, there is no smoke suppression system. We recommend roasting with a few windows open or taking the roast outside
Overall Score: 4.7/5
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Quality: 4.6/5
The Nuvo Eco roaster is made of high quality ceramic and the handle is wrapped in a nice, leather cover to prevent unwanted burns while roasting.
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Value: 4.7/5
The handheld roaster is an inexpensive way to experiment with coffee roasting. We like that it easily lets people join the ranks of home coffee roasters.
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Style: 4.3/5
The roaster is sleek and minimalist, but is only offered in a brown color. But hey, at least it matches the roasted coffee that comes out of it.
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Size: 4.8/5
The Nuvo Eco is very compact and small. It can easily be stowed in a garage or cabinet in between uses.
Size
The roaster is capable of handling 30 to 70 grams of coffee at a time. For perspective, most baristas pulling a double shot of espresso use around 18 grams of coffee. With that dose as the baseline, you’ll get around 2-3 cups of coffee out of this roaster. So, we reiterate, if you’re a big coffee drinker, you might want to consider a [larger home coffee roaster].
Materials
The roaster itself is pretty simple. It’s made up of a ceramic bowl that has an opening in the top. The bowl has a ceramic handle protruding from the side that can be used to shake your beans as they roast to keep them from burning.
Style
The Nuvo Eco is a pretty stylish handheld coffee roaster. It has no bells or whistles, but the simplicity adds to its aesthetic.
While we wish it came in more colors, the brown ceramic blends well with the leather-covered handle.
The Handle
The handle is ceramic as well, and ceramics get very hot, so it is wrapped in genuine cowhide. This will keep you from burning yourself while you roast, but still use caution when heating the beans at high temperatures.
The handle is hollow and makes it easy to blow the chaff out of the beans or dump out the roasted beans after you’ve finished roasting.
Heating the Roaster
The Nuvo Eco can be used on an open flame from a stove to a campfire. It also works on electric cooktops. Unfortunately, it does not work on induction cooktops because it is ceramic.
Portability
We think this little roaster makes for the perfect travel roaster. It is small enough to stow in luggage or a backpack, but large enough to roast more than one cup at a time. If you’re a backpacker, camper, or festival-goer, we highly recommend this roaster.
Completing Your First Roast
Roasting with the Nuvo Eco is incredibly easy. Weight out the amount of beans you want to roast. We recommend roasting 50-60 grams at a time. As you roast, the water in the green coffee beans will evaporate, leaving you with fewer grams in your total output. Usually, we see the weight drop by 10-20%.
Once you’ve weighed out your beans, heat up the roaster over a heat source (remember, induction won’t work). When your roaster is preheated, you can pour the beans into the roaster.
Keeping the roaster over the heat source, move the roaster in a figure eight or circular motion. You’ll want to do this throughout the roasting process to keep the beans from burning.
As the coffee roasts, you’ll begin smelling a scent that’s similar to toasted bread. This will get stronger as you roast the beans darker.
Eventually, the beans will emit a loud popping sound. This is known as First Crack and marks the beginning of a new phase in the roast. We like to roast until the popping sound stops.
If you continue to roast through First Crack, you’ll eventually reach Second Crack. This phase sounds like twigs snapping. If you like darker roasted coffee, we would recommend stopping the roast 10-15 seconds into Second Crack.
Coffee roasting can produce quite a bit of smoke, especially if you roast your coffee on the darker side. We like to keep a window open while we roast to help the smoke go outside. An alternative is to roast outside over an open fire. Either way, be sure to follow safe practices when you roast in your home.
After you’ve roasted the beans to your liking, you’ll want to remove them from the heat and dump them in something that conducts heat well. This will help stop the roast abruptly; if you don’t do this, the beans will continue to roast a bit as they cool. We recommend pouring the beans onto a metal baking sheet and spreading them out so they can cool.
When the beans have finished cooling, you should pour them into a coffee canister and tuck them away for 24-48 hours. This is called resting the beans. If you don’t do this and grind your beans right away, the flavors won’t taste very developed. 1-2 days of resting usually is enough to make the beans taste wonderful.
Cleaning the Roaster
After you’ve finished roasting, make sure to let the roaster cool before attempting to clean it. If you run water over it while it’s still hot, you could thermally shock it causing the ceramic to shatter. It’s best to let it come to environmental temperature after roasting before cleaning.
Once the roaster has cooled off, you can wipe the remaining coffee oil from the inside of the roaster with a damp rag. Over time, you may find coffee oils building up. Wash the roaster with soapy water and it’ll be good as new.
Summary
Overall, we think the Nuvo Eco handheld coffee roaster is the perfect way to learn to roast coffee at home with little impact to your bank account.
The small size of the roaster will let you experiment with many different types of green coffees and roast profiles until you find the one that works best for you.
The roaster is very easy to clean and maintain, plus it’s small enough to tuck away when it’s not in use.
Perfect Pairings
Green coffee beans – Coffee roasters are pretty useless without coffee beans to roast in them. Some of our favorite green coffee beans are these single-origin, Nicaraguan beans.
- Beans are for home/small batch roasting. Beans are green, raw, unroasted and must be roasted prior to brewing coffee. Do not grind prior to roasting. Recommended roast profile is medium (also known as city or regular) in order to highlight the delicate nuances of the bean.
- From our most recent harvest, premium Arabica unroasted green beans from the best Caturra micro-lots at our fourth generation family farm. Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon and is the benchmark Central American coffee from which all others are measured in the region. Well-known for its rich sweetness and gentle profile, it is a well-balanced, smooth coffee. Its sweetness is complimented by a distinctive citrus acidity and pleasant cacao notes.
- Specialty green coffee beans with 5 or less defects and no primary defects per 300 grams; moisture content between 11-12%.
- Strictly high grown under shade trees (4,000 FASL), harvested by hand, European prepared, fully washed and naturally dried.
- Produced sustainably with the highest standards for our fellow Nicaraguans and natural resources.
Last update on 2024-06-14 at 01:17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Coffee scale – A coffee scale is an absolute must when it comes to precisely measuring the green coffee beans that go into the roaster and the roasted beans that come out. We recommend picking up a Hario V60 coffee scale; it will double as the perfect scale for all of your coffee brewing needs.
- Hario V60 drip coffee scale measures in 0. 1 gram increments for highest precision
- Includes a drip timer for perfect bloom times and pours each time
- Integrated timer for complete and total control of your coffee brewing process
- Auto power off in 5 minutes (not activated when the timer is on)
- Scale dimensions: 7. 4" x 4. 7" x 1. 1" ; Uses 2 AAA batteries (included)
Last update on 2024-06-14 at 01:17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Coffee canister – An airtight coffee canister is one of the best investments you can make for your freshly roasted whole bean coffee. As coffee ages, it releases less and less oxygen making it vulnerable to oxidation, which stales the beans. Containers like the Airscape coffee canister help keep your coffee fresh for longer.
- INNOVATIVE & PATENTED DESIGN - Original Airscape coffee & food storage canister with patented plunger lid removes and locks out air and humidity. Patented two-way valve pushes out excess air to preserve & protect freshness & flavor.
- SOUND OF FRESH - Airscape lid removes all air in the canister creating airless food storage; extends the life of coffee, tea, flour, sugar, cereal, cookies, seeds, herbs, nuts, pet food or any perishable goods. The “swoosh” sound lets you know it’s working
- COFFEE CONNOISSEUR - Proper storage to preserve the integrity and quality of the whole coffee bean, extending the coffees' body & flavor profile for an exquisitely crafted cup of artisan brew. Resists staining & odor transfer
- QUALITY COUNTS - Airscape Coffee & Food Storage Canister made from 18/8 restaurant-grade stainless steel, BPA-Free components with an enamel paint finish. Multiple colors available to add a pop of color to your kitchen. Hand-wash only
- STURDY & STACKABLE - A perfect size for your kitchen counter or easy to stack for compact storage in the pantry. Medium holds approx. 1 lb (500 g) of whole bean coffee [dimensions 5"w x 7"h]; Small holds approx. 1/2 lb (250 g) of whole bean coffee [dimensions 5"w x 4"h]
Last update on 2024-06-14 at 01:17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API