Dialing in with Cropster Cafe

This article explains how to Dial-in using Cropster Cafe.

 

What is Dialing in?

• Dialing in espresso with connected equipment 

  • Linking recipes to the espresso machine

  • Evaluating automatic brews as Reference or Test
  • Enrich or edit brews
• Dialing in manually 
  • Log brews
  • Evaluating manual brews as Reference or Test

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What is Dialing in?

Dialing in is the process by which you adjust the parameters until you have found the ideal ones for your coffee, equipment, and brewing method.

Cropster Cafe allows you to dial in your coffees across multiple recipes and brewing methods. Each Recipe can be dialed in across locations, through the process of marking a brew as a Reference.

By following these steps you can find the Dial-In section:

1. Log into the online platform C-sar.
2. Navigate to Cafe on the main menu bar.
3. You will be directed to the Cafe dashboard.
4. Scroll down to the Dial-In section. 
5. Here, coffees are dialed in and logged per brewing method: espresso, batch brew, and manual filter brews. Dialing in espresso can be done with connected equipment, or manually.

Dialing in espresso with connected equipment

For espresso machines connected to Cropster Cafe, brew data will be logged automatically and stored under the machine's dial-in card:

Linked recipes, incoming brews, and tasks assigned to the equipment are also shown here.

Linking recipes

To sort the incoming brews to the correct recipes, you can link your espresso machine's buttons (for La Marzocco connectable machines) or Groupheads (for BrewBeacon connected machines).

Upon dialing in, do a quick check to ensure that this is correctly set up. Cropster Cafe then tracks each of your brews under the right recipe - hands-free.

1. From the espresso machine's Dial In card, select the Recipe tab. 
2. Click the Link recipe button.
   
3. Choose a recipe to link.
   💡You can select to include recipes from other locations as well.
4. Next, link buttons/Grouphead to this recipe, or add the recipe with all buttons/Groupheads unlinked.
   💡 Link a button/group head to the recipe by selecting the gray buttons to enable them (turn green). Unlink a button by selecting the green buttons to disable them (turn gray).
   
5. Click the Link recipe button. To link a new recipe, repeat steps 2-4 written above.

Evaluating automatic brews as Reference or Test

After you’ve ensured your linked recipes are correct, the key part of your dial-in process is to evaluate your brews and mark your ideal one as the new Reference.

Access the Brews tab where you can Evaluate the incoming brews, and Mark them as Reference or Test:

 

1. From the espresso machine's Dial In card, select the Brews tab 
2. Click the Edit button on a brew you want to evaluate. You can edit any information about the brew here. 
   
3. Save as a Reference or Test.

• Reference: Logging your brew as a Reference will update the recipe's brew parameters for this machine. We will then copy its input parameters to subsequent brews captured under the same recipe (until the reference is updated); it will become the new brewing standard for this recipe for this machine. 
• Test: Logging your brew as a Test will not update the recipe. It will log the brew as a regular brew with a clear indication that this brew didn't meet your standards and wasn't handed to a customer. This is useful when dialing in, or during the initial creation of a recipe.
  For example, when dialing in espresso, if a brew does not meet your brewing standards, evaluate it as a Test. Once you have logged your ideal brew, update the recipe by evaluating the brew as a Reference.

Edit brews

In the same evaluation step as above, Cropster Cafe also allows you to add or edit any parameter of the brew, for example, to enrich the data with TDS and Ext % readings, sensory descriptors, yield, etc. You can also update the Recipe, Equipment, or the Roast.

1. (Re)assign the brew to its correct Recipe or Equipment
2. You can update the Roast and Roast date here if you're using a different one. The roast date is automatically filled in if you link the roast's ID tag.
   💡 If your company uses Cropster Roast and you know the ID tag of the roast, you can link it. This will connect the brews with the particular roast batch. It can be updated per brew, no need to create a separate recipe. You can also fill in your identifier for the roast.
   
   
3. Add or edit any parameter

Dialing in manually 

For logging espresso, manual brews, and batch brews manually, brew data can be logged under and stored under the Espresso (manual), Manual Brew, and Batch Brew Dial-in cards.

You can dial in across multiple recipes (of the same brewing method) in one go. For example, if you make a brew of each filter coffee you have on offer, you can log a New brew for each recipe, and then evaluate them once ready.

Log your brews

1. Select the Recipe.
2. Select the Station or Equipment used. Stations help you pre-fill equipment that is often used together.
3. Select the Roast and Roast date. The roast date is automatically filled in if you link the roast's ID tag.
   If your company uses Cropster Roast and you know the ID tag of the roast, you can link it. This will connect the brews with the particular roast batch. It can be updated per brew, no need to create a separate recipe. You can also fill in your identifier for the roast.
4. Log the rest of the brew parameters.
   

   If you need to change the weight unit for a certain parameter (e.g. Dose, Yield), simply tap the unit to select the new unit from the drop-down menu

5. Add a Brew comment to log any extra information here that should be connected to your brew.
6. Log brew, and it will appear in the Logged brews table. No worries, all these brews are automatically saved.

Evaluating manual brews as Reference or Test

Once a brew has been logged, it will appear under Logged Brews. From here, you can mark it as a Reference or Test

• Reference: Logging your brew as a Reference will update the recipe's brew parameters for this location. It is a new brewing standard for this recipe in this location.
• Test: Logging your brew as a Test will not update the recipe. It will log the brew as a regular brew with a clear indication that this brew didn't meet your standards and wasn't handed to a customer. This is useful when dialing in, or during the initial creation of a recipe.
  📝 For example, when dialing in, if a brew does not meet your brewing standards, evaluate it as a Test. Once you have logged your ideal brew, update the recipe by evaluating the brew as a Reference.

To mark it as a Reference, click on the start next to the brew, or click Edit > Save as > Reference. 

To mark it as a Test, click Edit > Save as > Test

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Congratulations! You are now ready to use the Dial-in feature in Cropster Cafe!

Your opinion matters. If you have further questions, feedback, or concerns, please feel free to reach out by submitting a support ticket directly from support.cropster.com