How to integrate beverage evaluation in Roast compare

This manual shows you how to integrate beverage evaluation in your Roast compare.

This feature is available with a subscription to both Cropster Roast and Cropster Cafe.

If you would like to sign-up for Cropster Cafe, please contact your sales representative or simply email cafe@cropster.com.

You need to have Group administrator permissions to perform the actions outlined in this manual.

Permissions

  1. From the top-right corner, go to Settings (⚙️) > Users
  2. Find your user and click the Edit permissions button.
  3. Select on Custom to see which permissions you have.
  4. Check that View permissions are selected under the Roasts and profiles drop-down menu.
  5. Check that View & Edit is selected for the Brew and Recipe drop-down menu.
  6. Select Update user button.

Locations

First, you need to verify that your roastery location is set-up as a Cafe location.

Learn about Managing locations.

Integrate beverage evaluation in the Roast Compare report

Now you're ready to start integrating beverage evaluation as part of your Roast QC process.

  1. Go to Roasts in the navigation menu, to go to the Roasts overview page.
  2. Select the finished roasts you would like to compare from the list by checking the box. 
  3. Click the Roast Compare button. The Roast Compare report opens where you can now see all the details of your selected roasts.
  4. You will see a section in the table called Brew quality. In this section, you see the parameters that you can record as part of your Roast evaluation. You can enable/disable more parameters by clicking on the Brew quality button.

    This table will always show the parameters of the latest reference brew connected to this roast batch, and its location (i.e. your roastery).

  5. To add a reference brew connected to this roast batch and your roastery location, add one by clicking Add brew recipe (this takes you to the Recipes overview page). 
    From the Recipes overview page, you can see all the recipes your company has across all your locations.
  6. From the Recipes overview...

Logging from an existing recipe

If you already have a recipe using the coffee you're evaluating, find the recipe in the list and click Log:

  1. Select the location referring to your Roastery, and Station.
    You will need to select a station if there are multiple stations available within the Cafe location.
  2. Log the brew parameters. You can also update the Roast and Roast date here if you're using a different one.
  3. Add the rest of the brew parameters.
  4. If you have multiple brews to log, set them as Test. When you’re happy with the brew's result, log as Reference.

  5. Go back to the Roast Compare report. The reference brew parameters will now show up in the Brew quality section of the table.
    Again, the table will always show the latest Reference Brew of the same location as the location of the roast batch itself. 

If you have already added some Test brews to the Brew log, tap the Star icon () next to the brew, and tap Done to set the brew as the new reference.

If you have another roast for the same green coffee, simply Log brews again under the same recipe, but this time tie your brews to the other Roast ID-tag.

Adding new recipe

If you don't have a recipe for the coffee you're evaluating yet, add a new recipe for it by selecting the +Add new recipe button:

Learn to add a new recipe from Creating Recipes.

After creating the new recipe, go back to the Roast Compare report. The reference brew parameters will now show up in the Brew quality section of the table.
Again, the table will always show the latest Reference Brew of the same location as the location of the roast batch itself. 

Note: As a Cafe manager you will be able to select which locations to set the reference for. Barista users in each Cafe location will then be able to use your reference as a starting point when they’re brewing in their location on their equipment, without needing to create a new recipe. You can also set the reference only in your roastery location for now, and set it to other locations later. 

Compare Roast performance in the Brew report

If you want to see how Roast batches are performing over a wider period of time, and across any of your locations, you can compare them in the Brew report. 

  1. From the Roast compare report, click Open in Brew Compare report

    The report will automatically grab the relevant recipes that have brews linked to the selected roast batches, and will group them by roast. 
  2. Choose your Report settings:
    • Select Show current references to get a snapshot of how these roasts are currently being brewed in your different locations.
    • Select Choose a date (range) to see how your roasts are performing over time, across all your locations.
    • You can also Group by Brew recipe, Country of origin, Location, or Brewing method.
  3. Choose which parameter to compare.
  4. See how your Roasts are extracting on the Strength/Extraction chart.

Note: The Strength/Extraction chart will only display with references that have TDS and Extraction values.

Congratulations! You have successfully integrated beverage evaluation in your Roast compare!

Thank you for being a Cropster customer! If you have feedback, questions, or concerns, please feel free to reach out by submitting a support ticket directly from support.cropster.com.

We design and make alterations to our software based on user feedback, so we look forward to seeing what you have to say!