How We Roast At Fox Coffee
And Why Your Cup Tastes So Good
Most roasteries will tell you they “care about quality.”
Cool. But we wanted to go a lot further than that.
At Fox, we have built our whole roasting setup around one simple goal sweet, smooth coffee with zero bitterness, every single time.
That meant investing in serious gear, getting obsessive about data and training our team so we are not guessing at any stage. We want you to taste that effort in every cup.
Here is how we roast and why it matters for you.
Why we chose the IMF roaster
Choosing a roaster is the big decision for any coffee business. It shapes everything that comes after. We spent a long time researching, visiting roasteries and cupping coffees before we chose an IMF roaster out of Italy.
Most traditional drum roasters rely mainly on contact heat. The drum gets hot and the beans touch the metal. That works, but it can easily scorch beans or roast unevenly if you are not on top of it.
Our IMF roaster works differently. It is built around convection heat, which means hot air flows around the beans and does the heavy lifting. That hot air is carefully controlled and constantly adjusted so the whole batch heats evenly. Less risk of scorching, fewer burnt edges and a lot more sweetness in the cup.
It was a big investment. We did it because we wanted full control and repeatable quality, not “close enough” roasting.
A roastery that runs like a well tuned machine
Here is what happens on a normal roasting day at Fox.
Smart loading
We use a green bean loader that weighs and transfers up to 60 kilos at a time. Instead of hauling bags around, we can move beans quickly and gently, ready for roasting. That means we can focus on the important part the roast itself.
Precision heat and airflow
Inside the IMF, a perforated drum and a vortex of hot air work together. The system constantly mixes hot and cool air so the beans do not get blasted, they get guided through the roast. We can control
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Inlet temperature
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Drum speed
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Air speed and airflow
all through a Siemens PLC control system that gives us real time data for every batch.
That means every Fox blend and single origin has its own roast profile with exact targets. If we see a curve drift by a few degrees, we can correct it live. That is the difference between “pretty good” and “this tastes exactly like last time.”
Cleaner roasting, cleaner flavour
The IMF has a built in afterburner that runs at up to 650 degrees Celsius. That does two big jobs
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It cleans the exhaust air and reduces emissions
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It stops smoke and burnt air from rolling back into the drum and tainting the beans
Translated for your cup, you get a cleaner flavour, no smoky taint and no ashy bitterness. Just the sweetness and character of the coffee itself.
On top of that, the roaster recirculates air using a single burner to both heat the drum and clean the exhaust. That means better fuel efficiency and more stable conditions batch after batch.
The hard part you never see
Even with a fancy roaster, great coffee does not happen by accident. It is the hundreds of small choices that add up.
Daily cupping
Every roasting day, we cup our coffees. Not now and then. Not just when something goes wrong. Daily.
We taste for
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Sweetness
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Smoothness
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Balance
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Any hint of bitterness or defect
If something is even slightly off, we adjust. That might mean tweaking the roast curve, checking green stock, or pulling a batch from sale. We would rather dump a roast than send out coffee we are not proud of.
A Q Grader on the tools
Our roast technician Ethan completed his Q Grading certification while working on the IMF. That is the same calibration used by graders who score coffees around the world.
He spent months tasting, tweaking and learning how tiny changes in heat, airflow and development time show up in the cup. That skill now lives in every batch that leaves the roastery.
So yes, we lean on technology. But we also lean on trained palates and human obsession.
What all this means in your cup
You should not have to care about convection vs conduction or inlet temperature profiling. That is our job.
What you should notice is this
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Your blend tastes the same every time you buy it
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Single origins taste clean and distinct, not muddy
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Milk drinks are sweet and smooth, not sharp or bitter
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Black coffees have character without harshness
That is the whole point of our set up.
No burnt flavours
Thanks to the convection heat and afterburner system, we are not fighting smoke or scorched beans. You taste caramel, chocolate, fruit and florals, not charcoal.
Consistency you can rely on
Because we track, log and repeat our roast curves, you can fall in love with a Fox blend and know it will taste like that next month too. At the same time, our seasonal single origins still get the freedom to be themselves and show off what makes them special.
Sweetness first
We build our roast profiles to maximise sweetness and body while keeping bitterness right down. That is why our coffee feels smooth even when you pull a stronger shot or brew a little longer.
Why we talk about this at all
A lot of roasteries hide the technical side and just talk vibes. We like vibes, but we think you deserve to know what you are paying for.
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You are paying for a roastery that invested in one of the most advanced machines in the industry
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You are paying for a team that cups every day and takes quality personally
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You are paying for coffee that is designed to be sweet, smooth and easy to drink, not just impressive on a cupping table
If you are going to drink something every day, it should be this good.
Ready to taste the work behind the roast
You do not need to understand the whole process to enjoy the results.
Pick your style
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A house blend for daily flat whites and long blacks
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A single origin for filter days and slow mornings
Then let the IMF, the data and our team do what they are here to do.
Shop Coffee Beans
Sweet. Smooth. Zero bitterness. All the hard work happens before the bag gets to you.