Roasting Lab, the online roasters’ community and education platform created by roaster, consultant and author Rob Hoos, is making its way to more pockets and workbenches through new iOS and Android apps.
“Moving to having a dedicated app for people’s phones is something I’ve been planning for some time,” Hoos told Daily Coffee News. “The way of accessing the community is new, but the community has deep roots.”
Building on Roasting Lab’s three-year run as a subscription-based professional development and networking hub, the apps are designed to make the platform easier to use day to day, extending its focus on community mentorship, guidance and practical advice for roasters of all skill levels, from hobbyists to production operators.
The apps are also designed to sharpen member-to-member communication tools and introduce an AI agent trained on Hoos’ books, training materials and Roasting Lab community content. Hoos said the goal is for the tool to stay roasting-specific and grounded in real-world practice rather than pulling in random internet noise.
An offshoot of Hoos’ consulting business, Roasting Lab is built to connect roasters who want to share knowledge, troubleshoot problems and swap ideas. Topics range from diagnosing roast defects and dialing in flavor targets to translating profiles between machines and other day-to-day production challenges.
Hoos described the platform as designed for “anyone who is serious about their coffee roasting.”
“I love this platform for anyone who is serious about their coffee roasting,” said Hoos. “We have home roasters who are just starting up with 50-gram batches to people running 5-bag coffee roasting machines — 300 kilograms per batch — and everyone realizes there is something to learn from each person’s perspective,” Hoos said.
Roasting Lab also offers some direct access to Hoos. Since 2023, Hoos said he has monitored the forums closely, frequently jumping into discussions while relying on a third-party provider for app management, platform maintenance and feature integrations.
“The team is just me. I personally look over almost every post and use integrated word monitoring and AI to handle flagging posts,” Hoos said. “So far, I think I have personally responded to almost every post on the platform.”
Membership runs from $10-$60 per month or $100-$600 per year. The entry-level Community tier includes a general forum plus a book club, job board and a marketplace for equipment sales and group buys of green coffee. Community members also get access to a 17-lesson Foundations course and an archive of recorded book clubs, mentorship meetings and roasting lectures.
Higher membership tiers add topic-specific forums, more direct feedback from Hoos, additional courses and live sessions, plus discounts on one-on-one consulting.
Comments? Questions? News to share? Contact DCN’s editors here. For all the latest coffee industry news, subscribe to the DCN newsletter.
Related Posts
Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
