BlendingRoom

BlendingRoom Blending Room are coffee roasters based in Hull, East Yorkshire. Visits to the roastery are welcome.

08/06/2026

Reprofiling our coffee for more development and balance

A few of you asked how I’m adjusting my profiles in the new system I learned last week. Here’s exactly what I’m doing: working within a solid template, breaking the roast into drying, Maillard, and development phases, then tweaking times and temperatures to suit the cultivar, processing method, moisture content, and screen size—all to achieve greater solubility, balance, and deliciousness.

Old profile vs new:
• Drying phase: 5:25 → 5:40 at ~167°C
• Maillard phase: extended +36s from FC at 8:24 to 9:20 at 202°C
• Development: 1:20 post-first crack to 209°C (RoR 5.25°C/min) versus 1:24/210.7 RoR 6.14°C/min

Result? Controlled acidity, reduced bitterness (from outer bean caramelisation), and a beautifully balanced medium body/intensity (I hope). The aim is to be perfect for pour-over and espresso at home via an Omni roast.

Let’s see how the test roast works.

07/06/2026

What a week at the roastery. Anyone had the Favo de Mel?

I spent two days doing Loring roast training this week. What a revelation. I really should have done it sooner. Two years I’ve been roasting on the machine without fully understanding its design - positives and negatives.

We released Favo de Mel using the information gained from the workshop. The profile is designed for greater balance of roast development. You should see a more refined acidity and a reduction in roast character (not that there was much before, but I’ve definitely cleaned this up).

Beverley market went well, irrespective of the ongoing works. It blows my mind how long it’s taking. Mind you, when you visit Beverley in the mid-week and see no workmen on the project, it’s not that difficult to understand why it’s taking so long.

For those of you who visit the Beverley market stall, please be aware that I will not be there on Saturday the 13th of June (this coming Saturday). It’s my boy’s first birthday and we’re off to nanna’s for a celebratory weekend. I’ll be back on Saturday the 20th of June.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

06/06/2026

Favo de Mel: The most important coffee release of 2026

That’s a bold statement, James. How so?

This coffee was roasted in a totally new way earlier this week, with help from a Loring roast trainer (thanks, Mike). Now that I understand the Loring roast system better, I applied a completely different heat profile—and let the roaster run it on its own. Yes, all by itself!

You can’t imagine how transformational the workshop was, and how much it could change our approach to roasting from this release onward. That’s why I’m calling it the most important coffee of 2026.

So what do you get? More development time in the roaster + smarter use of automation = a beautifully balanced, well-structured coffee. In the cup, you’ll find a well-balanced, structured expression of cherry and red apple peel, with a soft, creamy body and a finish of milk chocolate and pecan.

It’s an omni-roast that shines as both filter and espresso (just increase the yield for better balance). I’d prefer you to drink this as a filter brew, but I’m confident you’ll enjoy it in any apparatus you throw at it.

Picked up a bag? What did you think?

05/06/2026

What really goes on in a 2-day professional Loring roast workshop?

This whiteboard captures some of what we discussed during a two-day Loring roaster workshop at the roastery this week. We covered everything from roast development and flavour manipulation to the practical decisions every roaster faces.

If you want the full story, technical details, and my honest reflections, the long-form video is now live on YouTube (link in bio).

04/06/2026

Essential Loring tip: clean your chaff barrel nozzle properly 🚿

The water quench nozzle on top of the chaff barrel is a critical part of Loring’s safety features — it needs to flow a full 1 litre every 15 seconds for the machine to function normally. When it gets clogged with chaff and organic matter (which it does), you’re likely to run into trouble at the end of a batch — flame-out.

This happened to me, and I had to MacGyver it with a paperclip to finish the day’s roasts. Here’s the proper way to stay on top of it.

03/06/2026

The BIGGEST upgrade to my roasting in years!

I just finished an intense two-day, in-person roasting training with a Loring consultant (Michael), and it’s genuinely been one of the biggest revelations of my roasting career.

I’m not ashamed to admit it — I was doing a decent job, but after these two days I’m embarrassed by how much better my coffee can be. The difference in the cup is night and day.

Over the last 48 hours I’ve roasted coffees I genuinely didn’t think were possible on my setup — so much so that I deleted every single one of my old Cropster profiles today, ready to start fresh tomorrow.

Huge thanks to Mike for sharing his knowledge. If you’re serious about roasting on a Loring, I can’t recommend working with him enough.

Shop fresh roast → theblendingroom.co.uk

02/06/2026

Day 1 of Loring roast training done ✅ 

Biggest takeaway: if you can afford one-on-one training, do it.

Having an experienced eye review my roast profiles was a proper epiphany. I was getting decent results, but I wasn’t fully developing the bean from the inside out.

Now I’ve got clear mechanisms to move away from old dogma and roast with far more intention and precision.

The coffee I’m drinking right now tastes like proof it’s working.

Full review of the 2-day training coming after Day 2.

31/05/2026

Beverley Saturday market day walk & weekly catch-up from The Blending Room ☕

This week I’ve been covering for Sam while he’s on holiday in Costa del Leven. That meant a 12-hour roast day in this proper British heatwave 🔥. I learned the hard way that convective roasters in humid weather are no joke.

I’ve also been deep-cleaning the roastery and prepping for an exciting consulting project to improve my roasting, starting Monday.

Plus — we dropped a brand new coffee this week that’s crying out to be made as an iced V60. Perfect for the weather we’re having right now. Mind, the forecast for the coming week put a damper on that statement.

Shop fresh roast → theblendingroom.co.uk

30/05/2026

🍋 Lemon, Lime & Honey - Uganda Butawa is delicious!

When I received the offer list from Falcon Speciality, Butawa stood out — the flavour notes reminded me of a coffee lozenge. I wondered if I could really emphasise the honey element to present a bright, citrusy coffee with a balancing, syrupy body.

My idea was to use my (currently) preferred pyramid heat application, building heat through phases of the roast that I think produces body in the cup. One consequence of this roasting style is that the flavours can be more intense than with a gentler heat application — more “poppy” in the mouth.

I think the idea worked! You’ll get zesty lemon & lime upfront, followed by a lovely honeyed sweetness and that satisfying, full texture — exactly what I was chasing.

Perfect for cafetière, Clever Dripper, or any brew method that lets the body shine. Not my first choice for espresso (acidity is lively), but great fun to experiment with.

Let me know your thoughts if you buy a bag. Did I get the body right?

29/05/2026

Planning for 2+ Roasters? Get This Gas Pipe Right

Thinking about setting up a gas coffee roaster? Here’s a key installation tip from a working roastery in Northern England.

The diameter of your gas pipe determines how much gas your roaster receives. If you’re running (or planning to run) more than one roaster off the same supply, undersizing the pipe now will limit you later.

We run two roasters off one line at The Blending Room — getting the pipe diameter right from day one makes scaling up smoother and more future-proof.

👉 Want more hands-on roasting & brewing tips? Follow for weekly advice from a UK roastery.

Address

30 Unit Factory Estate
Kingston Upon Hull
HU34AY

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

01482 212409

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