The Roma Pro coffee roaster from Chinese brand Mago Maga. All images courtesy of Mago Maga.
A 300-gram-capacity fluid-bed coffee roaster called the Roma Pro Smart Home Coffee Bean Roaster is entering the United States market.
Created by a Chinese brand called Mago Maga, led by a Beijing parent company called Time100 Inc., the machine comes with five built-in automated roast profiles designed to roast from light to dark, adjustable for batches of 150 or 300 grams.
While largely unproven on U.S. soil, the machine functionally resembles the iconic Fresh Roast home roasting machines, yet the comes in at a somewhat higher price point, capacity and overall size. This lands it in a middle ground between the Fresh Roast and higher-end fluid-bed home roasters by brands such as Ikawa and Kaffelogic, which also have lower capacities but more advanced, precision-oriented controls.
Users of the Roma Pro can bypass the automated profiles to roast manually, adjusting heat and fan power on the fly through buttons below the LCD screen. First and second cracks can be heard over the sound of the fan, according to the company.
Dual temperature sensors inside the machine monitor bean temperature and the safety of its internal components, the company told DCN. The machine’s integrated chaff collector catches rising chaff at the top of the column as it is blown free while roasting, and beans are emptied through a side hatch on the machine following an automated cooling phase into a user-supplied receptacle.
“While the Mago Maga Roma Pro is specifically designed for home use, it is also capable of withstanding continuous roasting operations, such as those in a roastery lab,” Sara Zhang, public relations manager at Time100 Inc., told Daily Coffee News. “Many professional roasters appreciate its ease of use for sample roasting, as the auto mode allows for smooth operation, with the ability to roast up to 300 grams at a time.”
The brand also recommends allowing the machine to cool for at least 20 minutes between roasts.
Founded in Beijing in 2011 by e-commerce entrepreneur Chifeng Lei, Time100 sells watches, apparel and some other small appliances. According to Zhang, who responded to DCN via email, the company launched subsidiaries in Hong Kong and the U.S. for sales last year. In the U.S., the company advertised a crowdfunding campaign for the Roma Pro machine, eventually raising approximately US$127,000 through Indiegogo.
While the current version of the Roma Pro does not record manually executed profiles for later automation, an upcoming second version will, according to Zhang. For simplicity’s sake, neither version will be capable of connecting to third-party roast profiling software or any external devices or apps.
“We are concerned that the complexity of an app might become a barrier to widespread adoption for home use,” founder Lei told DCN. “Based on feedback from our first batch of users from 30 countries and regions, 90% of them do not need an app in their daily use and are still able to enjoy the coffee roasting process happily.”
The Roma Pro launched for sale to customers in the United States this past July through the Mago Maga website, and through Amazon, for $488.
Mago Maga plans to exhibit the machine at the upcoming 2025 SCA Expo in Houston in April. The product is also being submitted into the Expo’s Best New Product competition.
“As coffee enthusiasts ourselves, we understand the importance of quality and freshness in every cup,” said Lei. “Our mission is to democratize coffee roasting, giving everyone the ability to create their perfect cup of coffee from start to finish — just like a professional.”
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