Goal: Learn how Roastables bridge the gap between inventory and production.
Prerequisites: You must have added at least one Bean Lot to your inventory.
What are Roastables?
Roastables are one of the most important concepts in RoastLog. Think of them as the bridge between your green coffee inventory and what you actually roast on a daily basis.
A Roastable represents how you'll use a particular coffee (or combination of coffees) in your roasting process. Roastables can be:
Single-origin coffees - Using 100% of one Bean Lot
Pre-roast blends - Recipes combining multiple Bean Lots
Different profiles - Multiple approaches to roasting the same Bean Lot
Roastables connect your Bean Lots to your production process.
Why Roastables Matter
Roastables are essential because they:
Enable accurate inventory tracking - RoastLog uses Roastables to know which Bean Lots to deduct from
Support consistent production - Your roasting team knows exactly what to roast
Facilitate clear communication - Everyone shares a common language about what you're producing
Generate meaningful reports - You can track performance by product rather than just by bean
Creating Your First Single-Origin Roastable
Good news! A default single-origin Roastable is automatically created whenever you add a new Bean Lot. To view or modify it:
Go to the Roastables page
Find the Roastable with the same name as your Bean Lot
Click on it to view details
If you want to create a custom single-origin Roastable:
Go to the Roastables page
Click Create Roastable bean in the toolbar
Give your Roastable a descriptive name (e.g., "Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Light")
Choose the Bean Lot, for the Component field.
Select which roasting locations will use this Roastable
(Optionally) Add a default shrinkage percentage
Save your changes
Create custom single-origin Roastables for different roast profiles.
Creating Your First Blend
Blends require a bit more setup:
Go to the Roastables page
Click Create Roastable blend in the toolbar
Give your blend a name (e.g., "House Blend")
Add each component Bean Lot and specify its percentage
Select which roasting locations will use this blend
(Optionally) Add a default shrinkage percentage
Save your changes
Create blends by specifying the percentage of each component.
Updating Roastables
As your bean inventory changes, you'll need to update your Roastables:
When a Bean Lot runs out, update blends to use new lots
When creating seasonal blends, create new Roastables
When experimenting with profiles, create variant Roastables
To update a Roastable:
Go to the Roastables page
Click on the Roastable name
Click Edit this item in the toolbar
Make your changes
Save the updated Roastable
When you update a roastable's component, or recipe, it will not affect any roasts in the past. Each roast using a particular recipe will be unaffected, but new roasts using the updated Roastable will use the updated components.
Roastables in RoastLogger
When you log in to RoastLogger, you'll only see Roastables that are associated with your specific roasting location. Many roasters only have a single roasting facility so this will have no impact. However, if you operate a larger business with multiple roasting facilities, RoastLogger will pull the roastables from whatever location you have selected.
Next Steps
Now that you've set up your coffees and Roastables, you're ready to learn how to manage your inventory as it moves through your business. The next section covers transferring coffee between locations.