What Is the Loring S35 Kestrel? Why Sandgate Roasts on It

The Loring S35 Kestrel is a 35-kilogram batch convection coffee roaster made by Loring Smart Roast in Santa Rosa, California. Unlike traditional drum roasters that heat beans through direct flame contact, the S35 routes hot air through the drum with a single-burner recirculating system, giving roasters precise control over airflow and temperature without the risk of scorching. It is the roaster Sandgate runs every day — and the reason you can taste a clean, clear cup whether you order a single-origin pour-over or a custom private label blend.

How the S35 Kestrel Is Different from a Standard Drum Roaster

Most drum roasters use two heat sources: a burner beneath the drum and airflow to pull smoke away from the beans. This creates a tradeoff. Too much conductive heat and the surface of the bean chars before the center develops fully. Too little and the roast flattens. Getting both right, batch after batch, demands constant manual adjustment.

The Loring S35 uses one burner that heats recirculated air. That air is what develops the bean. Because the system recirculates, smoke stays inside the roast environment longer and then exits through a catalytic oxidizer rather than going raw into the atmosphere. The result: less fuel use (up to 80 percent less than a conventional drum roaster per Loring's published specs), cleaner emissions, and a flavor profile that tends toward clarity rather than char.

For a lighter roast, this matters. Convective heat lets sweetness develop at lower surface temperatures. Acidity stays brighter. Individual origin character, the stone fruit of an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe or the dark cocoa of a Guatemalan Huehuetenango, comes through without the heavy roast flavor that can mask it.

Why Sandgate Chose the Loring S35

We looked at several roasters before committing to the S35. The main question was consistency at scale. A drum roaster in skilled hands can produce a beautiful cup. The problem is that “skilled hands” is not a replicable variable from shift to shift or from a 15-kilogram sample batch to a 100-kilogram production run.

The S35's automation lets us build a roast profile, time, temperature curve, airflow rate, and hold it precisely across every batch. When a wholesale account reorders, batch 47 tastes like batch 1. When we roast for a private label client, we can match their approved profile within a margin most drinkers would not detect blind. That kind of repeatability is what keeps office programs running smoothly, because the people drinking our coffee on a Monday in Irvine expect it to taste the same as the bag they had last month.

Beyond consistency, the S35 fit our space and our volume. At 35 kilograms per batch, it handles our current DTC, wholesale, and office roast volumes without running multiple shifts. The ISO 9001:2015 certification on Loring's manufacturing process gave us confidence in the build quality as well. These machines are designed for heavy commercial schedules.

What You Taste Because of It

Roaster choice is infrastructure, not a marketing claim. But it does show up in the cup in specific ways.

Our single-origins tend to have clean, defined acidity and sweetness that lingers. Because we are not adding roast char on top of origin flavor, you get more of the bean's own character. Our blends hold consistent body and finish because we can hit the same development time percentage on every component, then assemble them to a predictable result.

If you have ordered our Newport Beach specialty coffee and noticed that the flavor matches what is on the bag, that is the Loring doing its job.

Browse our coffees to see what is currently on the roasting schedule, or order online if you want to taste the difference directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Loring S35 Kestrel?

The Loring S35 Kestrel is a 35-kilogram batch convection coffee roaster manufactured by Loring Smart Roast in Santa Rosa, California. It uses a single-burner, hot-air recirculation system to develop beans with convective heat rather than direct flame, producing a cleaner, more consistent roast profile.

How does the Loring S35 compare to a drum roaster?

A traditional drum roaster heats beans through conductive contact with a hot metal drum and an open flame. The Loring S35 uses recirculated hot air as the primary heat source. This reduces the risk of scorching, uses up to 80 percent less fuel per Loring's specs, and gives the roaster more precise control over flavor development, particularly in lighter roast styles where origin character matters most.

What is the Loring S35 Kestrel's roasting capacity?

The S35 Kestrel has a maximum batch capacity of 35 kilograms (approximately 77 pounds) of green coffee per roast. It is designed for commercial and specialty roastery production volumes.

How much does a Loring coffee roaster cost?

Loring does not publish retail pricing publicly, and buyers work directly with Loring Smart Roast for current quotes. Used S35 units appear on the secondary market typically in the $80,000 to $150,000 range depending on vintage, configuration, and condition. New units are priced higher. Sandgate is not a Loring dealer; contact Loring Smart Roast at loring.com for pricing.

Why does Sandgate use a Loring S35 instead of a drum roaster?

Consistency and profile repeatability. The S35 lets us lock in a roast curve and reproduce it precisely across every batch, which is critical for wholesale accounts, private label programs, and office coffee subscribers who need the same flavor every time they reorder. Convective heat also tends to produce cleaner acidity and more defined origin character in lighter roasts, which is how we approach our single-origins.