The Aillio Bullet Home Toaster: My Experience So Far... (2023)

The Aillio Bullet is an impressive and technically complete coffee roaster that is quickly making a name for itself in the coffee industry.

Developed by two Danish twin brothers, this machine was designed for domestic and professional use and offers minimal space for a 1 kilo toaster.

I've been roasting with Bullet for a few months now, so I'm ready to share my experience with Bullet.

However, the origin story of this machine is almost as fascinating as the machine itself.

In this initial review, I'll talk about why I finally took the big leap and upgraded to the Bullet and my first impressions of the roaster after a few more roasts.

So if you're looking for an upgrade on yourcoffee roasting at homeset up and curious about the Bullet, read on.

About Aílio

Aillio was founded by Danes in 2013coffee drinkerJonas Lily. However, the company's beginnings go back even further.

Before founding the company Aillio and inventing the Bullet Coffee Roaster, Jonas Lillie worked as a photographer in Hong Kong. It was at this time that he began his curiosity for coffee roasting.

As a photographer, Jonas often had to work long hours in coffee shops and became aware of the different types of beans and roasts available. He was particularly interested in roasting coffee and began experimenting with roasting his own beans at home.

Initially, Jonas had a hard time finding resources or information on how to roast coffee at home, but he didn't let that put him off. Instead, he started researching and experimenting on his own, learning as much as he could about the process and different types of roasters. He found that there were few resources for home roasters and that most information about coffee roasting was aimed at commercial and professional roasters.

As he began to master the art of roasting coffee at home, he became more and more interested in designing and building his own coffee.coffee roaster.Furthermore, he was obsessed with creating a more efficient device using induction heating rather than more traditional approaches.

a new technology

Induction roasting uses an electromagnetic field to heat a steel drum. In theory, this could be better, faster and more efficient than traditional heating methods such as gas flame, forced air or electronic heating. However, many people were skeptical of the idea early on.

Fortunately, Jonas Lillie's twin brother Jacob, a veteran engineer, bought into the concept.

So Jacob stepped in and provided invaluable technical support and expertise during a rigorous development process in which they 3D printed the first prototypes.

While Jonas worked to perfect the Bullet's design, Jacob was able to help with the technical side. His engineering and manufacturing expertise proved invaluable and was able to help Jonas turn his ideas into reality.

Finally, the first version of Bullet was released. It was designed to be compact, efficient and easy to use, making it affordable for home and professional roasters who need a small machine for pilot roasting.

Thanks to the striking design and innovative features, it was a great success.

After a few years Aillio released an updated version V2 that I have.

It comes with a newly developed and even more accurate infrared thermocouple. This technology is also completely revolutionary in coffee roasting.

Although Aillio is a new brand, it has already proven itself with several innovative ideas in coffee roasting.

unpacking the ball

The Aillio Bullet R1 V2 comes in a double box with a foam insert to protect it during transport. This ensures that your machine arrives in perfect condition. There were reports of issues with early models related to packaging issues and drum alignment issues, but this has been corrected in recent years.

The next step is to set up the toaster and its accessories. Again, this is relatively easy as Aillio provides easy to understand video documentation.

However, it's also a good idea to check the manual and take the time to make sure everything is set up correctly.

It is a piece of advanced technology that operates at extremely high temperatures. So there are security concerns and you don't want to accidentally break something.

Also, you need to download RoasTime, which is available for both PC and Mac, but doesn't work on smartphones or tablets.

The Bullet connects to your computer via a USB cable (the old one, unfortunately not USB-C) allowing users to monitor temperature and save recipes for future use.

Here you can see one of my last baked goods. This amount of data is what makes Aillio's software so interesting.

My grilling experience at Aillio Bullet

The Aillio Bullet was a significant upgrade in size and technology over my previous toaster, the small Korean-made Kaldi Wide.

The Kaldi Wide is a traditional drum roaster that relies on an external gas flame. It has no fancy features and the total capacity is only 300 grams.

On the other hand, Bullet can grill up to 1kg at a time and comes with software and technology.

So I almost felt like I was jumping from the stone age to a sci-fi future when I started baking Bullet.

The difference is probably comparable to jumping from a La Pavoni lever espresso machine to a decent espresso machine.

Of course, there was a learning curve at first. However, after roasting my coffee at home for about 15 years, I quickly understood how to translate my ideas and preferences into the Bullet's new terrain. After the first dozen or so batches, I was able to comfortably manipulate the profiles and roasting curves.

Bullet allows you to control fan speed, drum speed and heat/power. So you have a lot of parameters to adjust. On the other hand, only my previous toaster oven gave me real control over the flame settings.

In addition, Bullet also offers some practical things that make a big difference in daily use:

• It has a built-in debris collector that makes the roasting process much less complicated.
• There is a test window and glass to follow your roasting progress and see the color change.
• It also has two built-in temperature sensors: one is traditional and the other uses an infrared sensor to provide accurate, real-time temperature data without lag.
• And there's also a built-in cooling tray that's surprisingly powerful.

The most impressive feature of this product, however, is its software, which allows you to connect it to your computer and control the temperature rise or fall. You can also save recipes, so if you want to repeat a roast or try something different, you can easily do that.

The software allows users to repeat all of their actions, making it easy to repeat successful roasts. It also has manual buttons for those who prefer not to use the computer.

I was impressed with the consistency AND customization that Aillio's app offers. In fact, I'd say the Bullet is a viable option for anyone looking to start a small roasting business, as it's so easy to iterate through a roasting profile once you've chosen the right profile.

Aillio also has an interactive web interface calledRoast. Worldwhere you can download roast profiles and recipes from other users. I haven't fully explored this interface yet, but that will likely be the next step for me once the novelty wears off. If you don't want to use the "social" aspect of coffee roasting, you don't have to. You can easily rely on the software (or the physical buttons) for your roasting needs.

I recommend?

Roasting coffee is a hobby that has been gaining traction lately, and for good reason. Roasting your own coffee beans can be incredibly rewarding, allowing you to tailor your coffee flavor to your exact preferences, whether you like your coffee light,medium or dark roasts.

I truly believe that roasting coffee at home gives you a deeper understanding of coffee in general. So if you're a true geek I think it's worth it just for the coffee education.

For those looking to take their coffee roasting journey to the next level, the Aillio Bullet is an advanced and expensive option that might be worth considering.

However, this sophisticated device requires some knowledge of coffee roasting if you want to reap the full benefits.

At the same time, it's an expensive roaster, coming in at around $3,500, so it's not a small investment.

For this reason, I would not recommend Bullet for beginners just starting out in baking.

However, if you've been roasting for several years and are looking for increased capacity and more professional controls, this upgrade makes perfect sense.

Once past the 500g capacity range, there aren't many options on the market. Domestic drum toasters quickly resemble small commercial models and have the same requirements and practical requirements as these.

Therefore, you need a place for frying, a powerful heat source, a ventilation system, etc.

Bullet strikes a good balance here; that's IMO worth the extra money. The capacity is semi-commercial, but the practicality means you can grill at home in a small apartment.

Diploma

Roasting coffee is a hobby that can be very rewarding, taking something raw and turning it into a finished product. Also, it gives you a deeper understanding of coffee in general and is worth it even if you aren't saving money or the coffee is better than the best roasters.

Looking back on my coffee roasting journey, I can see that each step was necessary to move forward.

The tools I used could have been more advanced, but they gave me tasty results that matched the level I was working at at the time.

The Aillio Bullet was the culmination of my decades-long journey. This has allowed me to take my coffee roasting skills to the next level and get better flavor results more consistently than ever before.

If you're looking to upgrade your current setup, Aillio Bullet should be on your radar. I don't see any other roasters on the market that offer the same unique combination of semi-pro batch sizes, professional software and small size.

It may be black, but it's the silver bullet of home roasting.