G. W. Barth (Sirocco)
Industry and continuous roasting, Ludwigsburg, Germany.
History
The original name states the selling point: “factory of patented safety roasters Josef Haag,” at a time when fire was the main risk of the trade. Georg Wilhelm Barth joined as a partner in 1890 and gave the firm his name. His spherical Sirocco roaster was awarded a prize in Brussels in 1897, then in Versailles and in Paris. Barth roasts coffee, but also cocoa, chicory, malt, cereals and peanuts.
Underinvestment in the 1970s, bankruptcy in August 1980 with 210 employees; the machine division was taken over by its technical director, who made it the world leader in cocoa roasters. The center of gravity shifted there. Move to Freiberg am Neckar in 1988, acquisition by Bühler in 2007: the only major German name in roasting to have ended up in a Swiss group, which explains why it is almost invisible in German lists.
What it makes
Historically, drums with adjustable paddles, and spheres. The product sold today under the Barth name at Bühler, the Tornado, roasts cocoa nibs and malt.
The models
Sirocco (a 120 kg Scirocco from 1966 circulates secondhand, 150 kW burner), Menado 30 kg, still in service at British specialty roasters. Coffee roasters are no longer made.
What you gain
A drum with adjustable paddles and 1.25 kW per kilo falls under classic conduction with a convective supplement: long profiles are easy, good inertia, stability from one batch to the next.
What you lose
Limited responsiveness during the roast and possible marking on contact with the wall. And the coffee line is extinct.