Rex Roaster Launches 4-Pound Electric Drum Roaster for Small Specialty Shops

Rex Roaster has opened preorders on a 4-pound electric drum roaster that is aimed squarely at startup roasters, test kitchens and small specialty coffee operations looking for more control in a compact format. The machine is designed in California, built in Idaho and positioned as a countertop-friendly, all-electric option with Artisan compatibility, venting and chaff collection.

The company’s preorder page puts the regular price at $6,000 and offers three lower entry points for early buyers: a $5,000 “First priority” preorder, a $2,500 “Priority” preorder and a $100 “Get in line” option. Rex says all preorder payments are 100% refundable, a detail that lowers the risk for buyers weighing a new roaster against already proven equipment. The company says it is based in Sacramento, California, with manufacturing in Emmett, Idaho.

Rex says the project has been in development since 2020, when the founders went looking for a mid-size roaster around 4 pounds and came up against a familiar wall in specialty coffee: existing equipment was either too expensive or made outside the United States with limited customer service. After four prototypes, Rex says it is targeting an early 2026 launch and has outfitted its Idaho operation with manufacturing tools that include a 10-foot laser-cutting table and a laser welder.

The launch lands in a market that has been leaning harder into electric roasting. Electric-heat machines remained a major trend through 2023 and 2024, with new equipment arriving in sizes from 50 grams to 15 kilos, and many of the newest professional models emphasizing electronics, automation, precision and push-button repetition. Rex’s 4-pound capacity sits in the middle of that shift, where smaller operators want repeatable production without stepping immediately into larger gas-fired systems.

That middle ground matters because roasting equipment is not just about capacity. Industry guidance from roaster makers has long stressed that coffee roasters require positive-pressure venting and that installation has to meet heat-rating and clearance requirements. Rex’s vented design and countertop-friendly footprint suggest the company is trying to address those practical headaches as much as roast profile control.

If Rex can deliver stable temperature control, repeatable roast curves and serviceable hardware at a manageable price, the roaster could find a strong audience among operators graduating from sample roasting into real production. The preorders show Rex is not waiting for a full retail debut to test demand, and the machine’s U.S.-built pitch taps directly into a growing appetite for smaller-scale coffee entrepreneurship with less infrastructure risk.