FAQ
Straight answers
The questions roasters actually ask us, answered the way we’d answer them at the bench.
What it is, and what it isn’t
Is Emberlot a roast-profiling tool?
No. It doesn’t draw curves, chart bean temp, listen for first crack, or tell you when to drop. It’s the record of what got roasted: which lot, the charge and drop weight, and who’s being billed for it. The roasting stays with you, and Emberlot keeps the record.
Do I have to stop using my profiling tool?
No, keep using it. It handles the profiling and Emberlot handles the operations. You profile the roast on your tool, and Emberlot logs the batch that came off the drum. The two don’t overlap.
Does it cup or score my coffee?
No. Emberlot doesn’t run a cupping table, doesn’t score anything, and won’t grade your espresso. It handles the paperwork side of the roastery. Cupping stays on the table with the spoons.
Data and terms
Who owns my data?
You do. Your green lots, accounts, batch history, and invoices all belong to you.
Can I get my data out?
Any time, as a CSV, including the day after you cancel. There’s no export fee and no need to contact sales to arrange it. It’s a button in the app.
Is there a contract?
It’s month to month, cancel whenever you want. Annual billing is optional and saves you two months’ price. There’s no one or two year term to sign before you’ve run a single batch on it.
If I have a big month, will you bump me to a more expensive plan?
No. If you cross your band, nothing shuts off and nothing upgrades on its own. We’ll flag it, and if the higher volume holds up, you move up when it makes sense. You won’t be charged more than you agreed to without us talking to you first.
How it works
How does the green inventory know how much I have?
You enter your lots by weight when you start, or we import them for you. After that, every batch you log draws its charge weight down from the right lot automatically. The count on screen stays in line with the bin, because it’s updated by the roasting you’re already logging.
Does it handle blends?
Yes, the way you actually roast them. A blend is stored as its component lots, so the roast plan tells you to pull the four single-origins that make up your house blend, at the right weights, and it draws each lot down correctly. It doesn’t treat House Blend as a single bag.
Will my wholesale accounts really use the portal?
More than you’d expect, because there’s no app and no password. You email them a link, they see their standing order, and they adjust and submit it in under a minute on their phone. For the ones who’d rather text you, take the order and enter it yourself. It lands in the same plan and becomes the same invoice.
Does it sync with QuickBooks?
CSV export is on every plan, so your accountant is covered either way. Direct QuickBooks Online sync and API access are on the Line plan.
How do my wholesale accounts pay me?
The same way they do now. Emberlot writes the invoice, priced from each account’s terms, and sends it when the coffee ships. It doesn’t process the payment. Net 15, prepaid, whatever you’ve set stays as it is. Invoices export to QuickBooks Online, and however you take money today, whether that’s your processor, ACH, or a check, doesn’t change. We don’t bundle card processing or take a cut of your wholesale revenue.
What does onboarding look like?
An afternoon, usually. We import your green list and your wholesale accounts so you’re not typing from a spreadsheet. Then, if it’s a fit after your demo, you run a 30-day pilot on your own data before you pay for a month. A real person, probably Renata, helps you set it up.
How big or small do I have to be?
The sweet spot is roughly 500 to 20,000 lb of green a month. Smaller works fine on the Bench plan, and a lot of roasters start there. Bigger than 20,000, book a demo and we’ll figure out the right setup.
Where are the testimonials?
Fair question, since most software sites are covered in them. We do have roasters who like this thing and say so. We just haven’t gotten their permission to quote them on the site yet, and we’re not going to make up a quote to fill the space.
Once a customer tells us in writing that we can quote them, their words will go here. Until then, there’s nothing here but the product screenshots.
Still have a question?
The fastest way to get it answered is to ask it live.