Addis 4.2: The biggest update to the LINK system yet

In July 2026, Nucleus Coffee Tools releases Addis 4.2 — the latest firmware update for the LINK sample roaster, and the most significant in the system’s history.

Addis is the fourth generation of the operating firmware that powers the LINK sample roaster — the intelligence behind every roast plan, power curve calculation, and profile recommendation the system makes.

The LINK’s firmware history stretches back to the initial beta version, Kaffa, which launched in December 2019 with a single roast plan and 41 profiles, establishing the foundational roasting theory that would shape everything that followed. Yemeni (V1), released in March 2022, introduced the five cupping profile packs and the lettering system — A, B, C, D, E — that remains the backbone of the LINK system today. Minas (V2) arrived in March 2023, expanding beyond cupping for the first time to introduce Filter, Espresso, and Omni roast styles, growing the library to 389 profiles across nine plans. Cauca (V3), a surprise Christmas 2023 release, added Filter C and refined the preheating ranges and algorithmic recommendations across all existing packs, bringing the total to 435 profiles.

From May 2024, the firmware moved to an operating system model under the name Addis (V4) — a shift that enabled a new pace of development, with Addis 4.0, 4.1, and 4.1.2 progressively expanding the system to 1010+ profiles across 24 roast plans. The firmware names — Kaffa, Yemeni, Minas, Cauca, Addis — each refer to coffee-growing regions, places, and cultures around the world, in honour of the global community the LINK was built to serve.

Addis 4.2 is the largest single step in that journey yet.

Built through a combination of extensive community feedback and independent development by our team, Addis 4.2 expands the LINK roasting system in every direction at once: new features, new profile packs, a redesigned app experience, and a profiling library that has grown from 1010 to more than 6000 profiles. This is the update we have been building toward.

Fan Priority: A new layer of control

The headline feature of Addis 4.2 is Fan Priority — a new airflow control system that allows you to shape the flavour expression of any roast without touching the underlying roast plan.

Fan Priority effectively allows LINK users to create multiple expressions of a coffee, using the same roast profile – but with different applications of fan speed.  To understand why this matters, it helps to understand what airflow actually does in a roast.

Airflow affects heat transfer, moisture release, heat retention around the bean, and ultimately, the flavour compounds that develop and survive to the cup. Higher airflow creates a cleaner, more open roast environment that promotes clarity and acidity. Lower airflow retains more heat around the bean, encouraging sweetness, body, and deeper caramelisation — closer to what you might experience on a gas roaster.

Until now, the LINK system has managed airflow automatically as part of the roast plan. Fan Priority introduces airflow as a third, user-controlled layer — sitting on top of the Roast Plan and Power Curve — giving you intentional control over flavour direction before the roast begins.

There are four settings to choose from:

• Fan A (Acidity & Clarity) runs the highest airflow, producing bright, expressive, origin-transparent cups — best suited to washed Ethiopians, Kenyan coffees, and floral or fruit-driven lots.
• Fan B (Balance & Harmony) takes a moderate approach, developing acidity, sweetness, and body in proportion — a reliable starting point for blends and most single origins.
• Fan C (Depth & Sweetness) runs the lowest airflow, retaining more heat around the bean to encourage sweetness, texture, and caramelisation — particularly effective for espresso, naturals, and milk-based drinks.
• Fan D (Classic Expression) is the original LINK factory default, applied automatically to all plans and the right choice when you want the roast to speak entirely for itself.

Fan Priority is intentionally flavour-led rather than technical. You don’t need to understand airflow theory to use it — simply select the expression you want to bring out, and the system applies the corresponding airflow curve automatically. It is an opt-in feature and can be turned on or off at any time in the LINK App.

New Profile Packs

Addis 4.2 introduces four new profile packs, each developed in response to a specific need from the LINK community.

WBrC 2026 arrives following Nas Jaafar’s historic win at the 2026 World Brewers Cup in Brussels — the first Malaysian to claim the title, roasting on the LINK. The WBrC 2026 profile pack replicates the exact filter profiles used for his winning coffee: a high-energy start, Maillard-dominant structure, and a short, controlled development window that preserves aromatic complexity rather than overriding it. The result is a cup defined by aromatic lift, layered sweetness, and distinct fruit presence. Best suited to anaerobic and natural-processed coffees, and particularly effective on hybrid immersion drippers.

Bold profiles arrive following extremely high demand from roasters who prefer a darker cup. Available across Cupping, Filter, Espresso, and Omni, Bold profiles are not simply longer or hotter versions of existing plans — they are specifically engineered to deliver the best possible cup at a noticeably darker roast degree, driven by a significantly larger post-crack temperature increase than standard profiles. Development increases range from 11°C to 18°C, compared to roughly 4–7°C in most standard plans. Best suited to denser, sturdier coffees with enough sugar content to convert that extra energy into sweetness rather than bitterness.

Arabic profiles introduce a dedicated six-level roast range (L1–L6) for traditional Arabic-style coffee — a roasting context unlike any other in the LINK system. Rather than developing the coffee’s own flavour, Arabic profiles stop well before first crack, building just enough Maillard-driven warmth and sweetness to create a complementary backdrop for spice blends like cardamom, saffron, and ginger. The six levels move from a very neutral, spice-deferring expression at L1 through to the richest, most coffee-forward expression the Arabic style allows at L6, with L3 (Cinnamon) as the recommended default.

Espresso G & H are two new competition-style profiles developed by Nucleus Coffee Tools’ Angus Mackie, a certified WBC judge and barista competitor with over a decade of competition experience. Both profiles build complexity through an exceptionally slow, extended pre-crack build rather than aggressive post-crack development. Espresso G suits natural and anaerobic coffees, producing sweet, juicy, fruit-forward shots best served with a longer ratio. Espresso H suits honey, washed, and decaf coffees, producing rounder, softer shots with dried fruit sweetness and low acidity, best served with a shorter ratio and slower extraction.

LINK App Updates

Addis 4.2 brings a significant redesign to the LINK App, with the core idea that more information at the right moment leads to better roasting decisions.

Every profile and profile pack now includes a richer, more detailed overview — covering roast structure, cup character, power curve guidance, and Fan Priority recommendations — presented on a new visual Roast Plan overview screen before you commit to a plan.

In addition, Country of Origin and Variety are now factored into Power Curve and DTR recommendations, giving more tailored results based on the specific coffee you are roasting. Fan Priority selection is integrated directly into the workflow, appearing at the appropriate step in both New Sample Entry and Manual Profile Selection modes. Preferences, Advanced Dial-In, and Altitude Calibration settings have all been updated and refined.

By the Numbers

Addis 4.2 expands the LINK profiling system from 1,010 profiles in Addis 4.1.2 to more than 6,000 options for a profile solution — covering a broader range of coffees, origins, varieties, and roast styles than at any point in the system’s history. That number reflects not just the new profile packs introduced in this update, but the cumulative result of every expansion since the LINK system launched: from the original 700+ profiles in Addis 4.0, through 850+ in Addis 4.1 and 1,010 in Addis 4.1.2, to the system that exists today. Each version has added something meaningful – but Addis 4.2 adds more than all of them combined.

But the number that matters most isn’t the profile count — it’s what drove the expansion.

Addis 4.2 is the most community-shaped update we have released. The Bold profiles exist because roasters asked for them, repeatedly and loudly. The Arabic profile pack exists because a significant and growing part of our user base works in a roasting tradition that the LINK system had not yet properly served. The WBrC 2026 pack exists because Nas Jaafar won the World Brewers Cup on a LINK, and we wanted every LINK user to be able to work with the same approach he used on that stage. These are not features that emerged from a product roadmap in isolation — they are direct responses to the people using the machine every day.

At the same time, Addis 4.2 contains features that our users did not ask for, because they did not know they were possible. Fan Priority is the clearest example of this – the idea that airflow could be surfaced as an intuitive, flavour-led decision, rather than a technical parameter managed in the background, is something our team developed independently, through research, testing, and a genuine belief that the LINK system could offer roasters a new kind of creative control.

Espresso G and H follow the same logic: profiles developed not from user requests, but from our team member, Angus Mackie’s deep expertise in competition roasting and his conviction that the LINK could produce competition-quality espresso results in everyday service. Addis 4.2 is the product of both impulses working together — and we think that balance is what makes it the most complete version of the LINK system yet.

How to Update

Addis 4.2 is available as a free firmware update for all existing LINK sample roaster owners.

To update your LINK roaster, connect it to the LINK Studio and follow the firmware update prompt, and then install the Addis 4.2 profile packs.

Many users will have the LINK App update automatically, depending on their model and app store. To manually update, visit the Google Play Store or Apple App Store and select from an available update on the LINK App.

If you have any questions about the update or the new features, visit this page.

To manually install the latest version of LINK Studio, visit nucleuscoffeetools.com/support and follow the download prompts at the bottom of the page.