Introductions

christine · Oct 9, 2015

My wife, Christine and I are opening a coffee and food cart here Astoria Or. and plan on picking a few peoples brains that have already done so....I have been a chef
for over 30 years a my wife is a coffee buff and the real brains behind the business end of things....glad to be here!!!!

PinkRose · Oct 10, 2015

Hello Christine's Husband,

Welcome to the Coffee Forums website. You will find a lot of useful information here.

We have a handy search feature, that's at the top right corner of your screen, where you can search a topic and view previous discussions.

We hope you will participate in the Forum discussions and ask questions when you're ready.

Rose

phebevn · Oct 26, 2015

Hello all,

That's nice when I know this forum. It has so many meaningful topics to learn more about coffee.

I'm Phebe Phuong from HCMC, Vietnam (I've tried to count but maybe just there are 3-4 Vietnamese here

). My company - SAGASO is the first company produce single serve coffee in Vietnam (coffee capsule & coffee pod).

With the advantage of the second largest coffee producing country in the world, our concept is really "From bean to cup" with a very good price & quality.

Hope to have many interesting discussion!

Phuong

sjmyst · Oct 26, 2015

Hi,

I'm a webmaster for a coffee bean website. But, I'm making no claims of expertise. I'm interested in coffee beans, and I'm kind of using my web site as a learning experience in this genre. To be able to write about something, I have to learn a fair amount about it. Well, I suppose I don't. But, the pages will contain unmitigated crap if I don't. My wife is actually the coffee connoisseur in the family. So, I get a lot of starting topics from her and dig around for details for the web site. This site seems like a great place to sift for gold. I hope to get to know some of you as I continue on my coffee bean learning experience, while picking your brains for info.

Regards,
sjmyst

kcupwithyourname · Oct 28, 2015

Hi my name is Carlos, Im a coffee grower from Colombia specializing in kcup private label to businesses in the USA, hoping to have many friends in coffee forums. Thanks

Mr.Peaberry · Oct 28, 2015

Welcome to the coffee forums, Carlos. I am confused, so I apologize if this strikes you as an odd question. If you are a grower who is selling prepackaged coffee, then you must do all of your own processing too? Do you mind if I ask what motivated you to get into prepackaged coffee for export? Just curious that's all....

topher · Oct 29, 2015

Carlos are you located in Sunrise Florida?

CenRoast · Oct 30, 2015

Hello Everyone,
My name is James, and my business partner and I are planning on opening a coffee shop. We're currently researching a lot, and have found what we believe to be the perfect location for our business. We are planning on roasting our beans in-house; literally. Our preliminary idea is to buy a Probat 5 and fresh roast our coffee right at the front of the store. However, we aren't really sure if that's entirely feasible, given that neither of us have operated a coffee roaster before, and we aren't sure if it would be too loud to operate in the cafe. I should also add that we aren't sure of any other issues that we are unaware of that might prevent us from roasting so close to customers as well. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, and I look forward to speaking with many of you.

PinkRose · Oct 31, 2015

CenRoast said:
Hello Everyone,
My name is James, and my business partner and I are planning on opening a coffee shop. We're currently researching a lot, and have found what we believe to be the perfect location for our business. We are planning on roasting our beans in-house; literally. Our preliminary idea is to buy a Probat 5 and fresh roast our coffee right at the front of the store. However, we aren't really sure if that's entirely feasible, given that neither of us have operated a coffee roaster before, and we aren't sure if it would be too loud to operate in the cafe. I should also add that we aren't sure of any other issues that we are unaware of that might prevent us from roasting so close to customers as well. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, and I look forward to speaking with many of you.

I remember reading a thread recently where someone asked the same question, and he was advised not to do it. If you do a search on this forum (with the search box that's at the top right corner of your screen), you may be able to find it.

The roaster needs to be in a separate climate controlled space, possibly in its own enclosed room. They do make noise, and they produce heat.

Room temperature and humidity makes a difference in the beans as they're roasting. Setting the roaster up by the door of the cafe is probably not be a good idea. It would be good for "show," but not good for the coffee.

You may want to do some more research before you continue with your plans.

Mr.Peaberry · Oct 31, 2015

Welcome James. You can look up Polly's Gourmet Coffee in Belmont Shore, California...an area of Long Beach. Michael Sheldrake has been roasting coffee on site since the 1970's in a vintage Probat roaster. His roaster is at the back of the store, and partitioned off from customers, but still open for all intents and purposes. Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders just opened up a few months ago in my town, and they have a Diedrich roaster that is in the coffee shop area of their large warehouse/coffee shop space. The only thing that scares me is that you haven't roasted before. How soon until you open?

CenRoast · Oct 31, 2015

Thank you, Pink Rose, for the info; that's exactly the input I was looking for.

I will definitely do a lot more researching on the topic, and try to find that thread you mentioned.

Thanks!

CenRoast · Oct 31, 2015

Mr. Peaberry, our goal is to open in 2-3 months. Ambitious, I know. Right now, roasting ourselves is sort of at the bottom of our list. We really like the idea of doing it, but we know we have no clue what we're doing, and need to learn first. We've also discussed sourcing beans through a roaster until we get our feet on the ground, and then roasting our own once we're more established and comfortable.

As for putting a roaster instore, can you tell me your thoughts on it, and any requirements the roaster would need to operate well?

Mr.Peaberry · Oct 31, 2015

As I said, there are coffee shops that operate their roasting business in the same open room as their coffee house. The obstacles are the health department in your jurisdiction, your landlord, and any perceived insurance issues that may make doing so in your particular location cost prohibitive. Because the exhaust from the roaster will also likely have to be treated with an afterburner if allowed, that can also raise issues. And even after all the green lights are given, a cantankerous neighbor might sue you after you go through all the expense of putting this in. Certainly requires that your roasting operation will determine the location. If your chosen location is ideal for the coffee shop, and the roasting operation becomes impractical or is disallowed in that location, then perhaps you will have to locate your roasting off site.

CenRoast · Oct 31, 2015

Thank you. We'll keep researching, and I'm sure give updates along the way too.

kcupwithyourname · Nov 3, 2015

Mr. Peaberry, Thank you, yes we do it all, we own few coffee farms in Colombia (small), but at the same we work with farmers from the area to bring the best coffee from the region, we like to work with small growers, why small? because this will let you keep better care of the plan and will make a better coffee bean. What motivated me was that there is to much blend coffee in kcups, our product is packaged in colombia, with 100% colombian coffee. But the most exciting thing is that we can package our coffee for any Keuring or Nespresso capsule machine with the name of our clients (logo, boxes, info) in not such big quantities, ours are less than what a regular kcup packager company will ask. Our coffee is graded 83 with the S.C.A.A. keep in touch....