roast or not to roast??

[luvncoffee]

That is the question.... Who roasts their own beans and who goes with a roaster?? Which is most effecient?? are there people to train on roasting yourself if that's what I choose?? more work or worth it?? Any help appreciated.

 

[latte_luver]

i personally think that doing it at home (if you have the proper equipment and good quality coffee.) besides home made tastes better!... YUMMY

 

[topher]

I think they where speaking commercially....ummmm...did I read the last post correctly? Home roast taste better than professionally roasted? :roll:

 

[luvncoffee]

I am speaking commercially... In my soon to open cafe what advice to this matter do yall have??

 

[ElPugDiablo]

Assuming you are asking about drum roasting, if you have never roast before, Diedrich in Sandpoint, Idaho, Ambex, and other roaster manufacturers offer seminar that will give you some ideas if roasting is for you. Roasting is not hard to learn, but it takes effort and dedication to be a decent roaster, never mind a master roaster. Without a doubt roasting adds additional complexities to your operation. But if you can roast better than average beans, the positives are that your cost of beans is lower, your beans are more fresh, and all things being equal your customers will think your shop is more quality oriented. The negative are that if you cannot deliver on the perceived quality, i.e. your coffee taste no better than the shop down the street, then it's a waste of your money and your time. Oh, did I mention roaster fire? Ultimately, it all depends on your level of expertise. If you have plenty of experience running a coffeehouse, then it's up to you if you want to take the next step.

 

[JoeVolcano]

Roast or not!?!

Our shop is considering roasting as well. I think there will be a 6-8 month payback for a small batch roaster.

Does anyone out there have a Sonafresco? This unit looks automatic enough that we can roast 5-10 times/day and keep up without any issues.

Would like to hear other stores experiences.

 

[cafemakers]

My comments on the subject were posted in this previous thread:

http://www.coffeeforums.com/viewtopic.p ... t=roasting

Even though we do now offer roaster consulting and training, I still recommend against it in most situations and strongly suggest that new shop owners be aware of what they're getting into before roasting at their own shop.

Andrew