Hello,

I was wondering what everyone recommended for someone who wants to start up a little home / garage roasting business perhaps roasting for friends, family, colleagues and if successful build to roasting for a main business. Currently, I am in the Army and do not need extra finances but plan on getting out in the next 9 months and going back to school. While in school I plan on roasting on the side to generate some money maybe 10,000-15,000$ which is A LOT of coffee, I know, but not compared to an actual business (business). I have been looking at the BC-300 and BC-600, SF-1, Mill City 500/1LB, Aillio Bullet R1, HOTTOP 2k+, and many others. I realize that this is a LARGE undertaking and I am most likely under-thinking. Do realize I am 25 and still think I am invincible haha. But seriously, I have really enjoyed getting into espresso recently and have been roasting for 5 years and really want to learn more and if while learning I generate some cash to pay off my roaster then that'll be great. Would you guys/gals recommend starting smaller? I have read a lot on the Roasting forum about people wishing they jumped in midway. My 5 years of roasting I have mentioned above has been on a Freshroast SR500 logically, the next progression is a Behemor or Hottop but should I just dive into the 3000-5000 range and not look back?


Thanks,

Braden

I am currently doing this, and roast on a north TJ 067 (1kilo gas) roaster. I primarily sell to neighbors, friends, family coworkers etc. and do do It primarily as a hobby that can fund itself.

I would not recommend anything smaller than a 1 kilo, and there are times where I really wish I would have started off with a 2k roaster. You will want to avoid anything non-commercial on your list (hottop, bullet, etc.) because they just won't last with the constant use you will hopefully be putting it through.

PM me if you want any more details on my setup, usage pattern etc.

I started roasting in my garage about 3 years ago. I made the jump from a home-made SC/TO roaster that could do 1# at a time to an Artisan 6 fluid bed roaster that does 5-6#. My thinking was that if I could roast 5# at a time, and do 4-5 roasts an hour, I could possibly roast 100# a day, if I ever got that many customers, and then spend the rest of the day bagging and shipping and whatever.

It is very hard to make money selling to friends and family. Think about it. Even if you buy coffee by the full bag at $3 a pound, by the time your roast it your at $3.50 due to moisture loss. It costs about $1 for a bag and label, another $1.50 labor + energy costs. If you retail your coffee for $12 for 12oz, you're maybe clearing $5-6 profit. And that's without factoring in staling. Are you OK with selling 3-4 week old coffee? If not, you are losing a bit there.

The big issue is: how are you getting this coffee into the hands of your friends, neighbors and family? Are they coming to your house to pick it up? If you have to walk over to your neighbor and deliver it, but the time you're done chatting for 10 minutes you've chewed up your $5 profit in your time. Same if you have to drive.

Things I've learned along the way: No matter how good your coffee is, even friends and family are not going to go too far out of their normal routine to buy it. Are they really going to kill 1/2 an hour of their precious time stopping at your garage after food shopping? Are you going to be there waiting for anyone to stop by or do they have to "make an appointment" to pick up a bag of coffee? Are they going to do that regularly? It's doubtful.

If you make $5 a bag, and sell 50 bags a week for 52 weeks you make $13,000 a year and hit your goal range. How are you getting 50 bags a week into your customers hands? Shipping? Add labor to print PayPal labels and box your coffee and add $6 to your customer cost. Are they now willing to pay $18 for 12oz of your coffee?

Once you get them to buy your coffee, and they are doing it regularly, what happens when your roaster goes down? Most people are habit-driven when it comes to coffee. If you break their habit, they're off to find a new one.

All this gets much less plausible on a 1K roaster. It takes 10-12 minutes to roast 1 bean, or 100# of beans. You need to be able to roast at least 5# at a time to defer labor cost, and do it reliably and consistently.

And if you are selling that much, you really need to legitimize your operation. Can you operate a roasting business legally from your garage? If you get successful it would be a real bummer having a neighbor complain or the local board of health shut you down.

I still roast out of my garage, but I had to get it certified as a legal commercial kitchen (not easy). My town gets $250 a year for a retail food license. The BoH inspects me every year. I pay $500 a year in liability insurance, and all that just to be able to sell coffee part time on weekends at farmers markets.

Now for the good news: all that hard work has paid off and I'm opening a FT coffee bar in a month or so at a local indoor public market and finally quitting the day job. But it has not been nearly as easy as I thought it would be when I first bought that 5# roaster.

Really excellent advice above. Making a profit with a small roaster is an extremely difficult undertaking. Ask yourself why you want to do this. If it's to make money, you're probably better off doing almost anything else. If it's because you enjoy roasting then do it for it's own sake and maybe sell some to friends, family, and neighbors.

I sell my coffee for $8 for a 10 oz bag, but only to friends, family, and neighbors. It covers my costs and will hopefully help to pay back the cost of my roaster over the long term. It also helps me to buy larger quantities of greens and turn them over more quickly. And it allows me to do more roasting and better learn the craft. I also enjoy sharing my hobby with people I know who enjoy coffee.

To make selling easier I put together a no cost website to handle orders and payments. Before doing that it was a PITA dealing with orders and money. People will tell you they want coffee but then getting them to pay was always a challenge and took the fun out of it. I also don't have to hassle with promotion and marketing. If I don't sell it's no big deal, but if you have a business you rely on for income you will need to spend A LOT of time on marketing.

Up to you. I bought a TJ-067 and 98% of the time I roast for me and only me

I refuse to do it for money. Roasting is a fun hobby. If I tried commercial I feel like I wouldn't make anything, it would be less fun, and I would want at least a 5kg roaster.

100% appreciate these responses. Definitely, a lot to think about. I truly have a passion for coffee and have wanted to share it with others since High School. For the TJ and the BC are they both compatible with Artisan or some form of logging and is there any automation involved? I know some who have the USRC say it is nice because they can let it go while tending to other things. Basically, my main reason for roasting is passion / hobby / enjoyment and if the secondary effects are making some money on the side to pay off the roaster and pay for green coffee then that works for me. My main source of income will not be from roasting but if by chance it somehow grows into something larger I won't be disappointed by any means and will gladly take on the responsibility. It's great to hear that perseverance has paid off. If any of you would go back and do it over what roaster would you have chosen? Right now I am thinking I'll get the TJ or the BC and perhaps even get the 500-1lb version of either because I need to develop the skill and learn A LOT more. Another question....gas or electric? I have seen a lot on this topic and believe gas gives more control but what are your thoughts?

So talking with my wife and family I think that stepping down is the best for my current situation. I know all the advice I received above points away from that but I think upgrading and continuing it as a hobby before starting up a small business is best. That being said...Quest M3, Huky500T, or Hottop 2k+...

I assume the Huky500T. Is there anything that would prevent me from going that direction, any quirks that are annoying to deal with to the point of choosing something else. I think I really need to learn about roasting and perhaps I will and want to upgrade or maybe I will have a few customers that the Huky500T can deal with. Either way I think these three are my options and would appreciate any information!


Thanks again,

Braden

I don't like the piece together form factor of the Huky and it doesn't seem like a great value compared to something like the BC-1. That being said, I don't believe there is anything else in it's price range that is as similar to a commercial drum roaster.

You might want to check the Kaldi Fortis, it's very comparable to the Huky.