My last Sweet Marias order comes out to 6.69/lb (shipped) for greens (I ordered 20lbs).
I roast frequently, maybe a couple times a week (for espresso drip coffee). I never freeze roasted coffee, I always have fresh. I can't see buying 5lbs roasted - there is no way I could go through that amount before it became stale.

I can't remember the last time I had coffee that was too old to use.
I can't remember the last time I screwed up a roast and had to throw it out.

I would also become bored with the same coffee all the time. I like variety.

Allon, I love home roasting, I have a Hottop B and a 1Kg commercial roaster and even owned a Behmor to get me started and have done plenty of pan roasting, this is the best hobby I have ever had. However the OP does not want a hobby but rather a recipe to make excellent roasted coffee to save money, this is not going to happen. If a person does not want to get behind the intricacy of roasting well then yes they can get a plug and play and drink darn good drip and maybe pull an occasional good to very good espresso but to get to the level of BC dedication is a must.

BTW, do a search here on freezing, it is great in the very least for a backup when a week gets very busy and you are hard pressed to roast.

Roasting to save money assumes your time is worthless.There is an enormous amount of time that goes into learning, reading, rereading, following h-b to learn from others experiences and it is not worth doing just to save money. To do it right, your heart and soul goes into it otherwise the final product will not be even close to the best roasters around. About 2-3 times/year I'm in a place that I can buy fresh roasted coffee, Gimme and Stumptown, and I love the time I save by buying already roasted. But I would not want just their coffee all the time. The variety and the pride that I can do this and make what the two h-b competitions said was as good as the pros means something to me. Fifteen years ago I started home roasting to save $ and with my time worth $75/hour or more, its a huge financial loss. Somehow I dont think you should start out on this path.
I also got the hottop-p for the wrong reasons, am very happy with it and would have bought the cheaper one if I knew then what I knew now, for the greater control but I think I have it all worked out. Been through all the cheaper roasters but not the Behmor or quest. The ht is far superior to the gene, which I recently dumped for lack of storage space.

Marvin

Thanks to everyone.

I have to apologize as I think I started this thread on the wrong foot. I certainly gave the impression that I wanted a no brainer solution. I think I over simplified things with my no-hobby comments. It's not that I don't want to spend any time doing this, instead it's more that I simply don't have the time to dedicate to a hobby for enjoyments sake. I could spend some time on it, I'm pretty finicky about my shots after all, but I can't see doing it under current circumstances.

That said, I've just ordered the 5lb Red Bird and am hoping it's as good as everyone says (which I don't doubt). Maybe I'll get to roasting at some point, but right now pulling and building 5-6 drinks for the family everyday is enough coffee exercise for me.

Thanks again!

Very sorry to lose you. Just so you know, for next time:

Learning to roast a good, easy blend like Sweet Maria's Monkey to Intelligentsia Black Cat standards on an easy roaster like a Hot Top really doesn't take that long. A month maybe. It takes considerably longer to learn the nuances and tricks of blending, tweaking roasts and so on, and the journey to excellence takes time and effort; but with beginner friendly equipment plus a little help from you friends, very good comes quickly.

What does take time is the roast itself (you really do have to pay attention) and maintenance/clean up. It takes me roughly thirty minutes per 1/2 lb roast, everything considered. That's an hour and a half a week. Every dozen roasts, there's some serious cleaning -- but most of that is soak time.

The real advantage to home roasting isn't money saved on beans, especially once you amortize the cost of the roaster and incidentals. It's the sheer variety of available beans and the control you have over the roast.

Again, exercising significant "control" is often just a matter of when you dump, for instance with a given hypothetical blend anticipating 2d crack might = C+, first few snaps of 2d crack = C+/FC, rolling 2d crack = FC/FC+, and when you dump can and will make a real difference in what qualities you emphasize and minimize in that blend.

Sure, sophisticated roasters make arcane adjustments to the roast profile with some idea of how they'll end up, but that's a different thing and not required to get to an excellent cup with easier blends and SOs.

Well worth the time if you have it, and the money if you can afford it -- not worth losing kid time for it, though. It's not necessarily one or the other, though. Just because you own a roaster, doesn't mean you're not permitted to buy pre-roasted beans.

BDL

Great thread, lots of good info here I need to take the time to read and digest.

I also started with a hot air popcorn popper but eventually upgraded to a Behmor. For me, I don't believe that I'm saving any money by roasting my own beans, but that's because I started roasting when I was a coffee drinker and that got me into espresso so I've collected two lever espresso machines and upgraded to a Vario grinder along the way. I do know that there are some people who are more then happy to continue to roast on a hot air popcorn popper, a home-made roaster, or in a wok or cast iron skillet and keep their costs low, but I find that I get tempted to upgrade and turn things into hobbies.

My inventory list is not updated, but if it is to be believed, I currently have over 80 pounds of green coffee in storage averaging out at about $6 per pound (with smaller purchases of the more expensive Kona, Yemen, and previous COE beans I've purchased over the years). The real economy of scale when buying greens for me seems to be buying at least 20 pounds at a time which can be a significant investment.

Still, I enjoy roasting and drinking my own roasted coffee and I think it's been a worthwhile endeavor.

Fr. John wrote:Thanks to everyone.

I have to apologize as I think I started this thread on the wrong foot. I certainly gave the impression that I wanted a no brainer solution. I think I over simplified things with my no-hobby comments. It's not that I don't want to spend any time doing this, instead it's more that I simply don't have the time to dedicate to a hobby for enjoyments sake. I could spend some time on it, I'm pretty finicky about my shots after all, but I can't see doing it under current circumstances.

That said, I've just ordered the 5lb Red Bird and am hoping it's as good as everyone says (which I don't doubt). Maybe I'll get to roasting at some point, but right now pulling and building 5-6 drinks for the family everyday is enough coffee exercise for me.

Thanks again!

It is good to here the different perspectives on roasting especially before you drop 1k to get into it, you may find that you just keep thinking about it and decide to give it a shot in the future. One thing that stays consistent in this thread is that home roasters want more options then is offered by specialty roasters and we can easily have it. I hope you like the red bird, I have not tried the blue jaguar but will order some soon to give that a try since I have been hearing very good things about it as well.

Most of this thread appears to be related to cost of roasting, be it money or time. Those are both certainly valid concerns, and IMO the time aspect is often grossly underestimated.

However the biggest benefit to home roasting for me is that it opens the doors to many more beans and innumerable roast profiles and degrees of freshness. In other words: control. If you really want to learn about the subtleties of coffee, this is priceless.