Roasting Coffee for Your Coffee Shop

 There are so many variables when considering roasting coffee for your coffee shop. This really is another career of sorts. You will now be responsible for more than just roasting coffee beans. You will also have to keep up proper roaster maintenance, buying and storing green coffee, proper packaging if you plan to pre-package your coffee (usually not a good idea, more on this later), and designating and keeping separate an area specifically for roasting.

There is also a good chance that once people know that you roast your own coffee beans in your shop, you will get interested from other shops, cafes, restaurants, and other establishments wanting to buy your product wholesale. Try to plan for this as it can open up a whole new revenue stream. Although this is totally up to you.

Do not make the decision to roast your own coffee beans based on the cost factor alone. Besides green prices being double what they were a year ago, it is still cheaper to roast your own rather than buy coffee from a roaster. However, there are elements involved in coffee roasting that you should realize before you start roasting coffee yourself, as I will describe in the course of this article.

You also will now have the expense of buying a coffee roaster. Whether you pay for it outright or finance it, you still have to repay the loan or recoup the money you used to buy the roaster so there is the extra debt service. 

If you do decide you want to roast your own coffee beans, do you have other decisions to make like gas or air roaster? The gas roasters, in my opinion, are the better ones. They can run on natural or propane gas and the heat source is an open flame on a rotating drum. The internal drum heats like an oven. You can roast small batches from 5-30lbs before you get into industrial-sized roasters. However, I believe flame drum roasters give your coffee beans a more even roast, and an overall better flavor profile.

The other option is an air roaster called a fluid bed roaster. It uses hot, forced air either heated by a flame, or electricity (heating element). The force of the blowing hot air inside the roasting chamber keeps the beans suspended in the air for even roasting. Think of the old air poppers for popcorn. I think that fluid bed roaster are better for higher capacity roasting of 250lbs or more at a time. The air is much hotter and the roast time is a bit shorter.

However determine the capacity that you want to roast coffee beans at your shop only or you and other shops, cafes, and restaurants? If you think you are going to try to wholesale, get the larger roaster. You will need a minimum of a 30 lb roaster in order to adequately roast for wholesale. Anything less and roasting will take you 2-3 times longer. Being able to roast 30lbs of coffee vs. 10lbs is obviously an advantage. A larger roaster will come in handy for wholesale. However, for just your own shop it will be a benefit as well because you will be able to roast larger batches of coffee beans in a quicker time frame, allowing you to wear all of your hats a little easier.

The roaster must also be properly vented and connected to a gas or propane line, if applicable. It is very likely that you will have to have a plumbing contractor put in a gas line and/or have an electrician add a power receptacle specifically for the roaster. You may also have to have an HVAC person put in the exhaust stack if your city requires this performed by a licensed contractor. Be sure to add this cost to your list once you get your estimates.

In regards to a specified roasting area, this is a must. Roasting coffee in any type of commercial or semi-commercial roaster is noisy. In fact, it can be very noisy! You will not want to be roasting during your shop's open hours unless you can segregate the roaster fully or at least, partially. Some shops put the roaster in a room on its own or put up at least a 3/4 wall so they muffle most of the sound.