Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tara Shenson on September 20, 2010 at 12:30pm

Hi David,

It's great that you are already a member of the SCAA! I'd also suggest checking out the Roasters Guild (a guild of the SCAA that is dedicated to promoting and advancing the craft of coffee roasting) It would be a great place for you to meet other professional roasters and start to get involved in the roaster community.

Stop by the website to learn more about opportunities for networking, professional certification, events/travel, membership info and more. www.roastersguild.org

You can always call us too-we'd be happy to help you! 562.624.4100

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Permalink Reply by luke hudek on September 20, 2010 at 3:29pm

I always post suggesting that people look at these roasters and contact Bill Kennedy (you'd think I worked for the company the way I love my roaster!). I am also big on buying American made.

http://www.coffeeper.com/

If you have worked in the field, I imagine you already subscribe to other magazines in the industry. It may seem silly to some that I, who am mostly a roaster, keep up with what drinks are popular and trends are going on the in SC world, but it does help.

HomeBarista and Sweet Marias forums are helpful. Now you can make fun of me for reading a home roasters forum but I promise you this, on occasion I have had a coffee come in from the Coffee Shrub and found help at their forums.

Try to find back issues of Roast if you are able (when first learning profiles I was able to google a few articles from Roast back issues that helped).

I am posting as a guy who has near 0% formal training btw (I was trained ON my roaster), so I can only post what I have gone through first hand. I suppose my biggest helpful tidbit would be if you are able to get some hands on training, take advantage as a high priority. We were able to learn through reading, posting, talking, trial and error, which took time and $.


Oh and I have only ever made direct contact with 2 farms, which I was very happy about being able to do. I just look around forums and call people to try to make those connections, good luck with it!

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Permalink Reply by Lisa G on September 20, 2010 at 7:13pm

I read you entry. I do not know about Direct Trade and would like to learn more myself.
What I CAN tell you is that I highly DO NOT RECOMMEND US Roaster Corp. From my experience, and I won't get into details because I don't want more problems, it is worth spending a little more and getting more professional service and attention.
Good luck to you and all the best

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Permalink Reply by Matt B on September 21, 2010 at 7:41am

My advice would be to put off the DT stuff until later. Figure out the roasting part first, and take some time to get a lay of the land, as far as green goes. You'll learn a lot in your first year--which importers are dialed into which country/region, the reputations of different co-ops and farms, which countries are easiest and most difficult (all relative, of course) to get coffee out of, etc. Buy and roast coffees that you really like, and then start thinking about making a visit to one of the producers. And ask yourself--honestly--how you'll deal with the arrival of a ten bag microlot from your "relationship" farm that--for any number of possible reasons--does not resemble what you thought you bought. There are lots of things that can go wrong. (When you start to get down to brass tacks, you see that importers are pretty useful, especially for the small-volume roaster.)

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat sometime.

Matt

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Permalink Reply by Andrew on September 24, 2010 at 6:16pm

Hey Dave,

This is Sam from connecticut (and rhode island during the summer). I'm one of your biggest fans, as Dave's Coffee is my favorite coffee shop. In fact, my inability to find coffee anywhere that matched yours was my inspiration to start roasting. It's been almost 3 years now and I've gone through 2 roasters, and ready to upgrade to something bigger. It's just a hobby for me but one that I love. I have a dedicated following of friends and family that beg for my coffee...

While my experience is with much smaller machines, I do exhaustive reading on the subject. You may want to consider getting a smaller machine to mess around with first. The cost will be minimal and you could probably use if for sampling after you get your big machine.

Best of luck,
Sam

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Permalink Reply by David Lanning on September 25, 2010 at 8:54am

Hi Tara,

Thanks for the advice.

Will definitely become a member of the Roasters Guild!

Dave

Tara Shenson said:

Hi David,

It's great that you are already a member of the SCAA! I'd also suggest checking out the Roasters Guild (a guild of the SCAA that is dedicated to promoting and advancing the craft of coffee roasting) It would be a great place for you to meet other professional roasters and start to get involved in the roaster community.

Stop by the website to learn more about opportunities for networking, professional certification, events/travel, membership info and more. www.roastersguild.org

You can always call us too-we'd be happy to help you! 562.624.4100

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Lanning on September 25, 2010 at 8:57am

Hi Luke,

Thanks...

As far as the direct trade, I'm getting the feeling that it will be an occasional buy at best and not a staple for our coffee...

Dave

luke hudek said:

I always post suggesting that people look at these roasters and contact Bill Kennedy (you'd think I worked for the company the way I love my roaster!). I am also big on buying American made.

http://www.coffeeper.com/

If you have worked in the field, I imagine you already subscribe to other magazines in the industry. It may seem silly to some that I, who am mostly a roaster, keep up with what drinks are popular and trends are going on the in SC world, but it does help.

HomeBarista and Sweet Marias forums are helpful. Now you can make fun of me for reading a home roasters forum but I promise you this, on occasion I have had a coffee come in from the Coffee Shrub and found help at their forums.

Try to find back issues of Roast if you are able (when first learning profiles I was able to google a few articles from Roast back issues that helped).

I am posting as a guy who has near 0% formal training btw (I was trained ON my roaster), so I can only post what I have gone through first hand. I suppose my biggest helpful tidbit would be if you are able to get some hands on training, take advantage as a high priority. We were able to learn through reading, posting, talking, trial and error, which took time and $.


Oh and I have only ever made direct contact with 2 farms, which I was very happy about being able to do. I just look around forums and call people to try to make those connections, good luck with it!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Lanning on September 25, 2010 at 8:58am

Hey Matt,

Great points.

Thanks,

Dave

Matt B said:

My advice would be to put off the DT stuff until later. Figure out the roasting part first, and take some time to get a lay of the land, as far as green goes. You'll learn a lot in your first year--which importers are dialed into which country/region, the reputations of different co-ops and farms, which countries are easiest and most difficult (all relative, of course) to get coffee out of, etc. Buy and roast coffees that you really like, and then start thinking about making a visit to one of the producers. And ask yourself--honestly--how you'll deal with the arrival of a ten bag microlot from your "relationship" farm that--for any number of possible reasons--does not resemble what you thought you bought. There are lots of things that can go wrong. (When you start to get down to brass tacks, you see that importers are pretty useful, especially for the small-volume roaster.)

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat sometime.

Matt

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Lanning on September 25, 2010 at 9:01am

Hi Sam!

Thanks. I appreciate your nice comments...

Any recommendations on really helpful stuff you've read?

Also, bring in some of your coffee next summer. We can do some bartering! I'd love to give it a try.

Thanks,

Dave

Andrew said:

Hey Dave,

This is Sam from connecticut (and rhode island during the summer). I'm one of your biggest fans, as Dave's Coffee is my favorite coffee shop. In fact, my inability to find coffee anywhere that matched yours was my inspiration to start roasting. It's been almost 3 years now and I've gone through 2 roasters, and ready to upgrade to something bigger. It's just a hobby for me but one that I love. I have a dedicated following of friends and family that beg for my coffee...

While my experience is with much smaller machines, I do exhaustive reading on the subject. You may want to consider getting a smaller machine to mess around with first. The cost will be minimal and you could probably use if for sampling after you get your big machine.

Best of luck,
Sam

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