lachris
New member
New to this board (second post)
I’ve been into specialty coffee for over two years now. By that I mean I caught the bug by buying some just roasted beans from ROJO roasters in the Northeast. Once I tasted that, I was off and running to find out more – I sought out and found folks that sell specialty greens – like Sweet Maria’s and tried roasting some on my very own popcorn popper. Even that was very good – better than my Eight –O’clock from Kroger.
I started seeking out specialty coffee houses in the local Louisville, KY area and found some very good ones – and some not so good, yet still in business. I got so caught up in the whole thing I found myself buying and roasting greens all the time. Friends and family are now seeking my next roast dates to scrounge fresh roasted coffee. I bought a *$ Barista espresso machine and a Virtuoso grinder and have been making some surprisingly good shots and milk drinks – more scroungers… :lol:
This past February I decided I wanted to look into opening my own coffee house in our small town outside Louisville – did I say small – 5000-6000? I found out about coffee fest in DC and attended and met everyone and attended ten or more seminars – sampled some really great espresso and packed home three bags full of brochures and business cards from folks I met and spoke to that weekend. From the follow ups I was swamped by coffee and flavor samples and other stuff like POS systems and counter/cabinet makers. Everything you can imagine.
I found a location - perfect, did several layouts, priced everything down to the frothed milk in an espresso macchiato and did all the due diligence we could think of. I spoke to and attended our local SCORE folks on business and opening a new start up. Worked out a brand and logo, colors and anything else you could think of.
At the end – our landlord decided we were taking too long and moved in a different direction with the space. Most likely this was better for me – our numbers for all the effort were coming up to be pretty pricey. More that I had capital for – of course that was the idea in the first place – the plan writing exercise was to find out if we could do it or not – right? NOT was the answer
– at least for now.
Meanwhile, my wife don’t want to stop thinking about the business, so we’ve been toying around with starting a small roasting business from home and growing it until we can make a good move to opening a small store selling espresso and beans. I want to renovate my garage and install an Ambex YM-2 and get on with the training.
Why shouldn’t we pursue this? Is it not a good idea to try and roast greens at home to eventually sell retail locally at markets and retailers – or internet? Someone tell me why I shouldn’t keep getting experience roasting and peruse this two year + old dream in the specialty coffee roasting business.
Money is tight but we can buy the roaster and set up shop. I have capital to work on getting more cupping knowledge and more experience - profiling experience and sampling. Is the retail environment good for this right now? Are there too many micro-roasters out there?
Need advice in LaGrange, KY.
Lachris
I’ve been into specialty coffee for over two years now. By that I mean I caught the bug by buying some just roasted beans from ROJO roasters in the Northeast. Once I tasted that, I was off and running to find out more – I sought out and found folks that sell specialty greens – like Sweet Maria’s and tried roasting some on my very own popcorn popper. Even that was very good – better than my Eight –O’clock from Kroger.
I started seeking out specialty coffee houses in the local Louisville, KY area and found some very good ones – and some not so good, yet still in business. I got so caught up in the whole thing I found myself buying and roasting greens all the time. Friends and family are now seeking my next roast dates to scrounge fresh roasted coffee. I bought a *$ Barista espresso machine and a Virtuoso grinder and have been making some surprisingly good shots and milk drinks – more scroungers… :lol:
This past February I decided I wanted to look into opening my own coffee house in our small town outside Louisville – did I say small – 5000-6000? I found out about coffee fest in DC and attended and met everyone and attended ten or more seminars – sampled some really great espresso and packed home three bags full of brochures and business cards from folks I met and spoke to that weekend. From the follow ups I was swamped by coffee and flavor samples and other stuff like POS systems and counter/cabinet makers. Everything you can imagine.
I found a location - perfect, did several layouts, priced everything down to the frothed milk in an espresso macchiato and did all the due diligence we could think of. I spoke to and attended our local SCORE folks on business and opening a new start up. Worked out a brand and logo, colors and anything else you could think of.
At the end – our landlord decided we were taking too long and moved in a different direction with the space. Most likely this was better for me – our numbers for all the effort were coming up to be pretty pricey. More that I had capital for – of course that was the idea in the first place – the plan writing exercise was to find out if we could do it or not – right? NOT was the answer
– at least for now. Meanwhile, my wife don’t want to stop thinking about the business, so we’ve been toying around with starting a small roasting business from home and growing it until we can make a good move to opening a small store selling espresso and beans. I want to renovate my garage and install an Ambex YM-2 and get on with the training.
Why shouldn’t we pursue this? Is it not a good idea to try and roast greens at home to eventually sell retail locally at markets and retailers – or internet? Someone tell me why I shouldn’t keep getting experience roasting and peruse this two year + old dream in the specialty coffee roasting business.
Money is tight but we can buy the roaster and set up shop. I have capital to work on getting more cupping knowledge and more experience - profiling experience and sampling. Is the retail environment good for this right now? Are there too many micro-roasters out there?
Need advice in LaGrange, KY.
Lachris
