qualin Senior Member Joined: 30 Jun 2012 Posts: 464 Location: Calgary, AB Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto 3 Grinder: Mazzer Mini Elect. Type A Vac Pot: Looking to buy Drip: Manual Roaster: Considering?
Posted Sun Oct 21, 2012, 11:58pm Subject: The Economics of Roasting Coffee
Hello Everyone.
Currently, I spend about $16 for a 1 lb bag of espresso blend from a very well known roaster here in town. They do an amazing job. Another roaster here sells 1 Kilogram bags (2.2 lbs) for about $35 each, they're coffee is pretty good as well, but they're very secretive about the blend they use.
Now I absolutely love the smell of roasting coffee.
So, I'm lightly contemplating the idea of buying a Behmor 1600, since it'll roast a pound of coffee at a time and they're somewhat inexpensive, at least compared to a Hot Top. Considering that the Behmor roaster sells for about $350 here, I kind of wonder how much cheaper it would be to roast my own coffee instead of buying it pre-roasted?
Realistically I only go through about a kilogram of coffee about once a month, so a 30 lb bag from Costco would take me just over a year to plow through. (That still complies with the law of 15's!)
Has anyone done the math to figure out how cost effective it is? How long would it take for a Behmor to pay for itself?
I only have about two drinks a day usually with the occasional amount of company over, so I'm wondering if it is even worth it to consider this.
The only other thing, my garage isn't heated, but it is insulated. I wonder how well a Behmor would take to being left in a cold garage when it is -35 C (-31 F) outside? I'm guessing it could also double as a space heater! I wouldn't even dare think about leaving the coffee in the garage, only because frozen coffee beans probably don't roast very well. :)
NobbyR Senior Member Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 1,613 Location: Germany Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Poccino Opus One, Ariete Grinder: Eureka Mignon Istantaneo,... Vac Pot: N/A Drip: Melitta Linea Unica de Luxe Roaster: N/A
Posted Mon Oct 22, 2012, 2:40am Subject: Re: The Economics of Roasting Coffee
I guess the math on this matter is pretty complicated, because you'll have to take into consideration a lot of different factors, that might even differ from region to region: the initial cost of the Behmor, the price of green beans, energy costs etc. In Germany, for example, there's a special tax on roasted beans that you save when you roast at home. Also, it'll probably take a while and you'll waste quite some coffee before your roasting results match your expectations.
*** "This drink of the Satan is so delicious that it would be a shame to leave it to the infidels." (Pope Clement VIII on coffee)
Posted Mon Oct 22, 2012, 5:01am Subject: Re: The Economics of Roasting Coffee
I roast Sweet Maria's (espresso) Monkey Blend for my son.
I pay $63.76 for 12 lbs from Sweet Maria's (to fill a small USPS carton) and the shipping costs come out to be around $30 to Thornhill, Ontario. There is no HST. It arrives quickly via Canada Post XpressPost. So far, the cost per lb is $7.81. However, I lose around 17% in the roasting (moisture, etc) and that increases the cost to $9.41/lb.
I do not roast a pound at at a time. The Behmor will do it but the roast time is too long and I feel I don't get the best out of the bean. I do 10 oz roasts that nets out to a bit more than 1/2 lb as roasted.
For coffee I roast for myself, as a single user in my household, 1/2 lb lasts around 2 weeks. I let it rest for 3 days and consume it over the next 2 weeks. I roast again when I have 3 or 4 days left (to allow for the resting time).
Here at my local supermarket, premium Illy sells for around $15 for 8.2 oz and pound of (say) Bay Street Dark from Java Joe's is around $25. I feel that my costs are a lot cheaper, even paying the high shipping costs from Sweet Maria's.
Nevertheless, you must consider that there will be 'experimental' costs with different greens and, above the cost of the Behmor, you should invest in a Kill-A-Watt meter ($20) and a high quality scale ($50) and if you have an iPhone or iPad the wonderful App 'Roastmaster' to help you with record-keeping.
Posted Mon Oct 22, 2012, 5:02am Subject: Re: The Economics of Roasting Coffee
Of COURSE I did the the math - that's how I justified getting the Behmor! LOL
Here's the economics for me:
Green hi-quality coffee is about $8.50/lb (with shipping or an average cost if you have a local source - I'm fortunate enough to have a couple sources nearby - but their prices are in the $8 range anyway).
The electricity is peanuts - the Behmor is only 1600 watts, if it ran 100% duty cycle for an hour, you would use 1.6kWh - or about $0.14-$0.26 worth of electricity.
It takes about an hour to set up, roast, and cleanup - up to you to decide what your time is worth.
Roasting coffee saves about $2 - $8 per lb of coffee roasted, that's what I figured. At that rate, you WILL pay off your Behmor, but it will take about 50-100lb of roasted coffee to do so, and that doesn't count your labor (SHHHHH! don't tell anyone - I purposefully neglected to include the labor when I submitted by purchase rec to my CFO)
That also does not include extra equipment (optional) like a thermocouple/thermister, readout, special cooling station...
for about $8 for the bread machine in a 2nd hand store, $35 at harbor freight for an adjustable heat gun, and a re-purposed 5-gal bucket/collander/shopvac, not counting extra instrumentation (doin' the beanz by feel).
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
oldgearhead Senior Member Joined: 25 Jan 2010 Posts: 354 Location: Go Colts! Expertise: I like coffee
Grinder: Virtuoso by Baratza Drip: Chemex,Dilongi DCM900 Roaster: 1/2K Fluid-bed
Posted Mon Oct 22, 2012, 6:32am Subject: Re: The Economics of Roasting Coffee
I buy 10 pounds at a time. Ten pounds will easily fit in a USPS, medium, flat-rate box. At $15.00 The flat-rate box is a big part of the expense. I buy from Gary Burman, GBBC, and direct from a Thai importer. I usually pay $40.00/10 pounds for Thai Huey Hawn, and up-to $65.00/10 pounds for some of the CoE's.
Last year my average expense for beans + shipping was $68.00/10 pounds. The average yield was 8.4 pounds. So $68/8.4 = $8.10/pound. Fifteen months ago I built a 500 gram, fluid-bed, coffee roaster. My cost was (not including my labor) $520.00. The roaster has 'cooked' 150 pounds of beans. So $520/150 = $3.47.
Summary - Average cost to roast one pound of beans has been $11.57/pound. Not exactly a huge savings over the $16.00/pound I can buy them for, but its fun, and the results are very good...
Woody Senior Member Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 579 Location: Hood River, OR Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: La Spaziale Vivaldi I Grinder: Mazzer SJ Vac Pot: Hoover Drip: yuck Roaster: Behmor
Posted Mon Oct 22, 2012, 9:31am Subject: Re: The Economics of Roasting Coffee
Your question was about economics, and in the long run roasting your own will save money. I think for most of us the issue is the ability to have fresh roasted coffee when we want it. In other words, sometimes roasting your own is more convienient than mail order. And of course as geeks there is the "do it yourself" factor.
strfish7 Senior Member Joined: 7 Aug 2009 Posts: 174 Location: San Antonio Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: La Pavoni Europiccola,... Grinder: Vario Vac Pot: Bialetti Drip: Technivorm Moccamaster Roaster: Behmor, FreshRoast 8
Posted Mon Oct 22, 2012, 11:03am Subject: Re: The Economics of Roasting Coffee
I have a slightly different situation, and here's how it shakes out: I live down the street from a local roaster, whose beans are $11.00-16.00/lb. (yes, that's a pound, not 10 or 12 ounces). I've been paying about $4.00-6.00/lb for Costco 30 lb boxes of various single origins, whose quality I am completely satisfied with. So, for me, the difference is probably close to $6.00-10.00/lb. YMMV.
johnboddie Senior Member Joined: 28 Nov 2008 Posts: 147 Location: Virginia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Brasilia Mini Classic,... Grinder: Rocky, KitchenAid Pro Drip: Cuisinart (non-grinding)
Posted Mon Oct 22, 2012, 7:48pm Subject: Re: The Economics of Roasting Coffee
If it was just a question of economics, very few of us would roast our own beans.
Mind you, the economics isn't bad. I figure I'll amortize my Behmor at about 600 roasts (only a couple of hundred to go).
The value of working with green beans and finding a roast that is really yours (Mine is a Sidamo about 2.5 minutes after first crack on a Behomr 1600) provides a reward that is difficult to put in direct $ and cents terms.
Posted Mon Oct 22, 2012, 8:31pm Subject: Re: The Economics of Roasting Coffee
John, you have added important points to this thread:
When I roast my own I have the opportunity to find the kinds of beans that suit me best, learn to roast them to the capability of my roaster (and skill) and to keep myself supplied with beans in the preferred range of 3 to 14 days from roasting.
Then it becomes a different beverage. Not only do I get the flavour, I also get a deep penetrating aroma that seems to be everywhere in your head as I sip it.
It took me a YEAR of failed attempts, roasting small batches and brewing them up. Then, one day, by accident, I hit the sweet-spot ...with that aroma.
Now, with the Behmor, I can usually find it within 3 roasts and repeat it time after time (with that specific bean).
Dooglas Senior Member Joined: 12 Mar 2005 Posts: 685 Location: Portland, OR Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Expobar HX, La Pavoni lever Grinder: Ascaso, Baratza Drip: Bonavita, Bodum press Roaster: GeneCafe, Behmor
Posted Sat Oct 27, 2012, 5:34pm Subject: Re: The Economics of Roasting Coffee
Now, about using a Behmor in an unheated garage in a northern clime in the winter. You will find that the Behmor has a low temperature cut off so that it will not come on at below about 40 degrees. You will need to warm your garage up a bit for roasting on some chilly winter days.
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