I want to start home roasting but I’m not sure where\what to buy as far as beans go as a Canadian buyer. I did a quick check on Amazon (which I try to avoid buying from) and found the cheapest beans are about 14 CAD per pound, but I’m not sure that it’s that good of a deal and I don’t know what quality I’m getting.
Any advice is appreciated.
Edit: found a supplier: https://terracaf.ca/
Does Sweet Maria’s ship to Canada?
Hum kinda…
Once you get the roasting under control to the point that you’re producing a drinkable cup the provenance of the beans will be not the biggest factor. A competently roasted and properly stored coffee from almost any green beans will beat the pants off of almost any commercially roasted beans stored exposed to oxygen at room temperature for more than a few hours.
I bought a Fresh Roast SR500 extension tube from a Canadian retailer that only shipped to Canada. Getting it to me in the US was a bit of a challenge, I wish I remembered the retailer… While trying to find what retailer I bought from, I found https://www.pre-umber.com/ which might be a good place to start.
That’s right, I was including the cost of the roaster, the other paraphernalia you would end up needing while using it, the cost of running it with electricity prices, the cost of the green beans plus delivery and the cost of any wasted beans through my inexperience - and comparing that to the price I currently pay, with the variety I have available. The tinkering with the roast times, temperatures and different beans appeals to me and I’d like to see the product of my own hard work, so I applaud those who do roast their own. If you’re able to do this with very little cost and minimal equipment that’s awesome! Keep us updated with your experiences of roasting, lots of coffe fans will be happy to hear - keep up the good work!
I appreciate the interest in pursuing home roasting, but it has always seemed an expensive option. Thankfully I have a couple of roasteries close by me, and they’re good - one is very good. You can get freshly roasted beans delivered relatively inexpensively, which you know will be of a decent quality. All of those factors make it a pretty big investment to jump into roasting your own beans and hoping for a better cup than a seasoned roasting house - they have the economy of scale to make their system worthwhile and turn a profit. If you don’t mind it being more expensive, then I’m sure it’ll be a rewarding experience which will further your understanding of the process and the product itself. Best of luck with it!
In my experience so far, it’s the cheaper option. Most roasteries I can find can apparently not be bothered to communicate their roast dates. I think I know of a few places where I would be able to know it, but those places will sell me beans at 20$ per pound and more if I take a smaller amount, which I have to, because I don’t use it that fast. This all means expensive coffee that will stay in the cupboard or the hopper for up to 3 months, being really good mainly the first 2 weeks. Green beans I found are half the price, and I can roast whatever I need on a weekly basis. I assume you think it’s expensive because you would need to buy a roaster, but really, I bought a metal sieve from the dollar store and got started earlier today. It helps that I like to mix dark roast with light roast, so inconsistencies in my process will lead to something similar anyway. For now, I actually tried a rather good cup and it cost me 25 CAD and 10 minutes.
