Syd & Jerry's Table Top Commercial Coffee Roaster

Roasting Stories from Real Life

We've included here some comments from commercial users of the coffee roaster, who vary from roasting 80 pounds a month to 600 or more pounds a month. Our longest-term customer is the Rexville Store. They bought one of our prototype models in April of 2000. We began shipping the manufactured model in October of 2000, and the Same Ol' Grind started roasting that month.

We'll add to these comments as time goes by, but we thought they might be helpful to people considering roasting their own coffee. If you are not a business but interested in home coffee roasting, you can call Anne Chase-Stapleton (360-766-7708) for the names of some people who have established home-roasting businesses.

Joyce and Stuart Welch are owners of the Rexville Store, formerly a small country store, and now an active specialty foods store and deli, with live seafood, a great selection of wines, and, of course, fresh roasted coffee (whole bean and brewed). Here are comments from Stuart Welch:

"Syd and Jerry's Roaster created a new profit center for our business that our customers rave about. Not only has the machine increased coffee sales, it allows us to offer our customers the freshest brew possible - a cup of coffee they remember. The machine is simple to operate and requires minimal employee training. Having roasted thousands of pounds in the machine, we've found the roaster to be flawless."

The Same Ol' Grind is an established coffee shop in downtown Mt. Vernon, Washington. They switched from Torrefazione to roasting their own coffee in October of 2000. The owners are Darlene Stephenson and Carla McClelland, and Darlene says:

"When Syd walked through our doors at the Same Ol' Grind and showed us the roaster, Carla and I were skeptical. Roasting is done by Master Roasters! Carefully roasting for perfect coffee! Syd and Jerry's roaster seemed too good to be true. Carla and I went to see the prototype machine, and in about 5 minutes we knew we needed our own.

Every day we are so happy with our roaster. Our customers love our coffee. We are in control of how the coffee tastes. Never stale! We don't have to wonder how long the beans sat in someone's warehouse. Syd and Jerry, thank you."

Owner Jeanne (Mae) Barwick started out over twenty years ago to create a friendly, creative atmosphere in her neighborhood café. She has succeeded so well that her neighborhood has gotten very large - it's a fun and popular spot in Seattle, especially for big weekend breakfasts and lunches. Jeanne wrote these comments:

"At Mae's Café, we've been using Syd and Jerry's cool red roaster for a couple of months. We love the flexibility of choosing our own beans and blends and roasts - it's a whole new world!

The machine, itself, is so easy to use and takes up just a little bit of space. Anybody could roast coffee with this thing. It's maintenance free - just clean the parts that touch the beans. And it's great for showing off to our customers. They're very curious about it and ask lots of questions whenever they see us roasting. Seeing the beans roasting right there in front of them somehow makes the coffee even more enjoyable. It turns the whole thing into an "experience."

At first, of course, we were all a little scared of the roasting process. Is it going to be too much trouble? Will it be a hassle to keep track of what's roasting and when? Are the baristas going to be able to adjust to roasting the coffee? Are they going to stay on top of it so we have enough coffee? Regular, decaf, espresso roast - oh my! The guys from Coffee Kinetics were right there offering support and advice all along the way. Eventually, we settled into an easy routine. We came up with some blends and roasts that have our customers complimenting the coffee. In fact, roasting has gotten our baristas more involved with the coffee they're selling. They can chat about it with customers as they're making drinks. It's a much more interesting topic than the weather.

Mae's Café is guided, always, by a spirit of independence. We like preparing most everything from scratch. We smoke salmon and trout and, even, cheese for our big and interesting breakfast menu. We make our famous cinnamon rolls right here in our own bakery. We whip up some fantastic salsa and homemade hollandaise. The list goes on and on. Being an independent small business is tough. Running an independent small business is…well…really tough. We've managed to make some good choices and to keep some great employees and we just keep on "slinging hash" day after day.

The roaster from Coffee Kinetics has been the perfect addition to our mix here at Mae's. With it we can turn out a great product with a personal touch. The cost of buying green beans is extremely attractive, as well. Would you believe we started saving over $5.00 per pound once we switched from the "gourmet" beans (roasted HOW long ago) to fresh roasted house blends? Who wouldn't choose to purchase this roaster?

Thanks guys! You've revitalized our coffee service."

Boatman's Coffee is by far the most successful espresso drive-thru in Skagit County, Washington (home of Coffee Kinetics). Boatman's was featured not long ago in Specialty Coffee Retailer Magazine, and prides itself on great service and, for sure, fine coffee. The sign on the side of the "boat" says "Fresh Roasted Shade Grown Organic Coffees Available." Partner/roaster Blake Boatman says:

"We originally bought the roasters for financial reasons and found the benefits of having really fresh coffee. Our whole bean sales have increased dramatically."

The Skagit Valley Food Co-op is a busy natural foods grocery store and deli. It features a wide variety of high quality fresh and organic products, food supplements and beverages. Deli Manager Ken Ricci, who is in charge of the in-store roasting program,
told us:

"We are now roasting about 125 pounds of coffee a week, 75 of which goes for our beverage coffee (espresso and brewed), and 50 or so of which is sold as whole bean in the store. The roaster and installation were paid for in three months. The machine produces high quality coffee in an efficient way, with minimal monitoring. I've been able to train all my hourly employees to roast coffee, and our customers love it. We specialize in organic coffees, and we've been able to establish an excellent supply for organic green coffees. Our customers had never tasted coffee just a few days away from being roasted, and they're wowed. We're talking about adding another roaster."

Martin Reuben was one an early customer for Coffee Kinetics. He wrote the following:

"The Reuben Group in Cleveland, Ohio (www.reubenphoto.com) is a commercial and advertising photography studio that really likes its coffee. With 16 employees and clients visiting daily, coffee consumption is high. The hours can get long and we really need our caffeine! Many of our clients ask for fresh roasted coffee as they leave the studio.

Roasting almost twenty pounds a week, we get unbelievable consistency from roast to roast - never a bad batch. (Well, maybe one in about two hundred!) Cleaning is simple. The large clear roasting chamber makes it both fun and easy to watch the progression of the roast. Easily vented, very little odor from the roasting beans."