Upgrade to gas sample/hobby roaster?

[Warrior372]

I'll be keeping an eye out for your feedback. It's a bit smaller than I wanted but if it holds together it could be useful.

It's difficult to read poorly translated specs. Is the drum really made of cast iron? the operating weight of 99 lbs seems light for a drum roaster. Milo - what does your Ambex weigh in at?

My Has Garanti is a 2kg, but weighs in at 225lbs. Considering a batch size of 300g-500g 99lbs is pretty heavy!

[Tex]

I'll be keeping an eye out for your feedback. It's a bit smaller than I wanted but if it holds together it could be useful.

It's difficult to read poorly translated specs. Is the drum really made of cast iron? the operating weight of 99 lbs seems light for a drum roaster. Milo - what does your Ambex weigh in at?

My Has Garanti is a 2kg, but weighs in at 225lbs. Considering a batch size of 300g-500g 99lbs is pretty heavy!

And it is a hobby roaster, not a commercial model. It looks like an interesting idea, but the devil will be in the details - so I'll be looking for some reports about it.

[hankua]

Now I have question about the 1kilo size roaster. What drives the interest in this size? It looks to be too small for commercial use, but would cost 50% more and have the same basic controls as the 1 lb version. Why not get a 4 or 5 kilo roaster and have more capacity to sell?

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

Now I have question about the 1kilo size roaster. What drives the interest in this size? It looks to be too small for commercial use, but would cost 50% more and have the same basic controls as the 1 lb version. Why not get a 4 or 5 kilo roaster and have more capacity to sell?

I think 1 kilo would be perfect for my personal coffee needs and drum roaster passion.. as far as business??  I think if you had a 5 lb roaster (as an example) and you were selling at a farmer market you would be happy till you needed a 10lb roaster because of demand.. if you started with a 10 lb roaster you would have a hard time roasting 1 or even 2 and 3 lb batches but in the 5 lb roaster the small batches would be doable... if you talk yourself into the really big roaster because it gives you plenty of room to grow you have to learn to roast with 4 or 5 kilo batches.. that is a lot of coffee to pooch.. personally (if selling becomes a real deal for me) I want to have to SC/TO setups like peter and then 2 to 5 pound bbq grill options.. if I have a slow week its SC/TO if I have a big week I can fire up the big roaster..  if I was going into a shop and doing it right I think a 5 pound in shop roaster would be a good start looks good, smells good and as the business grows have a bigger roaster off site or out of site for the production runs..  the 5 pounder is still putting on a show and taking care of the shops needs + small orders..

[Tex]

Now I have question about the 1kilo size roaster. What drives the interest in this size? It looks to be too small for commercial use, but would cost 50% more and have the same basic controls as the 1 lb version. Why not get a 4 or 5 kilo roaster and have more capacity to sell?

I could see a 2 lb Sonofresco (or two 1 lb Sonofresco) for business use, because you could realistically do 4 - 5 batches an hour - especially if you had multiple roast chambers. But if you have to let a roaster cool between batches then a 2 lb roaster might be problematic.

[Warrior372]

I do not think you can really compare a Sono to a drum roaster. Unless you had a mod program allowing you to adjust the roaster and profile your roast you just get their generic roast profile. One of the main reasons people want real drums is to play with heat, air and time.

Even if the Mini only has a 300-500g max it is a commercial grade roaster. You could roast 300-500g every 12-15 minutes for as long as you want without stopping. That is a perk! Plus if you ever wanted to upgrade to one of their larger roaster in the future you could use the Mini as a sample roaster to get profiles down to copy on the larger roasters.

[hankua]

So would it correct to assume more member on this board would prefer the 1kilo size, even it it costs 50 or 60% more? Sea transportation cost would probably be the same for the 1k and 1/2k except for us duty.

[Tex]

I do not think you can really compare a Sono to a drum roaster. Unless you had a mod program allowing you to adjust the roaster and profile your roast you just get their generic roast profile. One of the main reasons people want real drums is to play with heat, air and time.

Even if the Mini only has a 300-500g max it is a commercial grade roaster. You could roast 300-500g every 12-15 minutes for as long as you want without stopping. That is a perk! Plus if you ever wanted to upgrade to one of their larger roaster in the future you could use the Mini as a sample roaster to get profiles down to copy on the larger roasters.

I'll agree, IF it does what it says it does. But you may be under rating the Sono - some folks do quite well using it as a commercial roaster - fixed profile and all.

[Warrior372]

So would it correct to assume more member on this board would prefer the 1kilo size, even it it costs 50 or 60% more? Sea transportation cost would probably be the same for the 1k and 1/2k except for us duty.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but for me it would come down to the price difference shipped. It sounds like it would be between $3k for the Mini and about $5k for the 1kilo roaster shipped. The 1 kilo roaster would definitely give you more flexibility. With that said, for $5k you could purchase and freight ship a pretty nice used 1kg or 2kg roaster in the US.

I guess it all comes down to what you want.

[Tex]

So would it correct to assume more member on this board would prefer the 1kilo size, even it it costs 50 or 60% more? Sea transportation cost would probably be the same for the 1k and 1/2k except for us duty.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but for me it would come down to the price difference shipped. It sounds like it would be between $3k for the Mini and about $5k for the 1kilo roaster shipped. The 1 kilo roaster would definitely give you more flexibility. With that said, for $5k you could purchase and freight ship a pretty nice used 1kg or 2kg roaster in the US.

I guess it all comes down to what you want.

More like expect. I've seen Ambex and other US made 5lb roasters selling in the $6000 range. Would I pay that much for a machine without local support? What about parts - will you have to ship them from Taiwan or adapt locally purchased parts?

There are lots of iffy factors in risking that much money on a roaster with an unknown track record. I say let someone else get one and put down a year or two worth of performance testing, then I might risk it.

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

So would it correct to assume more member on this board would prefer the 1kilo size, even it it costs 50 or 60% more? Sea transportation cost would probably be the same for the 1k and 1/2k except for us duty.

your best bet if you want to try and import some roasters is to get solid prices and detailed data together then do a poll to see how much real interest is out there...

[Warrior372]

So would it correct to assume more member on this board would prefer the 1kilo size, even it it costs 50 or 60% more? Sea transportation cost would probably be the same for the 1k and 1/2k except for us duty.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but for me it would come down to the price difference shipped. It sounds like it would be between $3k for the Mini and about $5k for the 1kilo roaster shipped. The 1 kilo roaster would definitely give you more flexibility. With that said, for $5k you could purchase and freight ship a pretty nice used 1kg or 2kg roaster in the US.

I guess it all comes down to what you want.

More like expect. I've seen Ambex and other US made 5lb roasters selling in the $6000 range. Would I pay that much for a machine without local support? What about parts - will you have to ship them from Taiwan or adapt locally purchased parts?

There are lots of iffy factors in risking that much money on a roaster with an unknown track record. I say let someone else get one and put down a year or two worth of performance testing, then I might risk it.

The Chinese are absolute masters of reverse engineering. I have a friend that works for corporate John Deere and they actually stopped selling to specific companies in china due to their sole intention of taking it apart and rebuild it. Employees for those companies show up at conventions now with magnets that are a specific size, put the magnet on every part of the machine they can reach and take pictures of the machinery with the magnet on it for scale. I would not be worried about the build quality.

Anyway, based on Ambex's reported customer service you might actually get better customer service from a company in Taiwan. Regardless of what brand of roaster you go with there will always be bearings to grease and motors to be rebuilt. At least you get a functional cooling tray with that Mini. most 1kg roasters do not. I cannot imagine they sell all that many 1kg roasters, so it would be hard to come by a used one.

[hankua]

I have to agree with Tex and Warrior about buying Taiwan in the 5-6k price point. But what if you need a quality shop roaster with a very reasonable price?  That might be a reason to go out on a limb and get one, if they're as good as the owner thinks; as he's very proud of them.

The only other roaster that looks close to the 800n is the San Franciscan SF-1. How much does one of them set you back? Is there anything else out there that's close in the features? Adjustable drum speed, Cast iron drum (I got to see that to believe), adjustable air valve, adjustable gas burner, separate bean cooler, chaff collector.  

Take a look for yourself

Coffee Roaster-800N Connoisseur

[Warrior372]

For a 1lb San Franciscan they are asking $8,500. . . . I guess that makes the Taiwanese roaster seem like that much more of a deal. A very solid roaster company out of Spain by the name of Roure has their 1lb roaster priced at 4,500 Euro plus shipping. It looks like you will have to pay $6500-$8500 for a comparable 1lb roaster. The Taiwanese one might be your best bet! It keeps looking better and better. All of these other 1lb roaster also weigh in at about 100lbs too.

There are people over in HB that have been using them for 1.5-2 years with nothing but praise for them. They have to be doing something right.

[Tex]

For a 1lb San Franciscan they are asking $8,500. . . . I guess that makes the Taiwanese roaster seem like that much more of a deal. A very solid roaster company out of Spain by the name of Roure has their 1lb roaster priced at 4,500 Euro plus shipping. It looks like you will have to pay $6500-$8500 for a comparable 1lb roaster. The Taiwanese one might be your best bet! It keeps looking better and better. All of these other 1lb roaster also weigh in at about 100lbs too.

There are people over in HB that have been using them for 1.5-2 years with nothing but praise for them. They have to be doing something right.

Is it made in Taiwan? I thought it was a mainland China product?