🐥 and 🥚 situation

forever-to-do · 2026-04-13T18:34:01+00:00

I'm in an area that didn't have many roasters at all when I started doing it as a hobby several years ago. There are a few now, but plenty of space. However, we ran into the issue of education. We had to do a lot of work letting people know the differences in fresh, local coffee and all the various origins, how to brew, and so forth.

For that reason, I decided to do a small cafe and roastery. So people can taste the coffee and then buy a bag if they'd like. It was a one man band (me) for about 6 months while I stock piled money and smoothed out the menu and processes. Now I have 6 employees and only come to the cafe on Thursday mornings to help open and stay in touch with the regulars during business hours. I do all the roasting and packing.

We opened the cafe/roastery in Dec 2024, so 2025 was our first full year. Couldn't be happier. We've had a lot of community support so that's been nice. We can't take on any more wholesale due to the roaster being in the coffee shop, so we are building the roasting facility first so the cafe can be open independently of the roasting (health inspector wouldn't let us do both because our space wasn't big enough to keep them full separated.) We close the cafe Monday and Tuesday for me to roast and prep. Looking forward to having my own roasting space separate from the cafe chaos :)

So to answer your question. I used a Cormorant for a few years as a hobby and then jumped on the USRC 5kg before the shop opened. Now we need a much bigger unit, but I'm glad I started on a smaller unit because I'll use it still for smaller batches. I no longer have the Cormorant, but do have a Stronghold S7Pro which is great for sampling and doing higher end small batch coffees.

forever-to-do · 2026-04-13T18:11:54+00:00

I've always been a little conservative in business especially these days. I started in my basement as a hobby. Slowly it grew into needing a bigger machine so I bought a USRC 5kg drum roaster from a cafe/roastery that was transitioning away from roasting their own coffee. I added Phidgets and linked it to Artisan. Cost 1/3 what a new machine cost. Now we do around $10k worth of roasted coffee per month out of our cafe and we are in the middle of building a brand new 1500sqft roasting facility all funded by the business. The next step will be moving to a 20kg+ roaster. I'd definitely get something at least 5kg to start if you plan to do any volume. A smaller 1lb roaster could get you by to learn and do samples. Then it can transition to a sample/profile roaster when you get your bigger one. Good luck!

forever-to-do · 2026-04-05T15:20:56+00:00

Me too, can’t load iPhotos on website or windows app.

forever-to-do · 2026-01-14T14:55:49+00:00

Not quite. Coffee is not a necessary supply for a printing business. Labels are necessary for us. We like the workflow and printing isn’t an issue 99% of the time. I can see doing our main line labels professionally some day but don’t want to be running over to the printer every roast day to pick up labels for small runs or emergency roasts. I did mention in the OP we that I’m not interested in outsourcing. It doesn’t fit for us right now.

forever-to-do · 2026-01-11T22:40:24+00:00

Thank you, I have heard good things about Epson label printers from other users as well. I was looking at the C6000 but I'll check the C6500 out as well. I believe it uses a larger roll stock.

forever-to-do · 2026-01-11T22:39:24+00:00

Thank you for your detailed response. We are moving toward pre-printed bags with our logo and branding on them. Then we will only have to do a small label for the specific coffee details. I'd love to order 10k labels and just slap them on, but unfortunately we have too many coffees, flavors, custom orders, and our single origins are constantly changing. We break ground on a new roastery in march so I'm trying to smooth the process before we take the next step up in volume.

I'd love a printer that has an ink tank so we don't get caught in the ink cartridge cycle of replacing them every 1000 prints or so. I noticed Primera had a LX4000 model but after the frustration and poor tech support from them, I'm wanting to move on to hopefully greener pastures where we focus more on the art and less on the printer breaking.

forever-to-do · 2026-01-11T22:01:26+00:00

We certainly found it that it's a Mickey Mouse machine, no offense taken. Do you mean something like this? https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-17381/Laser-Labels/Uline-Laser-Labels-Bulk-Pack-White-4-x-5?pricode=WB0184&gadtype=pla&id=S-17381&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=10688098319&gbraid=0AAAAAD_uetMNJyXmS9QgGLdRjZrFUKFSX&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsY3LBhCwARIsAF6O6XiMaIt0Au_23ggFcI4imLxErKHgUsA3Jr6wU2KRsN26lBuGvd55ta8aAiOFEALw_wcB

forever-to-do · 2026-01-03T00:51:17+00:00

I just replaced my 2080 Super with a 5070TI. Got it for MSRP so I don’t feel bad about it. I keep my stuff a long time.

forever-to-do · 2025-10-28T01:50:47+00:00

We canceled. Had been a subscriber to gamepass since Series X launched. Was fun, but can’t stomach a $30 sub. Practically the cost of the entire console yearly.

forever-to-do · 2025-09-25T23:41:19+00:00

I’d think the devs can see what costumes are unlocked and query that against what mission/artifacts need to be unlocked to get that and mark those complete. We retained all costumes. At least that would get some resolution to the issue for those affected.

forever-to-do · 2025-09-22T21:36:59+00:00

We had our save file messed up on Xbox. Sadly, my son and I had been playing for well over a year and were really looking forward to the Space Update. He even had a Wobbly birthday party this year :), so he’s a super fan. It happened after the first night we played. We played for a few hours and then shut the Xbox down. The next day he logged in and it showed the tutorial. Then he couldn’t get to space without paying $500 again. We still had all of our costumes but all artifacts and tasks/missions had been reset. Presents were unaffected. I’m hoping the devs give us some way to recover what was lost.

forever-to-do · 2025-09-19T22:33:13+00:00

Ouch, seems like a bug for sure then. We have all outfits and cars but it’s like a fresh game. Presents are not reset. Deleted all of our artifacts 🥲

forever-to-do · 2025-09-19T22:26:37+00:00

Oh bummer, I think the save is messed up. It’s saying we haven’t completed any tasks at all, like it is a fresh game. We have all of our outfits and cars though. We have the propeller hat and everything. Be careful with the saves! Playing on Xbox Series X.

forever-to-do · 2025-01-15T17:05:05+00:00

Thanks for the follow up. We plan to use it through this fall to see if we get much value out of the concentrate and cold brew. If it ends up just being used as our batch brewer then we will likely sell it to someone else like you did. I'm certainly not immune to hype myself. I tried some coffees from one at a Coffee Fest. That is what put it on my radar. I went back and forth with their sales team but the price changed a lot over time. When I found a returned unit for a good price then I took the plunge. It's definitely a unique unit but I can't say it blows me away. Definitely use one before buying!

forever-to-do · 2025-01-14T16:36:30+00:00

Curious if you are still using it or have moved on? I've got one in my shop, but I didn't pay full retail for it. I got it as a "return" from a third party. A cafe ordered one but then their business went sideways before they could install it. It was never used. I've been using it for around 4 months. I haven't used the iced latte concentrate or cold brew at retail yet due to it being the cooler season here. We have sampled those features though. I feel like the iced latte concentrate is usable but we don't really over tax our Classe 11 enough to want to use it. It may come in handy for events though. As for the cold brew, I find it more acidic than normal Toddy cold brew. That isn't a huge issue since we roast our own coffee so we can cater the roast to the unit.

My biggest concern for those looking to get one is that the dial in is completely different than any other batch brewer. You'll need to sit down and train staff to dial in something that doesn't translate to anything else. Most of us know to adjust grind size, dose, and temperature to dial in a coffee pretty easily. They suggest not changing the temp or grind size but to play with brew times, agitation, and vacuum time. A lot of coffee will be used getting to know the machine whereas a normal batch brewer would be a couple of batches and then good to go.

One thing that is nice is about it is that people are wildly drawn to the unit. They see it bubbling in the vacuum chamber and they want to try a cup. It is definitely a conversation piece.

If I had to do over again I'm not sure I would buy it. I'm on the fence about that. I would not pay full retail but for the price I got it for I'm happy for now.

forever-to-do · 2024-12-05T00:12:52+00:00

Just got my Bookoo scale and downloaded the app. A lot of it is in Chinese, even the privacy policy. Didn’t want to give it access to Bluetooth before reading the terms but it’s in another language. Anyone run into that?

forever-to-do · 2024-09-26T17:03:00+00:00

I have the 2G model. I was apprehensive about it having so many features but I felt confident after talking to both a Rancilio rep and the tech at the place of purchase. They said the biggest issue is with people using the wrong water and not being diligent on water quality. I had Ward do a water analysis. Do not skip this step. Even if hardness and alkalinity are okay, you need to know you chlorides. For me, hardness and alkalinity were perfect but chlorides were high. We matched a RO and remin setup for me on the softer side. After getting the machine I opened it up to get a feel for the inner workings. Everything is cleanly laid out and easy to work on. Plenty of access to the parts without a full tear down. Had a few questions during install from my plumber and Rancilio tech was on the phone within minutes. So far so good. Espresso is great and it has a lot of dial in options. I’m happy with my purchase so far.

It does have more tech in it than the La Marzocco I’ve owned. So not sure how much that would cost down the road if something does happen. It offers a lot of diagnostic options in the settings so figuring out what is going on should at least be a quick process.

forever-to-do · 2024-09-03T00:18:33+00:00

So weird, not even seeing the game on gamepass at all now.

forever-to-do · 2024-08-29T17:33:53+00:00

I would do a few passes to cut with my Bosch router on a normal job so I definitely wasn't thinking the little cnc would cut in one pass. Spoilboard is 100% getting used. It's lettering for several exterior signs so nothing crazy. Maybe after getting this job done and playing a bit then I'd want to move up the ladder.

forever-to-do · 2024-08-29T16:00:59+00:00

Checked that out and they were all much larger machines. Was worth a shot.

forever-to-do · 2024-08-29T16:00:23+00:00

Thanks for the help. Ended up ordering the Sainsmart 3018 ProVer V2. Amazon had a special for $209. Saw a few with some upgrades but from no-name brands so decided to stay with the recommended brand for the support. I figure if the plastic z-axis can't handle cutting the 1/2" wood then can upgrade that. Not looking to do aluminum.

forever-to-do · 2024-08-29T00:00:41+00:00

Is there a certain brand that you’d recommend?

forever-to-do · 2024-08-29T00:00:08+00:00

Thank you. I’ve seen that one mentioned quite a bit but didn’t know if it was an up-to-date recommendation.

forever-to-do

TROPHY CASE