I also home roast 80% of my beans. I’ve been home roasting for over 25 years. I’m receiving 25 pounds from Sweet Marias today. I picked up 5 pounds each of the following:
-Congo Organic Kivu Kalehe
-Costa Rica Tarrazú Cerro La Cruz
-Java Pulp Natural Gambung Robusta
-Ethiopia Dry Process Mahamed Aba Nura
-Kenya Nyeri Kiaguthu Peaberry
I’m looking forward to playing around with blending with the Java Robusta
Quality un-roasted green beans tend to be in the range of $6 to $8 a pound. On a light roast, about 15% of the weight is lost in roasting. $6 to $8 a pound un-roasted coffee turns into $6.90 to $9.20 a pound roasted. This doesn’t include cost of the equipment, wear and tear and electricity.
It seems like the going price of artisanal roasted coffee is $12 to $18 pound. IMO, is completely justifiable to charge based on their wholesale cost of goods and labor costs these days.