Hello! My name is Justin. I began experimenting with roasting coffee in my garage with a cast iron skillet over a propane burner. I was surprised to find that is was good!! This was a tedious process that could take 15 to 20 minutes. One year for Christmas, my family gave me a Fresh Roast SR800 coffee roaster that I used for 3 and a half years. This roaster proved to work good and the coffee that it produced was much more uniform in color. I learned a lot along the way but the Fresh Roast was a manual roaster and did not connect to a computer so did not have automation or repeatability.
I had not really ever aspired to roasting as there were others doing a fantastic job with providing fresh quality coffee. But time and things change. A local roaster decided to close his business. When I heard this, I immediately had the thought that maybe I could do coffee roasting. After thinking about it and talking to some others in the business, I decided to take the plunge and order a small roaster that had the capabilities I was needing.
I settled on an Aillio Bullet Pro. This is a small roaster by most standards. I usually roast a little over 1 kg in each batch. So you can honestly call this "small batch roasting"!
I received my new roaster in June of this year (2026). I had to learn how to roast with a drum roaster instead of the Fresh Roast that used hot air to roast the coffee. It was a totally different concept, so the learning curve was quit steep for a little while there. I was able to get it figured out and officially open for business in July 2026.
There is always something to learn about coffee... either something about the roasting process, the different way to brew coffee or the different flavors that come out by trying different roasts, grinding or brewing.
I enjoy a good cup of coffee and make fresh coffee every morning. I also enjoy making coffee drinks for family and friends. I have an espresso machine and a bunch of syrups to make a variety of drinks from hot lattes and americanos to tear drops and iced coffees.
So long and enjoy coffee!