Roasting my own

[LEdlund]

Is there anywhere to buy small quantities locally?

[Fishshooter]

Is there anywhere to buy small quantities locally?

←

Try the Good Coffee Co. on Post Alley and I think Marion under the walkway to the ferrys and about 3 doors south. Joe the owner is a wealth of info and roasts some great coffee and has great teas for good prices.

[MGLloyd]

Ooh, ooh, I know this! As a homeroaster for over two years, I can tell you that there are few places locally to buy green beans. Good Coffee is one (but expensive), Vivace is another. If you go to one of the local Costcos with a roaster inside, they will usually sell you green beans from their stock. Perhaps your best bet (since I don't know where in Seattle you live) is for you to find the nearest coffeehouse/espresso shop that roasts their own, like Zokas, and ask them if you can buy some of their green beans. Typically, you should be able to get the green beans for half the price or less of the roasted beans.

But my usual advice is to point people to Sweet Marias (www.sweetmarias.com), coffeegeek (www.coffeegeek.com) or the green coffee co-op (www.greencoffee.coop). I can give you five local coffee brokers right now that will sell you green coffee by the container load, two that will sell you green coffee by the 132 lb sack, and none that will sell you green coffee in small retail quantities. Your best bet is to check out some of the sources on the Net, like the ones quoted above.

[food junkie]

I'm a home roaster as well and I've never found a quality bean source between PDX and Seattke that is nearly as good as either Sweet Maria's or Coffee Bean Corral...if you do find someone with a high standard of qualty in the Seattle area though, could you let us know?

[jbonne]

MGLloyd already mentioned Vivace, which would have been my suggestion. their coffee's real charm is in the skil with which they roast it, so i'd be curious if anyone's had experience with their green beans. (pulling espresso properly keeps me busy enough, so i'm happy to buy half-pounds of Dolce and call it even.)

given how detail-oriented David Schomer is about everything, i'd wager that an eager request when you order green beans would probably lead to a lot of free advice from their roasters. you could try calling the number on their web site.

[MGLloyd]

MGLloyd already mentioned Vivace, which would have been my suggestion.  their coffee's real charm is in the skil with which they roast it, so i'd be curious if anyone's had experience with their green beans.  (pulling espresso properly keeps me busy enough, so i'm happy to buy half-pounds of Dolce and call it even.)

given how detail-oriented David Schomer is about everything, i'd wager that an eager request when you order green beans would probably lead to a lot of free advice from their roasters. you could try calling the number on their web site.

←

I have bought the Vivace green blend and roasted it at home. It was pretty good, but my favorite espresso blends to home roast are Malabar Gold and Liquid Amber. I make some of my own blends with a heavy emphasis on central and North Africans that turn out pretty good. Think equal parts Kenyan, Harrar and Yirg.

PS: I forgot to mention another source of green beans locally. Hines Public Market on Eastlake roasts their own, and the roaster, John Sanders, can sometimes be persuaded to sell you some of his green beans. Tell him Coffeegeek sent you.

Edited January 17, 2005 by MGLloyd (log)

[LEdlund]

This is great information, thanks everyone!

I had thought about asking at my coffee shop - because they roast their own (which is Diva, btw).