We're very similar to NW BB... it's dh's thing, as he is the coffee lovah. He burned out a couple of smaller roasters so I spent the big bucks on a nice one ($500?? Can't remember...). He also finally realized that a medium roast has more caffeine and more "undertones of flavor" or some such, rather than the black ashes he used to make. This may have also helped the third roaster to outlast the others. It's a much nicer machine all around.
Also like NW BB, he buys 50 pounds of regular and 25 pounds of decaf at a time... the green beans can be stored a LONG time when unroasted. He generally roasts the night before. We haven't gotten around to selling it yet, but we will be soon. (We need to research and order bags... guess I should delegate that to him.)
We get raves on the coffee, and there's definitely an "ooh" factor when people know it's fresh roasted, ground, and brewed for them.
It's definitely cheaper, too (if you discount the cost of the machine and his labor for roasting...). His last order worked out to about $3.85/pound, including shipping.
Just like NW BB, it makes a great hobby for dh, and he gets a lot of raves from it.
=)
Kk.
