Before You Buy a Roaster: What No One Tells You
.png/460_320_crop.png?ts=1769780365&pn=blog_front)
Before You Buy a Roaster: What No One Tells You
We spent two years looking for a roaster we could recommend to our clients without guilt. We didn't find it in Germany. We didn't find it in Italy. We found it in Vietnam. And that says more about the European coffee roaster market than any tech spec ever could.
We don't add equipment to our offering until we're certain. Not "fairly certain." Not "seems OK." Certain. We test. We verify. We check with the best roasters in Europe. Only then do we sell.
The European Market Had Its Chance
Europe has had local roaster manufacturers with real potential—machines that were affordable and well-built. Some of them are still around, but they've struggled to fully capitalize on the opportunity. The specialty coffee community moves fast, and staying connected matters.
Without ongoing engagement—presence at competitions, events, educational initiatives—even good manufacturers can fade from the conversation. Roasteries end up with machines that work well, but when something needs attention, support can be hard to reach. Parts availability becomes uncertain.
It's a pattern we've seen across the industry, not just in one country.
The big Western brands? Great equipment on paper. But try calling for service on Friday at 3 PM. "We'll send someone next week." From which part of Europe? When exactly? "We'll let you know."
You have a roast scheduled for Saturday morning. 180 kg of green waiting. Your café calls because they're running out of the single origin they just promoted on Instagram. You apologize. You promise. You count the days. You lose the client.
The Wrong Question Everyone Asks
People ask: "Which roaster gives the best RoR control?" That's the wrong question.
When someone comes with questions about roasters, they usually want to talk about Rate of Rise curves, charge temperature and drop temperature, gas pressure control, airflow precision, burner specs and drum speed.
All of that sounds professional. All of it is secondary.
The real question is: What happens when your roaster breaks down in the middle of peak season, you have 200 kg scheduled for roasting, three cafés waiting for deliveries, and the nearest certified service technician is in another country checking their calendar?
A roastery in Warsaw. The burner failed. Lead time for the part: three months. Not three days. Not three weeks. Three months.
During that time, you don't roast. During that time, you lose contracts. Not because your profiles were bad. Not because first crack wasn't developing well. Because there's no coffee at all. Cafés move to competitors. Some come back. Most don't. Because you're "not reliable."
The best roaster in the world isn't the one that never breaks down. It's the one where you're not alone when first crack doesn't happen because the burner just died.
Our Criteria Were Simple. Nobody Met Them.
Roasters are simple machines. Even ones costing €60,000 break down. Thermocouples burn out. Burners lose flame stability. Blower motors stop in the middle of development phase. The difference isn't whether they'll break. The difference is what happens next.
Roasters over €50,000 met criterion 1. Sometimes. Rarely met criteria 3 and 4. Never met criteria 2 and 5.
Cheaper roasters met criterion 2. Rarely met anything else.
If something was going to be in our offering, it had to meet all criteria. Not three out of five. All. Because we didn't want to be another company that sells equipment and then avoids calls from customers.
We Found OTesla in Vietnam. Stronghold in South Korea.
Not because we were looking for exotic. Because these were manufacturers who understood what a European roaster actually needs: a solid machine at a reasonable price that can be serviced locally, with full roasting support.
Stronghold is a proven brand in the specialty world. OTesla is something that gained recognition in world roasting through our collaboration—we call their roasters by our letters: CMS. It's a mark of quality in the specialty world. When you see CMS, you know what to expect.
But before we added anything to our offering, we tested. For several years. We gave prototypes to the best roasters in Europe. We checked consistency. We tested durability. We verified every aspect.
Installation of CMS-12 at Trigger, Warsaw, Poland
Mateusz Derkacz — 1st place Polish Coffee Roasting Championship 2024, 2nd place World Coffee Roasting Championship. Roasts on CMS-12.
Piotr Jeżewski — 1st place Polish Coffee Roasting Championship 2025. Roasts on CMS-12. In June we'll see how he does in Brussels at the World Coffee Roasting Championship.
These roasters have access to every roaster on the market. They have sponsors waiting in line. They choose CMS-12. Not because we're their sponsors. Because the roaster and our service simply works.
You're Not Buying a Roaster. You're Designing a Support System.
Most companies do this: install the machine, take the money, give you a phone number "in case of problems," and disappear. Good luck. And that's how you sell grinders, color sorters, tampers, drippers. But roasters? Roasters need something more.
We Do It Differently
With every CMS roaster, we include a day of training with Łukasz Jura. Not "basic operation." Roasting training at the highest world level. Łukasz has been through everything: worked at one of the best Polish roasteries for several years, is a coffee industry veteran, trained hundreds of roasters, developed profiles for dozens of origins, knows what breaks, why it breaks, and how to avoid it. He's the main REP at the World Coffee Roasting Championship.
None of the manufacturers do this. None. They install, take the money, couldn't care less.
We stay. Because we know we're selling something more than metal and electronics. We're selling peace of mind.
When something goes wrong—and it will, because it's a machine—you have a phone number that answers. Same day. Parts are in stock. We know how to fix it because we've done it hundreds of times.
12 kg batch size is the sweet spot. Not too small, not too big. Universal.
You can roast 4 kg. Testing new beans? Small batch micro-lot for a café that wants something unique? Sample roasting before a bigger purchase? No problem.
You can roast 12 kg. Production. Blend for a wholesaler. House blend for three cafés. Your daily bread.
*Actual figures from a roastery in western Poland running a single CMS-12
You know what that roaster told us? Not "this roaster has great RoR control." Not "precise airflow." He said: "I stopped worrying."
Stopped worrying whether the roaster would survive peak season. Stopped worrying whether the next batch would show the same color development. Stopped worrying that I'd have to explain to a client why I don't have coffee.
The roaster disappeared from the list of problems. What remained were all the other things that actually build a business: cupping new origins, profile development, sales, relationships with cafés, barista education.
Flexibility: A Roaster's Life Isn't One Scenario
Here's what a typical week looks like for our client:
One roaster. Your life isn't hostage to one scenario.
Sometimes gas isn't an option. Urban locations where regulations are a problem. Buildings where gas installation means six months of bureaucracy. Roasters who genuinely care about carbon footprint—and it's not marketing bullshit, it's their value.
But you can't compromise on roasting.
For a long time, electric roasters were slower. Less power, longer times between batches, more compromises in heat application. Stronghold changed that completely.
*Based on 5 hours of roasting (5 batches/hr × 8 kg, minus ~15% roast loss)
Most gas roasters do 3–4 batches per hour. Stronghold does 5. This isn't "almost as fast as gas." It's faster.
Installation of S9X at Sheep&Raven with 2018 Barista World Champion Agnieszka Rojewska
Let's Do the Math
That's a decent roastery on 25 hours of work per week. For comparison, most people work 40–50 hours weekly and earn less doing something they don't love.
"I have four hours in the morning before the kids come home from school. In that time I have to roast the whole week's production, cup yesterday's samples, and pack orders. I can't afford 'let's try that batch again' or 'heating's running slow today.'"
Speed = Freedom. It's not about roasting more coffee. It's about roasting the same amount in less time. And the rest of the day is yours. For cupping. For profile development. For life.
Installation of S9X at Stray Coffee, Munich, Germany
The Math of a Roaster's Life
You don't buy for where you are. You buy for where you'll be.
Most roasters get this wrong. They look at where they are today and buy equipment "for now." Problem: in 12–18 months, when you catch momentum—cafés recommend you to others, you show up in the specialty community's social media, your cupping sessions attract attention—that equipment will be too small. But then you won't have the time or money for replacement.
At €3 profit per 250g bag, you need ~800 bags monthly = 200 kg roasted.
5 batches × 12 kg = 60 kg green. At 4 batches/hour = ~75 minutes. Once a week. Six days for building your business.
12 batches × 5 kg. At 4 batches/hour = 3 hours. Realistically 2–3 times per week. Always in "production mode," never in "growth mode."
~2,100 bags monthly = 520 kg roasted = ~150 kg green per week.
~13 batches at 4/hour = ~3.25 hours. Twice weekly = 6.5 hours roasting. Rest of time: cupping, profiling, selling, living.
~31 batches at 3.5/hour = ~9 hours. Four to five days per week. You're in the hamster wheel. Non-stop roasting. No time for profile development.
This is no longer a "small roaster." This is a real roastery. You hire someone. You have regular clients. Your brand is recognized in the specialty community.
~4,200 bags monthly = 1,040 kg roasted = ~300 kg green per week.
~26 batches at 4/hour = ~6.5 hours. Five days weekly with an assistant. After costs: €5,000–6,000 profit for you.
~61 batches at 3.5/hour = ~17.5 hours. Physically impossible on one machine at 8 hours/day. Need a second roaster (another €20,000–30,000) or roast 6–7 days at 10+ hours and burn out.
Same demand. The difference in quality of life is enormous.
Three Red Flags When Choosing a Roaster
That most people ignore.
Which business hours? What time zone? What if your roaster loses heat application Friday evening before a big Saturday morning roast? Wait until Monday?
That means: we don't have them in stock. That means: you'll wait weeks. That means: you're on your own. Good support has parts now, not "we'll order."
Who is where? In which country? How fast can they come? How much does it cost? Do they understand roasting or do they just "fix machines"? If you can't get a straight answer before purchase, you definitely won't get one after.
What If You Don't Have Money for a 12 kg Roaster?
We understand. A good roaster is an investment of €25,000–35,000+. Not everyone has that kind of money to start.
But don't buy a small roaster as a compromise. The wrong roaster is more expensive than no roaster.
If You Don't Have Money for the Right Size:
Start with co-roasting or white-labeling. A roastery with spare capacity that can roast for you. Your label, someone else's production. Their equipment, your profiles (if they allow it).
Build your customer base FIRST. This is the key. What good is a super roaster if you can't sell? Most roasters don't have a problem roasting coffee. They have a problem selling coffee. Sales are harder than roasting. You can click through profiles in a month. You build clients over years.
Learn to sell first: Build relationships with cafés. Do cupping sessions. Show up at specialty events. Be present on social media. Educate baristas. Build community.
Save from actual profits. Not from hope. From actual profits from co-roasting. When you have 10–15 cafés ordering regularly, cash flow that lets you save €700–1,200 monthly, and proven demand for your coffee—then you buy a roaster. Not before.
Proving the concept isn't about roasting. It's about selling. If you can sell 200 kg of roasted coffee monthly using someone else's roaster, you've proven everything you need to prove.
Our European Advantage
The most expensive roaster in the world is useless if it doesn't work. Roasters over €50,000 are great. Really. But if you have a problem in Krakow and the nearest certified technician is in Hamburg... you don't have a great roaster. You have a very expensive problem.
Local Support That Actually Works
Support phone that we answer (usually in English). Response in hours, not days. Parts in local warehouse, not "we'll order from the factory in 6 weeks."
Know-How Built Over Years
We tested for years—we know what breaks. We know how to fix it because we've done it hundreds of times. We have parts because we know which ones are needed. We're certified technicians for Stronghold and OTesla. We conduct roasting training at world championship level.
Complete Roastery Equipment
We're the only company in the world that equips roasteries from A to Z. Not just roasters—everything. Grinders, scales, sifters, color sorters, destoners, packaging, labels, quality control systems, software, training, profiling assistance. One call. One support system. Zero hassle with five different suppliers.
Scale That Makes Sense
We're not too small to care about every roaster. We're not too big for a roaster to be just an order number. We sell across Europe and worldwide—no borders, no language barriers.
A real example: Roaster calls on Friday, 3:30 PM. Something's wrong with heat application—RoR drops unpredictably, suspects the thermocouple.
By 5 PM we either diagnose and fix remotely by phone, or ship the part by courier for Saturday morning. If it's a thermocouple—we have it in stock. If it's the controller—we have backup. If it's something really serious—we drive there.
This isn't a marketing promise. This is how we work.
This Isn't a Choice Between Gas and Electric
It's a choice between equipment that dictates your life—and equipment that serves your roasting goals. Between being alone when something goes wrong—and having a team that answers the phone. Between what's cheapest today—and what costs the least in the long run. Between buying for where you are—and designing for where you'll be in 18 months. Between juggling five suppliers—and one company that equips roasteries from A to Z.
We spent two years searching for roasters we could recommend without guilt. Now we sell roasters we'd buy ourselves.
We tested for years. We gave prototypes to the best roasters. We checked every aspect—from heat application to long-term durability. We built relationships with manufacturers who understand specialty. We became certified technicians. We built a parts warehouse.
And that's why we know what matters.
Not specs on paper. Not the cheapest price. Not the most expensive brand. What matters is whether you'll sleep peacefully knowing that if something goes wrong, someone will answer the phone.
If you're considering starting a roastery or upgrading your current equipment, do yourself a favor. Don't ask "which roaster has the best specs." Ask: "What happens when something goes wrong?"
Because it will. It always does. Thermocouples burn out. Burners lose stability. Controllers glitch. That's not pessimism. That's physics. Machines break down. The difference is whether you'll be alone.
