Nice! I got into espresso at the start of COVID with a Silvia and really enjoyed it. This year I started roasting my own coffee. I found a hottop 2k used on Craigslist for $600, and now I spend about $10/mo on coffee!
Not a bad idea, although I guess personally I don't mind my coffee budget particularly because it goes to local cafes that I like supporting. I also don't drink all that much (2 cups a day) so it's not much money to support my 'habit'.
2 cups a day at a cafe comes out to over $3k a year? Seems fairly expensive relative to brewing at home, but I take your point about supporting businesses.
Well I meant two cups a day at home, but yes I would still pay that. Cafes are good and I like them. Way cheaper than drinking at bars, for comparison, also.
Yeah it's not really a money saver, I already upgraded my roaster, but it is really fun and satisfying. The are ways to start for like $20 if you ever become interested.
I've been roasting for about 12 years now. I still use the second roaster that I bought 10 years ago, a Behmor 1600. The unit cost under $400 new, and I get my coffee for about $8/lb max including tax and shipping. I have absolutely saved money, probably thousands of dollars over the course of this hobby. And I've become proficient enough that I can produce coffee that I prefer to anything sold commercially I've been able to find.
That being said, I am considering upgrading my roaster to the Aillio Bullet, which costs around $3k, so that would probably put me back in the red for this specific hobby.
i highly recommend the bullet! the batch size is great and the data logging and responsiveness with the induction heating is pretty amazing. i wasn't planning to upgrade but a local one went on sale for 2500 and i couldn't pass up the opportunity.