The How:
 
1000 pounds...1000 pounds...1000 pounds!!!
 
That is all I could think about.  Now I had done it, ordered a 1000 pound "monster" roaster, for delivery in June -- right before entering the hospital for a hernia operation.  Yeah, must have been brought on just from the thought of it all!
 
Well, as it turns out the roaster arrived, I went the ¾ mile to the end of our lane with our trusted Bobcat track loader (with a fork lift attachment), balanced the load over two speed bumps, a gravel approach to our new barn/roasting room/farm store, and eased it into the double door of the roasting room.  There it sat on its pallet, in the middle of the room - and there I stood wondering how it would ever be moved into position! 
 
Finally, with the help of a couple of friends (one mentioned in a recent newsletter), we got it off the pallet and close to where it would be brought to life.  That enabled us to start looking for the proper exhaust piping, finish up the roasting room, and then positioning the roaster for connection to the exhaust, electricity, and gas.  Boy, I tell you after all of this we thought we had done a lot...and we had, just not everything we needed to do.
 
The initial green coffee bean order had to be made, relationships with importers established, the roaster cured, and roasts done prior to the national alpaca days weekend in September.  Now, recall I had hernia surgery in July!  We got most of the important matters covered, the roaster cured, and initial roasts made to check on our ability to put out a quality product...all of this prior to my surgery.  Then the wait began...you know if you cannot lift more than 3 to 5 pounds - you sure cannot lift 20 to 25 pounds over your head into a roasting machine!
 
What a time we were having!  Then right before our open farm weekend, we cranked our roaster up full speed...and what delicious coffee poured out of our wonderful new roaster!  It was not a monster at all, instead it had become a pleasure to operate and a pleasure to consume its bounty!  Peruvian and Columbian beans were being roasted to a pleasing full city level, and man the taste!  However, we were having a terrible time finding good Bolivian beans...matter of fact, we could not find reasonably priced beans anywhere...right when we were about to give up, we found a source!  A company that imports ONLY Bolivian beans and we have a choice of quality levels in the bean!  We were set to provide all our roasts, we even found a Peruvian coffee that is decaffeinated with a quality natural process!
 
Now all we needed was that deck on the barn so that we could take our coffee breaks with a clear view of the pacas pronking nearby!  WE NOW HAVE THAT TOO!!!  You need to come on over to the farm, ride down the lane until you see a bunch of beautiful alpacas, look to your left and drop by the roasting room (and deck)!  If you are lucky, we will be roastin'!!!
 
Until then, I will be lookin' for you.  Take care now,
 
The Coffeeman