From the first Starbucks Roaster and several more, to 40+ years later, nothing surprises me in our Coffee Industry except:
Wow, I really did not realize how many people think that I work for Probat. What's even funnier is I never really had a formal job.
I came home from the Air Force in 1977 and was hanging out with my father, one thing led to another, so we started a company in high pressure gas. We got a contract to install gas lines at a company called Starbucks.
At the time we were installing the gas line, Starbucks got a shipment in from Germany and they asked if we could help unload it. I asked what it was and they told me a coffee roaster. They also said they needed to put it together and I said hell, I can do that. Long story short, I did and then built several more for them and started learning more about coffee roasters.
I did go visit Don Woodard in California at Probat, as the field guy thought I would be a good Tech for them. After talking to Don W, I chuckled at them and walked out. That was 40+ years ago. Everything I do, I believe in challenging the status quo.
I have self trained on German equipment for coffee roasting. I believe in thinking differently, out of the box definitely. I spent more time learning the coffee business, to the point when it comes to roasters and how they perform, I feel I understand the roasters better than most of the Mfg, since they build them for mass. There is nothing mechanical (roasters or otherwise), that I isn't in my wheelhouse, bring it on.
I not only build them, I also can set them the way a client wants them to run. By roast profiling, cupping and tasting the coffee with client, I dial in their machine based on taste and cup quality. This is completely different than the Mfg approach which is to build a roaster for the masses.
I run a UL shop which allows me to build custom controls based on client needs. We show clients that an Artisan roast will be better than an Automatic roast on specific roasters. As you now see, there are more and more automatic roasters.
I set out and designed custom controls (auto with manual input), that are humbly great . I understand the value in things not easily seen. You learn how the coffee responds to what you are doing, which is totally different than what you do with an auto-only machine, where you make a profile/recipe and the roast turns out okay, bad or indifferent. With roast profiling & cupping software I have completed the cycle.
Download Marty's Bio
From the first Starbucks Roaster and several more, to 40+ years later, nothing surprises me in our Coffee Industry except:
Wow, I really did not realize how many people think that I work for Probat. What's even funnier is I never really had a formal job.
I came home from the Air Force in 1977 and was hanging out with my father, one thing led to another, so we started a company in high pressure gas. We got a contract to install gas lines at a company called Starbucks.
At the time we were installing the gas line, Starbucks got a shipment in from Germany and they asked if we could help unload it. I asked what it was and they told me a coffee roaster. They also said they needed to put it together and I said hell, I can do that. Long story short, I did and then built several more for them and started learning more about coffee roasters.
I did go visit Don Woodard in California at Probat, as the field guy thought I would be a good Tech for them. After talking to Don W, I chuckled at them and walked out. That was 40+ years ago. Everything I do, I believe in challenging the status quo.
I have self trained on German equipment for coffee roasting. I believe in thinking differently, out of the box definitely. I spent more time learning the coffee business, to the point when it comes to roasters and how they perform, I feel I understand the roasters better than most of the Mfg, since they build them for mass. There is nothing mechanical (roasters or otherwise), that I isn't in my wheelhouse, bring it on.
I not only build them, I also can set them the way a client wants them to run. By roast profiling, cupping and tasting the coffee with client, I dial in their machine based on taste and cup quality. This is completely different than the Mfg approach which is to build a roaster for the masses.
I run a UL shop which allows me to build custom controls based on client needs. We show clients that an Artisan roast will be better than an Automatic roast on specific roasters. As you now see, there are more and more automatic roasters.
I set out and designed custom controls (auto with manual input), that are humbly great . I understand the value in things not easily seen. You learn how the coffee responds to what you are doing, which is totally different than what you do with an auto-only machine, where you make a profile/recipe and the roast turns out okay, bad or indifferent. With roast profiling & cupping software I have completed the cycle.
Download Marty's Bio
