CEPros Project: Skyrocket Coffee
Bertram, TX
The Challenge
Chris and Crystal Green were determined to create a state-of-the-art roastery in the Texas Hill Country. They sought a complete set of coffee roasting equipment, including roasters and ancillary tools. Their aim? To produce delicious coffee in an eco-friendly and innovative way. To navigate this complex project, Chris turned to CEPros for assistance.
CEPros Delivers
CEPros partnered with Chris and Crystal Green to provide a wide range of services over the span of about seven months, including roastery equipment consulting, expert recommendations, in-person demos, intricate logistics support, and on-site installation and training. CEPros also collaborated with a trusted manufacturer to create a custom destoner solution. Beginning to end, this project as a case study in how CEPros offers everything from analytical guidance to hands-on support. CEPros is truly a one-stop shop.
About 30 miles northwest of Austin, you’ll find the quaint town of Bertram, located in Texas’ picturesque Hill Country. Nestled between Liberty Hill and Burnet on State Highway 29, it’s more likely you’ll associate this community with longhorns and Lone Star lore than the site of a cutting-edge, future-forward coffee roastery. But Texas is full of surprises. And, that’s exactly what you’ll find when you arrive at Skyrocket Coffee.
A quick peek at Skyrocket’s website today:
If you were to walk into the roastery now, you’d see two roasters that look very much like modern rockets, surrounded by an assortment of equipment to keep this new roastery running.
This is exactly the vision that Skyrocket owners Chris and Crystal Green had when they decided to swap the mountains and evergreens of the Pacific Northwest for the lakes and rolling ridges of Texas’ Hill Country — all in search of a new adventure.
Though the location was new, the idea of roasting and selling coffee wasn’t too far off the beaten path from the Green’s former life in the hemp world. After all, there are similarities: Both commodity crops hold great versatility and economic significance. Both also have a substantial global agricultural footprint. And both offer end-products that make life a lot more enjoyable.
So, in a new home known more for wineries and wildflowers than coffee, they set out to tackle a new trade. Skyrocket Coffee was born, and it was time to outfit the launching pad. The day after Christmas, Chris Green reached out to Coffee Equipment Pros to help him and Crystal start building their dream.
Go Big or Go Home!
“Environmentally friendly. Sustainable. Innovative. Eventually off-grid.”
This is the vision CEPros' Rick Davis heard from Chris on their first call, and that’s why he introduced Chris to the Air-Motion Roaster (AMR). With its no-fuel setup and incredibly low emissions, it would serve as the perfect eco-conscious cornerstone for Skyrocket.
After an in-person demo with one of our AMR demo partners and tasting the clean, delicious result, the Greens were on board. They wanted innovation, and they got it, with the AMR offering a highly interactive, immersive experience that gave them complete roasting control — all with no fuel and practically no emissions.
So, the Green’s signed on not for just an AMR12 12kg roaster but also an AMR6 6kg machine. Although Chris and Crystal were newly minted Texans, they’d already adopted the “Go big or go home!” mentality the Lone Star State is known for.
And they were just getting started. They also needed a destoner, industrial grinder, automated K-cup machine, air compressor, weigh fill machine and loader, and vertical band sealer. Rick worked with them to understand their needs, capacity, and future forecasting to recommend the best equipment to handle their growing production volume over time.
Rick built the Greens a package that included an MPE GPX.WCI industrial grinder, water-cooled to preserve the full flavor and aroma of the coffee grounds. Then came the Haitec “mini” K-cup machine, followed by the ActionPac Tri-Pak: the ActionPac ME109 Net Weigh Packaging Scale with optional stand, the ActionPac E-7 Heavy Duty Vertical Bag Sealer, and ActionPac's "Ac-Vac" loader.
By early February, they’d agreed to purchase it all.
Preparing For Liftoff: Partnering for the Right Timing
There’s an art to equipment logistics that’s not often considered. It’s not just about placing an order and monitoring its delivery from Point A to B. Just like a chef expertly times when various dishes are prepared to arrive hot to your plate at just the right moment, a lot goes into the precision planning of roastery equipment’s arrival — especially when construction timelines come into play.
With the two AMR roasters ordered, CEPros worked with its manufacturer partners for the equipment chosen to ensure it arrived right when the Greens were ready for it in their new space. When roastery construction was humming along so well, CEPros was even able to bump up the AMR12’s delivery time by shipping it via plane vs. boat, arriving in just three days to correspond with Skyrocket's construction timeline.
Rick was on hand to help Chris and Crystal set up all of the ancillary equipment in March, and then returned to the roastery site in April to help install and commission the AMR12 roaster, and train them on the machine. When the AMR6 arrived in July, you can bet he was back in Bertram to help set up this second roaster — the final piece needed for liftoff — just as the Green’s were finishing up the last of their roastery build.
Here's the takeaway: Perfect timing isn’t always defined by speed but events aligning just as they should. It’s more about mastering the art of the right timing. By staying in constant lockstep with its client to cater to their timeline, CEPros delivered.
Reaching for the Stars: The AirSift is Born
Here’s a fun sideline to this story: When Rick was on one of his visits to Skyrocket, he and Crystal started chatting through what a custom destoning solution might look like for the AMR12. Rick had already been thinking about this for a while, and knew a custom destoner would need to be adapted specifically for the roaster's low-profile cooler.
Rick contacted his friends at AAE/Coffee Loaders, knowing that their fluid bed destoning technology would fit perfectly with AMR’s design. In CEPros' first collaborative design project with a manufacturing partner, the AirSift custom destoner was born. It arrived in June, and through a series of fine-tuning with Crystal's helpful on-the-ground feedback, the final product was installed. Skyrocket reports that it works better than anticipated.
The below video shows the AirSift and AMR12 in action:
All Systems Go!
Skyrocket officially launched in late Summer 2024, and it’s already a success. Here are a couple of photos of the current setup:
Like the website screenshot states, the Greens want their customers to “taste the future of coffee, air-roasted for a smoother, richer experience.” They’re willing to stake their brand on the taste of their coffee — it’s that good.
Skyrocket’s Google reviews agree:
“We’re blown away!”
“We can taste the difference.”
“Smooth, flavorful, and delicious.”
“Wonderful full body!”
In fact, the quality of their Air-Motion roasted coffee is so good, that it's resulting in an opportunity for CEPros to sell the color sorter the Greens had purchased from another manufacturer. They don't even use the color sorter because the beans roasted on their AMR12 and AMR6 are so uniform.
So, what's next for Skyrocket? Not even a year into their wholesale and online retail coffee business, Chris and Crystal are planning to add four more Air-Motion Roasters to support their growing enterprise that’s really blasted off (sorry, couldn’t resist). They’ve served as a demo partner (see below photo) and also agreed to act as hosts for Air-Motion Roasters’ first-ever global virtual live roast event in November 2024.
From Chris and Crystal:
“We can't say enough good things about Rick and his team! They provided us with most of our roasting equipment, and their support during setup was truly exceptional. They went above and beyond to ensure everything was perfect, and their expertise made the process seamless. We're incredibly grateful for their dedication and professionalism. Highly recommend!”
Do you have dreams of launching your own roastery? It can feel overwhelming to know where to start — and then manage to keep it all on track to completion. From selecting the best roastery equipment to installation and training, just like with Skyrocket, we can help you realize those roastery dreams from the ground up, and all the way to the moon.
Learn more about Skyrocket Coffee:
