It sounds like you have a good relationship with your roaster. I loved it when I had my coffee shop and my shiny chrome roaster was my primary feature. I had several customers who would come in and stand around with me while I roasted up their coffee.
It was fun.
The only flavoring I did was using a really good product that you mix in with the coffee after roasting. I still didn’t heavily promote flavored coffees.
Post brewing, I used Monin Syrups and Sauces. They are a really good product and blend well with milk. I personally prefer my coffee straight up black.
I don’t know how he did the hazelnut — he called it a korean hazelnut additive, but it was ground afterward when I saw it so I don’t know. But when brewed it added a whole lot of aroama to the vicinity— LOL.
His roaster is similar to yours but I forget the brand — it is smaller floor mounted and will do about 10 pounds or better — painted sort of dark red like the bigger units of yours.
The variations in the wholesale price point have been making life hard on his small business although he said a couple of weeks ago that the fluctuations are calming down this year for him.
I like the posts that start like mine: “I got a guy...” and I bet you have a lot of stories about you that start that way.