Home Roasting Coffee

dave lackey

dave lackey

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Okay, I am intrigued...bad...

Finally found some really good coffee from Starbucks (they have two blonde roasts which are not so dark and strong). Been enjoying it for awhile now and am happy with it.

Then, I found out about home roasting your own coffee beans at home...Oh, my! Visions of coffee beans in the oven and the delicious smell of coffee permeating the air!

Anyone doing this? It sounds like it might be worthwhile...:angel:
 
I always have though about brewing tea and coffee as developing film 🙂 And roasting as another "analogue" goodness!
 
Here in Hawaii sometimes I pick wild coffee.
I peel the cherry while fresh and then soak the beans in water. After that I try to scrub the beans with rice kernels in water to remove as much chaffe as I can. Then I spread them out to dry for a couple few days on. a large cookie sheet. It's important for them to be single layer so they fully dry.
Then the fun part... roasting! I do not roast in an oven. I like to pan roast cowboy style. It's kind of an art and takes practice to get the beans just right, but it's fun to control the darkness of the roast.
Then the beans are ready to grind and enjoy brewed.
 
I've been roasting at home for about a year. I usually buy green beans from Sweet Marias. They have an ever changing selection of extraordinarily good beans.

I have a very simple roasting process. I use a Whirlypop popcorn popper on a propane stove outdoors. I just roasted a pound (actually about 18 oz) yesterday. I go through about a pound every 5 or 6 days.
 
Whoa...okay!

So, who can recommend an inexpensive method for roasting the beans, a how-to for a newbie, and a resource for buying the beans?😀

Of course, I would like your recommendation on the beans you like. From what I understand, a lighter roast (which I prefer) allows you to taste the beans, a darker roast (which I like periodically) allows you to taste the roast...have I got that right?😕

Edit: I am going through Sweet Maria's right now...
 
Fair warning: you're headed down the rabbit hole, Dave. Here's a great place for you to start: coffeegeek.com

Sweet Maria's is great, but shipping to the east coast gets pricy. Check out CCM Coffee in Tampa. The selection is not as broad, but it is quite adequate, and shipping is better for us easterners.
 
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