Roast Your Own Coffee
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I’ll admit that I’m a big sucker for a good DIY project. I was first introduced to the idea of roasting my own coffee when I was a member of the Lawrence Brewers Guild in Lawrence, KS. The particular club member who suggested the hobbie was one who roasted coffee part time for a local roasterie, was an artist, built race cars, and was once the mayor of Lucas, KS. Many of the club members who brewed their own beer were also curious about propagating their own yeast, building brewing equipment of all types, roasting coffee, charcuterie, yogurt making, and other culinary DIY projects.
Who knew that with some patience, some green coffee beans, and a common household appliance, one could serve up one of the best cups of coffee for 1/2 to 1/3 of the cost of buying it at the store. As is common with most DIY’ers, the quick google search reveals a vibrant community of home roasters and a multitude of resources for the hobby. My experience has shown me that a person can get started for about $20 on a beginner level and up to thousands at an expert level.
My experience has shown me that a person can get started for about $20 on a beginner level and up to thousands at an expert level.
Warning to gear head inclined folks is that you may wrap up high amounts of money into the craft where in my opinion, you may get diminished returns. Pardon me while I duck to avoid that flying coffee scoop that just whizzed by my head. This particular how-to is the cheapest, quickest, and easiest way that I’m aware of. In a later post, I’ll step through using a Behmor 1600 1 lb drum roaster that I upgraded to years ago once I got a few roasts under my belt.
Gear:
My search for gear lead me to the Toastest TCP713 which I’ve used for home roasting years. It’s since been discontinued but the Dash Air Popper found on Amazon appears to be a very affordable model with many solid reviews with 4.3 out of 5 stars. This method requires roasting a small amount of green coffee beans of approximately 3-4 ounces, whichever the capacity of the air popper allows while getting good bean rotation while it’s being roasted. You’ll also want to have a colander and a cookie sheet with side walls handy once the beans are roasted.
Beans:
We’ve ordered 25 lb boxes of Gillies Coffee Company green beans over the years for what we see as a good value (Yes we went all in and ordered a large amount from the start). For about $100, you can get a 25 lb box of Colombian green coffee beans. Most folks I’ve discussed this with recommend Colombian beans as being a versatile coffee that is accessible to most coffee drinking pallets. If you don’t want to commit to a 25 lb sack of beans but would rather sample some smaller quantity varieties, try this selection from Amazon for a Sample Pack.
Steps:
Find a colander and cookie sheet to prepare to remove the hot coffee beans from the popcorn popper immediately after the roasting has finished to quickly cool down the beans.
Take yourself outside or into a garage unless you’re interested in setting off your smoke alarms and sitting around in dense smoke. The process involves smoke while the beans are roasting which may linger for a while. The smoke smell reminds me of burnt toast.
Measure out 3-4 oz of green beans or whatever the capacity of your popcorn popper might allow for. Once you turn on the popper, you’ll need to be prepared to watch the roasting beans closely to ensure you get even roasting among all the beans. Once the popper is turned on, you should see the beans rotating freely in the bottom. You might want to use a knife to get the rotation started by swirling the beans.
The timing and temperature is critical but flexible when roasting your own. You won’t be able to control the temperature with this method of roasting which leaves the only element of measure to be time. I’ve found that I get the “first crack” to be around 1.5 to 2 minutes. The 2nd crack tends to be 30-45 seconds after that. The first crack, which is no more than a crackling sound, will indicate you’re at the light roast stage which may be a desirable point if you like light roast beans. It said that light roast renders more caffeine because it’s preserved during the light roast and not burnt off during a darker roast process. My preference is to just start the 2nd crack before flipping the switch turning off the popper. You’ll have to keep a close eye on the beans at this point to determine what your favorite roast is.
Once the preferred roast is attained, quickly pour out the beans onto into the colander to be swirled around and rotated for a quick cool-off period. After 30 seconds or so of swirling the beans in the colander, pour them onto the cookie sheet for the final stage of cooling. We’ll place the beans in the freezer at this point to get the quickest cool-down possible. The reason for cool down is scientific, trust me.
After the beans are cool to the touch, transfer them into a container such as a mason jar with a loosely tightened lid. This stage of the process produces Carbon Dioxide where gasses need to gradually escape the container for about 24 hours. You don’t want oxygen to enter the container but you do want the CO2 to escape.
You’ve pretty much done most of the work at this point. The next step is to wait the proper amount of time to allow the beans to rest. You’ll hear about a minimum of 1 day up to 2 weeks for the wait time. About the last thing you want to do after roasting coffee is wait 2 whole weeks to taste your creation. I’ve waiting as short as 24 hours to grind the beans to be used in a brew but as with many things, the longer the wait, the better the product. It may tend to take on more perceived sweetness the longer time you wait to grind and brew. Grinding and brewing too soon may render a coffee experience that ends up just kind of burnt tasting.
There are many more details that can be explored if you’re a “down in the weeds” kind of person who’s interested in all the scientific process of what exactly is going on at every stage of the process. For a first time roaster, let’s roast a batch and worry about the details after you’ve had a chance to try a fine roasted coffee that you did all by yourself.
Home roasted coffee offers a good deal of satisfaction knowing you just made your own from scratch. Beware: you’ll want to tell all your friends as you gather in the break room at the office or workplace so fight the urge to boast too much about how you’re gonna put Juan Valdez out of business.
Resources:
We started out buying beans and watching videos on sweetmarias.com
Book references: Home Coffee Roasting by Kenneth Davids