Coffee geek that I am, I grind my beans with a Mazzer Super Jolly (you see ‘em coffeeshops), brew my coffee with the ingenious Aeropress, and pull my espresso with a very serviceable Solis SL-70. And since I’m looking for ways to enhance my coffee resume still more, I’ve played with the idea of roasting my own beans…you know, the green ones you buy online in microbatches from places like Guatamala, Jamaica, Indonesia, etc.
Well, looks like the roasting plan will be put on hold for awhile…at least until we acquire a well-ventilated garage/basement. I just came across this very detailed piece on The (New) Economics of Home Coffee Roasting.
And, as you might already suspect, the number one reason to buy a home roaster is simply to experiment with it–create your own roasts and blends and try not to burn your home down in the process. Fun, but I’ll have to come up with a creative way to justify that purchase.
The Coffee Bean Roasting Dream has not been crushed…but it has been deferred for the time being, which means at least until next week.
Great article. Maybe you can buy a roaster together with a group o like minder friends and take turns at roasting yuor own coffee or get together to experiment with new beans and roasting styles..
You can start roasting coffee on the cheap with a hot air popcorn popper, which is what I did until i wanted the ability to roast more, so I built a drum roaster for a gas grill.
Seriously a hot air popcorn popper?
Seems like a popcorn popper would be a pretty inexact science…but that may not stop me from trying it. I’m sure there’s a Coffee Bean Roasting with Popcorn Poppers Forum out there waiting for me to find it.
The popcorn popper does produce an inconsistent roast…but still. You can achieve a nice City roast for drip/french press and have it be better than something that’s sat on a shelf for three months. Give it a shot…it’s a $5 max investment at the thrift store.
This sounds really interesting, I’d love to try it myself if I had the funds.