Roasting your own coffee beans - wow!

[notherbob]

Damn, I've become a coffee yuppee, a coffee snob. Roasting my own green beans has made the best coffee that I have ever drunk.

This Christmas my sister-in-law gave me two one pound bags of green unroasted Organic Fair Trade Peruvian coffee beans. I have been buying American roast organic Peruvian coffee beans and grinding my own coffee for years because it was the one I liked the best.

I ran out of my favorite beans and was forced to roast these so I studied it on the net and pan roasted some in an iron skillet they double in size when roasting and go through at least one cracking stage and when I thought they were right I took them off and let them set overnight. The next morning I ground enough for a pot and was amazed at the difference. It was fabulous! I could hardly believe this was the same coffee I had been drinking for years. The difference fresh roasted beans made added a whole new diminsion to taste.

The green beans cost 25 to 30% less on top of it all.

If you haven't tried roasting your own, you have yet to drink coffee. After roasting, the beans need to set at least overnight before grinding and brewing.

[dback]

This has always been something I have been interested in doing. I guess I never thought to roast them at my house, I always pictured bringing them to a local place that would do it.

Could you suggest some good beans to buy? Websites to buy them?

[notherbob]

This has always been something I have been interested in doing. I guess I never thought to roast them at my house, I always pictured bringing them to a local place that would do it.

Could you suggest some good beans to buy? Websites to buy them?

Mine came from http://www.deansbeans.com

They have lots of kinds of coffee from all over the world.

[arglebargle]

And green coffee beans last quite well, keeping them for a year is quite doable.

I get mine from a local roaster, so they are often available within a week of roasting. They are mostly Mexican/Guatamalan.

How do the Peruvian beans compare to Colombian?

[notherbob]

And green coffee beans last quite well, keeping them for a year is quite doable.

I get mine from a local roaster, so they are often available within a week of roasting. They are mostly Mexican/Guatamalan.

How do the Peruvian beans compare to Colombian?

I'm not sure, a heavier roasted Colombian used to be my favorite before I discovered the lighter roasted Peruvian. If the Colombian were of a lighter roast I might prefer it.

That's the beautiful thing, you can experiment to see how you personally like it. I might like Colombian better with a lighter roast, at least now I can find out.

[5Stars]

Damn, I've become a coffee yuppee, a coffee snob. Roasting my own green beans has made the best coffee that I have ever drunk.

This Christmas my sister-in-law gave me two one pound bags of green unroasted Organic Fair Trade Peruvian coffee beans. I have been buying American roast organic Peruvian coffee beans and grinding my own coffee for years because it was the one I liked the best.

I ran out of my favorite beans and was forced to roast these so I studied it on the net and pan roasted some in an iron skillet they double in size when roasting and go through at least one cracking stage and when I thought they were right I took them off and let them set overnight. The next morning I ground enough for a pot and was amazed at the difference. It was fabulous! I could hardly believe this was the same coffee I had been drinking for years. The difference fresh roasted beans made added a whole new diminsion to taste.

The green beans cost 25 to 30% less on top of it all.

If you haven't tried roasting your own, you have yet to drink coffee. After roasting, the beans need to set at least overnight before grinding and brewing.

Did you put some garlic in your coffee? I hear it's better than sugar...


:confused:

[Hoofbite]

Mine came from http://www.deansbeans.com

They have lots of kinds of coffee from all over the world.

So all the green ones are unroasted?

How long did roasting take?

Did you throw anything else in the skillet?

Good thread. Interesting.

[5Stars]

So all the green ones are unroasted?

How long did roasting take?

Did you throw anything else in the skillet?

Good thread. Interesting.

Bacon....got to throw some bacon in the pan for even roasting.

[notherbob]

Did you put some garlic in your coffee? I hear it's better than sugar...


:confused:

I have not tried it and don't think I want to.

I do sweeten my coffee with stevia instead of sugar, though. It's a South American herb many times sweeter than sugar but with none of the health drawbacks of sugar. My wife found someplace on the net where they sell it liquified and with lots of flavorings like lemon, rootbeer, cinnamon, cherry, etc added to disguise the bitter edge it has. We got the English toffee and she is going to order the vanilla cream next - all organic, of course, wife won't buy hardly anything that isn't organic.

[notherbob]

So all the green ones are unroasted?

How long did roasting take?

Did you throw anything else in the skillet?

Good thread. Interesting.

The roasting took about 12 minutes or so but will take longer if you like a dark roast. I used nothing but dry cast iron skillet and kept the beans in almost motion but they did rest a little. They say a popcorn popping pan with the agitator works best but I have no complaints.

It's weird to watch the beans roil around the the pan almost like Mexican jumping beans as they roil around while swelling and more than double in size during the process. around 8 or 9 minutes there is a flurry of crackling sounds as they discharge a little smoke and a strong coffee-smelling aroma and also a lot of tiny chaff that flakes off the beans as they increase in heat and swell up.

If you want milder coffee remove it from the fire before the second period of cracking, around 12 to 14 minutes, I think. The beans need to set 24 hours before or at least overnight before grinding and brewing.

The richness of the flavor and the lack of bitterness really surprised me.

[Hoofbite]

The roasting took about 12 minutes or so but will take longer if you like a dark roast. I used nothing but dry cast iron skillet and kept the beans in almost motion but they did rest a little. They say a popcorn popping pan with the agitator works best but I have no complaints.

It's weird to watch the beans roil around the the pan almost like Mexican jumping beans as they roil around while swelling and more than double in size during the process. around 8 or 9 minutes there is a flurry of crackling sounds as they discharge a little smoke and a strong coffee-smelling aroma and also a lot of tiny chaff that flakes off the beans as they increase in heat and swell up.

If you want milder coffee remove it from the fire before the second period of cracking, around 12 to 14 minutes, I think. The beans need to set 24 hours before or at least overnight before grinding and brewing.

The richness of the flavor and the lack of bitterness really surprised me.

So all the green beans on that site are good for roasting?

[notherbob]

So all the green beans on that site are good for roasting?

Yes and they also sell all kinds of devices for assuring an even roast and brewers and cappucino machines, etc. and explain how to roast. If you google roasting coffee beans you get a lot more info.

I have finally found the coffee I have been looking for so long and the important thing was custom roasting in small batches.

Life is good.

[dback]

Needless to say, I will be ordering some of these beans and will try the roasting soon. If I remember, I will take some pictures of the process.

Thanks for the suggestion notherbob.

[Signals]

I want to do this. Thanks for starting this thread. ;)

[SaltwaterServr]

Fresh roasted is FAR and beyond anything else you can buy. We used to have a little coffee boutique next to the restaurant that would roast per order, and sell green. We'd hop over there and buy "one pot shots" of beans, grind them ourselves, and sell specialty coffees on Sunday mornings mostly. Problem was, they opened in October of 2007. They didn't even make it until the market bottomed out in March of '08.

Really a shame too. I don't like coffee, but I love the smell of the roasting and fresh ground. Walking into that place was like walking into a corner of heaven. Our coffee sales fell by more than 75% once they closed. That smell got you coming into the restaurant from outside and we always suggested folks go over there and give them some business. Just bad timing on their part.

[CowboyWay]

Not to hijack the thread, but how do you guys make your coffee? A few years ago, I tried the french press, and it blew my mind how much better the coffee was. I literally haven't brewed coffee since. There is THAT much of a difference in taste.

[justbob]

Got to try the green coffee---Bob got me hooked on good garlic (which I didn't get ordered this year and lost what I planted.....maybe next year

[notherbob]

Not to hijack the thread, but how do you guys make your coffee? A few years ago, I tried the french press, and it blew my mind how much better the coffee was. I literally haven't brewed coffee since. There is THAT much of a difference in taste.

I had a friend who had a similar one and it made pretty flavorful coffee, too.

I'm not nearly so sophisticated, I have an old glass Pyrex coffee pot that someone found for me on EBay. I always seem to be able to detect a metallic taste from coffee brewed in metal pots except enameled/glazed pots so I prefer glass pots and I put the coffee in a stainless steel mesh teaball and remove the teaball when brewing in finished to minimize the presence of oils that can contribute to betterness.

Your neat setup should let you perfect just the right roast of just the right variety for you. Who knows, it might come down to a particular roast of a special combination of varieties. It's nice to have choices we have never had before. We can truly make up custom blends of our own.

It's what every coffee lover has been wanting for years and it's an idea whose time has come.

So many coffees, so many roasts, so little time.

I feel obscenely spoiled.

[notherbob]

Got to try the green coffee---Bob got me hooked on good garlic (which I didn't get ordered this year and lost what I planted.....maybe next year

Hi, Bob

The Garlicmeister
A self-inflicted title for amusement only.

[justbob]

Hi, Bob

The Garlicmeister
A self-inflicted title for amusement only.

Hey Bob

[Sam I Am]

Not to hijack the thread, but how do you guys make your coffee? A few years ago, I tried the french press, and it blew my mind how much better the coffee was. I literally haven't brewed coffee since. There is THAT much of a difference in taste.

Coffee maker at home and $2.40 at Starbucks on the way to work. :laugh2:

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

I've been roasting mine for a couple of years now. I use an unroasted Sumatra for my every day drinker. I'll splurge every once in a while and get Hawaiian Kona Fancy which I believe is the best coffee ever picked. I buy all of my beans from Coffee Bean Direct.

I roast a couple of weeks worth at a time and store them in a glass air tight container. I fresh grind every morning and use a a Bunn drip Monday-Friday on the way to work. Saturdays and Sundays I use a Bodum French press for brewing. I always drink out of a Klean Kanteen stainless mug.

Yes I am a coffee snob. Fortunately coffee,tea, and music are the only things I'm snobby about!

[justbob]

Just drink my first pot made from home roasted beans ---yep pretty much the whole pot ...Best coffee ever, even when I need a little darker roast

[ethiostar]

I haven't roasted my own beans for a little while but that was how I used to brew my coffee almost all the time. There is just nothing like it.

[TheCount]

Not at the stage of roasting my own beans yet, but I did start grinding my own and brewing with an Aeropress, which I love.

[dback]

Well, when this thread started I ordered some beans from Dean's Beans (http://www.deansbeans.com) and they finally arrived today. I decided to roast the Peruvian beans first and the results are below. Please note that this is my first time to ever roast coffee and I am going off of techniques I read about/viewed online.


First, the bag with label.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm269/djbacklund/20120208_173920.jpg


I have never seen an actual green coffee bean and I will admit that they are quite interesting. They have a chewy, rubbery texture when raw and don't taste that great. You can really see how green they are. For this batch, I roasted 8 oz. (half the bag) so I could get as even a roast as possible.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm269/djbacklund/20120208_174245.jpg


I roasted them in my Lodge, enamel-coated, cast-iron skillet. I started the heat at High and moved it to medium high as soon as I started the roast.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm269/djbacklund/20120208_174722.jpg


I started the timer as soon as I put them in, and I immediately noticed some browning. The roasting process is faster than I expected. I alternated between stirring and shaking the skillet in order to keep as many beans in contact with the bottom of the pan. At about 7 minutes in, I heard the popping begin, it does sound like popcorn. The chaff that comes off of the beans during the roasts will smoke a lot, so make sure you have enough ventilation or you may set off your smoke detectors.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm269/djbacklund/20120208_180021.jpg


After 9.5 minutes, I removed the beans and put them in a spaghetti strainer. I did this to stop the cooking process and, by shaking the beans around, remove as much of the stray chaff floating around. You can see that the roast wasn't as even as I would like, but the roasted bean tastes good and smells fantastic. They are sitting in a paper sack and will rest overnight before I grind them and sample my first cup of home roasted and home ground coffee.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm269/djbacklund/20120208_180808.jpg

----------------------------------------------

This was really fun to do and is exciting to try. If anybody else tries this, I would suggest having everything ready to go before you put the beans in the skillet. Also, ventilate your area ahead of time by closing bedroom doors, turning on your ceiling fans, and opening any windows or doors if necessary.

Thank you Notherbob for suggesting this coffee, it is a heck of a lot cheaper than many of the other varieties and smells great.

[notherbob]

Great Post, Dback, the pictures really really add to it.

Notice that you get a full 16 OZ in your package, not just 10 or 12 oz as in a lot of "pounds" these days.

I had been paying more money for only 10 oz. of roasted Peruvian beans and I am much happier with my find. The coffee is so much better.