My main hobby is coffee roasting and brewing. There is nothing like freshly roasted beans. There are two main ways to roast coffee beans: hot air and drum. My methods for roasting may seem primitive to some, but it works for me.

Initially, I used a conventional oven and a ceramic plate to roast the beans. The main flaw in this process is that the beans do not get roasted consistently. Depending on ones oven, the beans on the outside of the plate will get roasted before the beans on the inside, in which case you would need to continually stir the beans. This was too much toil for below average results. Currently, I use an air popcorn popper that I bought at a thrift store for $5.00. I modified it by attaching a tin can to the top of the machine with duct tape. This method is much more consistent and I am very happy with the results. Not to mention it’s easy. I measure out 1/3 cup of green coffee beans and roast for about 5 to 8 minutes depending on the type of beans and desired flavor characteristics.

Unroasted beans do not smell like the coffee you would smell in a coffeehouse, but rather an earthy smell. Only until a couple hours after the beans have been roasted do they develop a rich pleasant coffee aroma. Green coffee beans have chaff wrapped around them that crack and pop while roasting. These are gauges that tell me how far along the beans are in the roasting process. The purpose of the tin can is to funnel the air from the machine to be strong enough to push the chaff out of the roaster once detached from the bean. (This can be a bit of a mess if roasting indoors.) When the beans are done roasting in the air popper, I pour them out onto a plate to be cooled to room temperature. The beans do roast internally for a little while after being poured out. Once cooled the beans immediately go into an airtight container or bag with a one-way valve. The longer that the beans are exposed to oxygen, the less fresh they will be. After roasting, coffee emits carbon dioxide (CO₂). It is best to wait between 12-24 hours before you grind and brew coffee after roasting.

I order my green beans from an online company called Sweet Maria’s. They have a wide variety of beans available. Another company to look into is Velton’s Coffee, which can be purchased through Seattle Coffee Gear. I just ordered a 4 lbs sampler pack from Sweet Maria’s. Included were: Brazil Cerrado DP Fazenda Aurea, Sumatra Grade 1 Mandheling, Tanzania Mbinga Ruvuma Flatbean, and Panama Las Flores de Boquete. This week I roasted the Panamanian beans. I roasted them to a medium roast. The results were a mild, balanced, smooth cup. 

This week my friend sent me an article about a guy who uses a bread maker and a heat gun to roast coffee beans. It’s pretty interesting. Here is the link:

http://www.nbcdfw.com/the-scene/food-drink/Do-It-Yourself-Coffee-Ma...

Here are some photos from my roasting this week:

Green Beans from Sweet Maria’s

The equipment

End result.