Coffee Roasting

myself. So, after learning about the finer points of the coffee bean, in the employ of a large coffee chain (HEY! I had a lawyer to pay!) I appreciated it a whole lot more.

There’s an easy and a easier way about this. Really- I spend about two dollars per pound of freshly roasted coffee.. so here are your steps. I’m going to give the easy, beginner instructions.

1. Get a coffee roaster. You can get a nice Iroast 2, which is great- you can program all sorts of stuff into it, and it’ll do the work for you. The key is, with any roasting, to watch, smell, and listen. But I’d go easy your first time out, and get your wok out. This will do fine.

2. Buy some green coffee beans. Some ethnic food stores have these, but you are usually best served online, as you tend to get a better description of what you’re buying. I like beans from Java- low acidity, almost chocolate flavor. Blend, experiment. Get a sampler pack! Sweet Maria’s is the bomb for the new roaster. Pick up a Chemex, too. Total date points for the guys out there. Not that you need one, but they’re pretty great!

3. Warm up that wok! Turn the flame up high, and throw in about two cups of beans after it’s hot. Get a not-plastic implement out, and start stirring constantly.

4. Look, Listen, and Smell. Keep stirring until the beans are a little tiny bit under your desired darkness. There’s going to be chaff and stuff going around, just relax. Listen for “first crack”. You’ll know it. That’s your first sign that your beans will be done soon. Smell! If it smells like somethings burning, it probably is! And don’t quit stirring! Smoke? Probably! And after about ten minutes, your beans will be ready. Throw them in a colander with a lid (improvise!), taken them outside, and shake them, to remove the chaff, and cool them off, to stop the roasting process.

5. Seal up your beans in an airtight container, or bag. Let them “rest” for 24 hours. Grind, use a Chemex, French press, drip, whatever you like. Now, you taste the mess you’ve made. And there your learning begins- the art of roasting coffee. It will taste sweet, and totally different than anything in a store. That’s because it’s fresh- Coffee will only stay fresh for about a week. Too dark? Don’t roast as long. Too light? Roast longer.. Just keep stirring – you want an even roast.

It’s not a science, it’s an art. Eventually, blend! Learn! Impress the heck out of your friends! Have fun!!