Roasting my own coffee, as I write.

This is the first time I've tried this; it's easy, and fun!

My sister gave me a couple pounds of unroasted Kona peaberry coffee for planning out Hawaii trip in March. I finally got around to roasting it this evening.

I went to BB&B and picked up a hot air popcorn popper, and I've been roasting the beans a few ounces at a time. I have to say, it smells pretty good; kind of like coffee, kind of like incense.

I'm doing it to a "full city roast", mostly because there is a thermal shutoff on the popper that keeps the beans from getting any darker, but this is about as roasted as I think I'd want them.

Anyone else do this? I'm sure some of us do!


Tom

I used a Whirley-Pop crank popcorn maker before I bought a Zach & Dani coffee roaster. I still use both and I haven't purchased roasted beans in almost a year. I got some High Mountain Jamaican green beans while in Santa Cruz Jamaica last February for the equivilant of $2/lb!
Here's a few resource pages. http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.greencoffee.mvc.shtml
http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.stovetop-popper.shtml
http://www.sweetmarias.com/stovepopmethod.html
http://www.coffeeroasting.com/ The Zach and Dani model is smaller in capacity but it's smokeless which is very nice in the winter time.
My first batch convinced me I was always going to roast my own coffee from then on. I roast the beans, wait 8 hours and then I pack them in my cobalt blue lock lid mason jar. There is so much more complexity and flavor in these beans. You didn't ask but I'm really partial to Ethiopian Harrar. Home roasted its almost like drinking wine.

I got a lot of good info off of Sweet Maria's website, yes!

I'll probably wind up getting a home roaster. You like the ZD?


Tom

There's a place for both.

Welcome to the club! I have been roasting for a little over two years now and would have no other coffee. I too, started out with the popcorn popper but soon found that the demand for my coffee was far outstripping my slow popper. I built a gas fired rotary roaster and I can now roast 1lb at a time. I strongly suggest you look at the green coffee co-op on the web for your supply of coffee. You can purchase your greens for less than half the cost of the other suppliers and the quality is just as high.

Happy Roasting!