First Order!

[chaase321]

ok, honestly now, is it difficult to roast beans yourself? I see you two both doing this and people enjoying your roasts Shane. Is it very tedious or actually enjoyable? I think it may be something I would like to do if I could find the time.

[Chainsaw13]

Originally Posted by chaase321

ok, honestly now, is it difficult to roast beans yourself? I see you two both doing this and people enjoying your roasts Shane. Is it very tedious or actually enjoyable? I think it may be something I would like to do if I could find the time.

Ten minutes and I have enough beans for 4 cups of coffee. I use a old hot air popcorn popper. Check out sweetmarias.com for a video on how to do it. Very easy.

[chaase321]

Originally Posted by Chainsaw13

Ten minutes and I have enough beans for 4 cups of coffee.

Doesn't seem that bad.

Now, next question, is it more of a pride thing, or do you guys think the roasts taste better than what you can buy. Think of this as a question dealing with beer...you can homebrew but the costs come to about the same and the tastes do as well, is this different with coffee?

[Blak Smyth]

Originally Posted by chaase321

ok, honestly now, is it difficult to roast beans yourself? I see you two both doing this and people enjoying your roasts Shane. Is it very tedious or actually enjoyable? I think it may be something I would like to do if I could find the time.

Cole, roasting your own coffee is fun and extremely rewarding.
It takes a bit of planning and thinking ahead, oh and practice.
I have a small roaster that roasts about 1/3 pound at a time, it is very consistent but at about 19-22 minutes it takes much longer than most roasters. I now order my beans in ten pound bags and save a ton of money, I want to eventually order a 75lb bag or two.

After the 19-22 minute roasting period, I leave my beans out in the air (Out of direct light) for 12-24 hours to de-gas and then bag them up for 1-4 days until I brew them. I try to always have beens roasted without letting them get older than a week. It is a balancing game that takes some time to get used to.

Anything you can make on your own gives you an extra sense of pride and enjoyment IMO.
And all the warm comments I have received have been very encouraging.
Eventually I plan on getting a bigger capacity roaster and putting my coffee out to brothers here.
Send me a PM if you have any questions or post in the What did you roast today thread for more advice. If you LOVE coffee, you MUST start roasting your own beans!!!