Warning: This is a musing of sorts, and I'm aware from the outset that many of you will very shortly enter a state of "tl;dr" or "WoT". Skip ahead. For the rest of you, well... I'm only left to assume you poured a cup of something hot and tasty and have nothing better to do for a few minutes than read about my coffee roasting experience.
For a little background, there are small things that have lead to this interest for a while. Ironically, it started with me reducing my caffeine intake for some health-related issues. Coffee became a weekend treat, making way for tea on the weekdays, which lead to another problem: stale coffee. It just takes me so long to work through a pound of coffee that the idea of "recently roasted" went out the window when I tore into only my 2nd bag from Christmas gifts in February. Storing a pound of roasted coffee wasn't cutting it. Even if I could get it roasted the day before I bought it (from a great local roaster), the benefit would only last one weekend.
More recently, I had been researching home roasting as a means to keep fresh coffee on hand, since green coffee stores much longer, and I can roast only what I'll drink on the weekend. The problem was basically cost of entry. I thought I had to have a Gene Cafe or something, and it would be far too difficult to get that approved (budgetarily speaking). But then I read a post on this very board where a guy mentioned, in passing, that you could roast coffee in a Popcorn Air-Popper.
"You must be joking..." I thought.
Googling...
"You're so not joking. This is awesome!"
The high points for me were small batch size, consistent roasting, minimal cash outlay, and an overall simple process. I was able to secure the coveted West Bend Poppery II for a reasonable price, and a 4lb sampler from Sweet Maria's. That's also where I got pretty much all of my information, and I've found it an encouraging resource -- really helpful. Anyway, the tracking for thepopper roaster had it arriving today, but there's a problem: no beans until Monday. I'd previously looked for some green coffee locally, and not really gotten very far. Well, it turns out there IS a seller in Raleigh with Single Origin, green coffee at very reasonable prices (I paid $13 for two 1lb bags, different varieties). I placed an order, picked it up, and got set for my first try with the roaster.
If you skipped the WoT above, this is where the goods are.
The beans were 8th Sin Coffee Co. Timor Organic. I set up a large bowl lined with wet paper towels to collect chaff, and it worked very well. I started with a bit less than 1/2 cup, but the beans were spinning too fast, so I added a few more. I bet it was a full 1/2 cup by the time it was going. As the beans yellowed and then browned, I noticed they were not only spinning but sort of bouncing in the hopper (you know, that name makes more sense now). Didn't seem to be a problem, though. 1st crack was at 3:15, really got rolling by 4:00, rolled for almost a minute, and totally quit by 5:15. This was where I got a little nervous, but it didn't make me wait too long for second crack (6:15). Not wanting it to get too dark, I decided to stop at 6:30 and start cooling. I noticed the hood was a bit warm, but not soft or anything. I dumped the beans into a large coarse sieve and began cooling. PS, take care when tossing/shifting the beans in your sieve. Excited shaking can lead to cleaning up freshly roasted beans. I'm just saying.
Once I figured they were all cooled down, I put them in a low, fat mason jar (8oz) that I picked up at WalMart and loosely secured the lid. Periodic checks seem to indicate that this is allowing the beans to breath well enough, so I'm going to leave it like this overnight and tighten in the morning. Finally, here are some pics of the beans. I tried to compensate for the ultra-white background (which I thought would help show true color) but it's a bit bright.
If you have any comments, feel free to leave 'em! I'd love tips and feedback. I won't be brewing these until Saturday morning, but I'll report back then.
For a little background, there are small things that have lead to this interest for a while. Ironically, it started with me reducing my caffeine intake for some health-related issues. Coffee became a weekend treat, making way for tea on the weekdays, which lead to another problem: stale coffee. It just takes me so long to work through a pound of coffee that the idea of "recently roasted" went out the window when I tore into only my 2nd bag from Christmas gifts in February. Storing a pound of roasted coffee wasn't cutting it. Even if I could get it roasted the day before I bought it (from a great local roaster), the benefit would only last one weekend.
More recently, I had been researching home roasting as a means to keep fresh coffee on hand, since green coffee stores much longer, and I can roast only what I'll drink on the weekend. The problem was basically cost of entry. I thought I had to have a Gene Cafe or something, and it would be far too difficult to get that approved (budgetarily speaking). But then I read a post on this very board where a guy mentioned, in passing, that you could roast coffee in a Popcorn Air-Popper.
"You must be joking..." I thought.
Googling...
"You're so not joking. This is awesome!"
The high points for me were small batch size, consistent roasting, minimal cash outlay, and an overall simple process. I was able to secure the coveted West Bend Poppery II for a reasonable price, and a 4lb sampler from Sweet Maria's. That's also where I got pretty much all of my information, and I've found it an encouraging resource -- really helpful. Anyway, the tracking for the
If you skipped the WoT above, this is where the goods are.
The beans were 8th Sin Coffee Co. Timor Organic. I set up a large bowl lined with wet paper towels to collect chaff, and it worked very well. I started with a bit less than 1/2 cup, but the beans were spinning too fast, so I added a few more. I bet it was a full 1/2 cup by the time it was going. As the beans yellowed and then browned, I noticed they were not only spinning but sort of bouncing in the hopper (you know, that name makes more sense now). Didn't seem to be a problem, though. 1st crack was at 3:15, really got rolling by 4:00, rolled for almost a minute, and totally quit by 5:15. This was where I got a little nervous, but it didn't make me wait too long for second crack (6:15). Not wanting it to get too dark, I decided to stop at 6:30 and start cooling. I noticed the hood was a bit warm, but not soft or anything. I dumped the beans into a large coarse sieve and began cooling. PS, take care when tossing/shifting the beans in your sieve. Excited shaking can lead to cleaning up freshly roasted beans. I'm just saying.
Once I figured they were all cooled down, I put them in a low, fat mason jar (8oz) that I picked up at WalMart and loosely secured the lid. Periodic checks seem to indicate that this is allowing the beans to breath well enough, so I'm going to leave it like this overnight and tighten in the morning. Finally, here are some pics of the beans. I tried to compensate for the ultra-white background (which I thought would help show true color) but it's a bit bright.
If you have any comments, feel free to leave 'em! I'd love tips and feedback. I won't be brewing these until Saturday morning, but I'll report back then.
Looks like you are having fun. Your roast time was very fast, but I have never used an air popper. Will be interesting to see how it tastes.
ohmy
