To roast or not to roast?

[Goatrope]

I just discovered that some folks roast their own coffee beans

Seems like a lot of extra work to me. What's the advantage vs convenience of buying pre-roasted coffee beans? Taste? Cost savings?

I'm retired and have more time on my hands, but I can think of a lot of other things I'd rather be doing than cooking coffee beans and spending money on roasting machines.

I like good tasting coffee, but don't necessarily consider myself a coffee connoisseur (yet).

 

[JohnG]

I don't roast my own beans, but I do "re-roast" them in the microwave. One second per gram on high.

Brings out the flavor of the bean.

 

[DesertIguana]

Think buy Roasted Beans is way to go, keep in air tight jar with rubber seal.

My buddy had Coffee n Gift shop, he was OCD grinding beans as he needed.

He made consistent Coffee, because his attention to detail.

Water temperate, and clean equipment.

 

[JeffJ]

It might be in theory cheaper vs higher end roasters. Yes it takes time. The quality of the coffee keeps me at it.

As @DesertIguana said, good equipment, kept clean, grinding the beans, and measuring both coffee and water can make a huge improvement. The water hardness etc can make a difference also. Start there before jumping into roasting.

 

[Lightcs1776]

I roast my own and would never go back to buying them roasted, except if I were physically unable or ran out of beans (ran out once and was not going without coffee). There are some excellent advantages. Cost is certainly much less. I've had good beans for less than $4 a pound, one at $3.78 per pound. You lose about 18% of the weight when roasting, so at $3.78 and a little propane, natural gas, or electricity (depends on what you use to roast, that is a pound of roasted coffee for just a little over $4. I also get to roast the beans how I like them; light, medium or dark (technically city, city+, etc., but I still use light, medium, and dark). I have a friend I'll roast coffee for and he likes it darker than any shop around here will roast. I generally like a light roast, though some origins are better at a medium roast. Also, I get to pick the origin from dozens of locations; Africa, Indonesia, South America, etc. And there is a wide variety of beans within those countries. I currently have 16 different origins of green beans ready to be roasted. Some are fruity, some chocolatey, some nutty, and some are a mix of those or have other descriptions. I had an Ethiopian bean a couple years ago that tasted like blueberry flavored coffee, but was just a light roasted bean with nothing else added. And, of course, there is the enjoyment of the challenge of making a good roast and enjoying the results. It really doesn't take much effort. I roast 1-3 varieties in a roasting session and it takes less 10 - 18 minutes, depending on how many pounds I roast at once. If only a pound or so, it is usually around 10 minutes, depending on the origin of the bean.

 

[Wid]

I’ve been roasting my own for almost 2 years now. Still learning as I try new beans but I will say, roasting your own will down right spoil you on great coffees. I’m to the point where restaurant coffee tastes pretty bad. Most friends and families coffee are not much better.

As far as saving money I’m not sure what roasted coffee costs right now. Green coffee has seen a spike in price from where I buy it so I’d imagine so has other coffees.

I like the fact you can tailor the bean to your taste. Most times I like a city, city plus bean. With Ethiopian beans I go a good bit lighter to bring out the fruitiness of the coffee.

I honestly can’t see myself not roasting my own and to buy all ready made coffee is hard. Most tastes like an ash tray to me.i like tasting the notes of the bean and not the roast.

 

[Old Hippie]

In the Before Times I roasted coffee for 25 years. Then all my supply options dried up. So I started buying "pre-fab" coffee beans.

Doesn't have to be a huge investment. A little reading around will get you to the right equipment. You can totally go down the rabbit hole with it and buy roasters that will let you control every little nuance including the day's Gross National Product index, or you can gently modify a standard air popper of a certain type and it will roast up to three days worth of coffee for you just fine.

I had a Sirocco (sp?) back in the early 90's but I found the air popper to be easy, cheap and I could always find a new coffee roaster for about $20 brand new.

O.H.

 

[Goatrope]

I roast my own and would never go back to buying them roasted, except if I were physically unable or ran out of beans (ran out once and was not going without coffee). There are some excellent advantages. Cost is certainly much less. I've had good beans for less than $4 a pound, one at $3.78 per pound. You lose about 18% of the weight when roasting, so at $3.78 and a little propane, natural gas, or electricity (depends on what you use to roast, that is a pound of roasted coffee for just a little over $4. I also get to roast the beans how I like them; light, medium or dark (technically city, city+, etc., but I still use light, medium, and dark). I have a friend I'll roast coffee for and he likes it darker than any shop around here will roast. I generally like a light roast, though some origins are better at a medium roast. Also, I get to pick the origin from dozens of locations; Africa, Indonesia, South America, etc. And there is a wide variety of beans within those countries. I currently have 16 different origins of green beans ready to be roasted. Some are fruity, some chocolatey, some nutty, and some are a mix of those or have other descriptions. I had an Ethiopian bean a couple years ago that tasted like blueberry flavored coffee, but was just a light roasted bean with nothing else added. And, of course, there is the enjoyment of the challenge of making a good roast and enjoying the results. It really doesn't take much effort. I roast 1-3 varieties in a roasting session and it takes less 10 - 18 minutes, depending on how many pounds I roast at once. If only a pound or so, it is usually around 10 minutes, depending on the origin of the bean.

Lots of good info. Thanks for sharing. Maybe I'll give it a try sometime. That's the beauty of being retired, I can go down any rabbit hole I want to.

If it makes the coffee taste a lot better, it might spoil me. Just my wife and I drink coffee at home.

 

[Goatrope]

In the Before Times I roasted coffee for 25 years. Then all my supply options dried up. So I started buying "pre-fab" coffee beans.

Doesn't have to be a huge investment. A little reading around will get you to the right equipment. You can totally go down the rabbit hole with it and buy roasters that will let you control every little nuance including the day's Gross National Product index, or you can gently modify a standard air popper of a certain type and it will roast up to three days worth of coffee for you just fine.

I had a Sirocco (sp?) back in the early 90's but I found the air popper to be easy, cheap and I could always find a new coffee roaster for about $20 brand new.

O.H.

Just doing a quick search on amazon, some of the roasters resemble little crock pots.

 

[Quaznoid]

Not

 

[DesertIguana]

Don't know much about DYI Roasting but there is Sweet Spot that disc perfection, don’t duplicate BURN like Starbucks that over roast to sell flavor coffee drinks.

 

[hroshaan]

Roasting your own beans is like opening a door to a whole new coffee experience. It's a bit of an adventure, but the flavors you can discover are amazing. If you're curious and want to try something different with your coffee, go for it! You might find a new favorite blend!

 

[Lightcs1776]

In the Before Times I roasted coffee for 25 years. Then all my supply options dried up. So I started buying "pre-fab" coffee beans.

Doesn't have to be a huge investment. A little reading around will get you to the right equipment. You can totally go down the rabbit hole with it and buy roasters that will let you control every little nuance including the day's Gross National Product index, or you can gently modify a standard air popper of a certain type and it will roast up to three days worth of coffee for you just fine.

I had a Sirocco (sp?) back in the early 90's but I found the air popper to be easy, cheap and I could always find a new coffee roaster for about $20 brand new.

O.H.

I agree, it can be cheap to get started. I started on a cast iron skillet on the bbq grill. I could only roast a little at a time, but it was a good start.

 

[Old Hippie]

I agree, it can be cheap to get started. I started on a cast iron skillet on the bbq grill.

One of my favourite hometown roasters, Allann Brothers in Corvallis, Oregon got their start exactly that way.

My undergraduate days in the early '80s started with a toasted bagel and a cup of their coffee. If I was feeling particularly in need of enhancement, often before attending any classes relating to epidemiology, I would up the order to a toasted bagel and a large "Double Beanery" -- essentially coffee and hot chocolate but there was as always with coffee obsessives a certain dance one had to do. "I'd like a semi-sweet Double Beanery for here, please."

Fast forward about 40 years and I was in Salem, Oregon visiting my brother and decided to stop off at a Beanery for a slice of cake and a pick-me-up. Rattled off my order just like I'd been drinking them for the last 40 years and got exactly what I wanted. Gotta love that level of consistency.

O.H.

 

[Lightcs1776]

@Old Hippie Interestingly, my undergraduate days were completed in my mid 40’s. First graduate degree was late 40’s, second in my early 50’s. Really want to join my late father in earning a terminal degree, but only a personal satisfaction that might not be a wise choice.

 

[AndyPanda]

You are NOT going to save any money. It's a rabbit hole just like wet shaving (Double Edge blades are so cheap, I'm going to save a lot of money - hahahaha - surprise!). It's a lot of fun and very interesting. One reason to roast your own coffee is to control how many days post roast your coffee beans are when you make your coffee. I like to make my espresso with coffee beans that are about 7-15 days post roast. So I roast small batches every week or two.

It's fun, very challenging, to try and bring out the best when roasting coffee. But the reality is that in order to roast coffee really, really well -- you need to spend over $5000 on a roaster. You can get drinkable coffee with an air popper or any number of $500-$2000 roasters but it still won't be anywhere near as good as coffee roasted in a proper San Franciscan Roaster ($50,000 ish) by someone who knows what they're doing.

If you have a quality roaster in your town, you can buy coffee that was roasted 3-4 days ago. Every so often I buy from the best roaster I can find and use that as a benchmark to remind me of what I'm aiming for with my home roasts.

 

[Lightcs1776]

You are NOT going to save any money. It's a rabbit hole just like wet shaving (Double Edge blades are so cheap, I'm going to save a lot of money - hahahaha - surprise!). It's a lot of fun and very interesting. One reason to roast your own coffee is to control how many days post roast your coffee beans are when you make your coffee. I like to make my espresso with coffee beans that are about 7-15 days post roast. So I roast small batches every week or two.

It's fun - but very challenging - to try and bring out the best when roasting coffee. But the reality is that in order to roast coffee really, really well -- you need to spend over $5000 on a roaster. You can get drinkable coffee with an air popper or any number of $500-2000 roasters but it still won't be anywhere nearly as good as coffee roasted in a proper San Franciscan Roaster ($50,000 ish)

If you have a quality roaster in your town, you can buy coffee that was roasted 3-4 days ago. Every so often I buy from the best roaster I can find and use that as a benchmark to remind me of what I'm aiming for with my home roasts.

I have to object. I have saved hundreds. However, I have also saved on shaving. I am a unicorn.

 

[AndyPanda]

After falling in the rabbit hole 25 years ago and testing dozens of store bought and homemade roasters, the roaster that has been giving me the best results for about 15 years now is a Sunbeam bread machine (only used to agitate the beans) and a Harbor Freight heat gun to control the temp. I've had to replace the belt on the bread machine once and I'm on my 2nd heat gun but otherwise the thing has held up pretty well.

I've got just enough roasted coffee left (from the two varieties I roasted earlier this month) to last me another week. And I roasted 200 grams each of two varieties this morning and they will be right at my favorite spot (7 days post roast) when the two bags on the left are empty. And the neighbors are waking up to the smell of roasting coffee!

My stash of green coffee:

My current benchmark (the professionally roasted coffee I aim to match) is Blue Bottle - Hayes Valley Espresso. It used to be roasted just a few blocks away but now I have to have it mailed to me from Sacramento. It is very different from the Blue Bottle available at grocery stores. Blue Bottle at grocery stores is roasted by Nestle who bought the name. It isn't even close. In my area there are several really good roasters so I can buy excellent coffee that was roasted just a few days ago. But I do really enjoy roasting my own and learning how to vary the roast to bring out whatever nuances the different varieties of green coffee have to offer. But I know I could do so much better with a $50,000 roaster

 

[Old Hippie]

@Old Hippie Interestingly, my undergraduate days were completed in my mid 40’s. First graduate degree was late 40’s, second in my early 50’s. Really want to join my late father in earning a terminal degree, but only a personal satisfaction that might not be a wise choice.

You do know you're talking to a former academic advisor, yes?

Here's the thing, Chris. If you really want to have the Ph.D. then there's no Earthly reason why you shouldn't go for it. Yes, it's going to cost some money. If you have it, it's yours to spend how you wish. You could go buy yourself a brand new top of the line pickup truck (and probably spend more doing it) but is that what you want to do?

What we're really trying to do at the doctoral level is to instill good research techniques and habits, and to offer you the opportunity to investigate something deeply that's always been a fascination to you. What I always told interested students at any level -- undergrad, Master's or Ph.D. -- is let's not focus on the other end. Let's put the spotlight on this end, where you're just starting out. At some point you may decide you've travelled that road far enough, or you may wander into my office one day and I'll say, "Let's plan your dissertation defence." Kinda like rodeo, just stayin' in the saddle and keepin' yer hat on counts for a lot.

O.H.

 

[Lightcs1776]

You do know you're talking to a former academic advisor, yes?

Here's the thing, Chris. If you really want to have the Ph.D. then there's no Earthly reason why you shouldn't go for it. Yes, it's going to cost some money. If you have it, it's yours to spend how you wish. You could go buy yourself a brand new top of the line pickup truck (and probably spend more doing it) but is that what you want to do?

What we're really trying to do at the doctoral level is to instill good research techniques and habits, and to offer you the opportunity to investigate something deeply that's always been a fascination to you. What I always told interested students at any level -- undergrad, Master's or Ph.D. -- is let's not focus on the other end. Let's put the spotlight on this end, where you're just starting out. At some point you may decide you've travelled that road far enough, or you may wander into my office one day and I'll say, "Let's plan your dissertation defence." Kinda like rodeo, just stayin' in the saddle and keepin' yer hat on counts for a lot.

O.H.

Nope, I didn’t realize you you were a former academic advisor. That is pretty cool. My take on a terminal degree is that there needs to be a return on investment. Otherwise, it takes away funds that can be used to help my wife or kids. My dad did his doctorate due to his age. Either Georgia or the university gave him deep discounts when he was over 65. He didn’t make money from it, but it was personally very rewarding to him.