Just wondering... does anyone roast their own beans? I've been wanting to for a while. Been lazy. Not sure which method I would use, without spending a lot of money for some fancy, newfangled contraption like this : Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! They tend to range between $140-$400. A more labor intensive method would be a cast iron skillet, and a watchful eye (must keep stirring). I have heard that one of those hand-crank stove top popcorn poppers will work pretty good. My friend used to have a tabletop electric griddle kind of popcorn popper with it's own rotating arm to stiry the popcorn. That popped into my brain a few days ago and it sounds efffective and cheap... I dunno. http://www.burmancoffee.com/equipment/freshroast_plus.coffee.roasterSR.html
But fresh roasted (actually it apparently is best 24 hours after roasting) coffee is the best. Coffee begins losing it's flavor after about a week. Though I wonder if vacuum sealing prevents most flavor loss. I also wonder what the average age of sealed, whole bean coffee is.
My dad recently came to visit, and I woke up to see him cooking coffee beans on my iron skillet. I asked him what he was doing and he said roasting the beans. I said aren't they roasted already? And he said not enough. So I guess it isn't hard to do.
The advantage is threefold: Get the the raw beans in the cultivar you like. Roast them to the darkness you prefer. Fresh roasted is the freshest tasting. Period. And you would probably save a little money in exchange for a little effort and time spent.
I very rarely drink coffee so I wouldn't want to buy anything that expensive just to have a cup O' Joe every now and then. It seems like a waste of money to me.
Did the beans impart a flavor to the skillet? About roasts: Roast Styles of Coffee Cinnamon - Very few coffees are roasted this lightly. This roast results in coffee that has a weak body and a lightly toasted flavor with high acidity. (Remember, acidity is a good thing when it comes to coffee.) American - American Roast is a light to medium roast and, as the name suggests, is very common in America. This roast results in a full bodied, acidic cup of coffee. City - City roasted coffee beans are medium roasted and darker in color than American roast. This roasting style is also popular in America and produces a full bodied and strongly aromatic coffee. Full City - Full City roast is a medium to dark roast. It is less common than City roast but still very popular. This roasting style produces a very full bodied coffee that is sweet in flavor and less acidic than City roast. Viennese - Viennese roast is very similar to Full City roast only slightly darker. This roasting style produces a very full bodied coffee that is slightly sweet in flavor with light bitter tones. Espresso - Espresso is a dark roast that first became popular in Europe and then spread to the rest of the world. This roasting style produces a full bodied coffee that has low acidity and a strong bittersweet flavor. French - French roast is similar to Espresso roast only a little bit darker. This roasting style produces a full bodied coffee that has low acidity and a dominating bittersweet flavor. Italian - Italian roasted coffee beans are nearly completely black in color. This roasting style produces a coffee that is very weak bodied with strong burnt flavors and low acidity. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Here's a good informative site...http://www.breworganic.com/Coffee/HowToRoast.htm
You can use a variety of methods. The iron pan on stovetop is the most basic. I'm guessing for the lazy enthusiast with money to roast can buy one of those 400 dollar roasters...
SHO! No one roasts coffee in the comfort of their own homes? Fine! Does anyone cure their own organic tobacco? Or roast their own coffee?
