Simple Steps to Roast Coffee at Home

2020 was a challenging year but, it wasn’t without a silver lining. In fact, there were a lot of things, I dare say, that I actually enjoyed about 2020. One of which was taking up the hobby of DIY coffee roasting.

This blog is all about home coffee roasting.

I have been a fan of third wave coffee ever since these shops started popping up all over my neighborhood in Los Angeles.   What is third wave coffee you ask?

According to Wikipedia:

The term ‘third wave coffee’ is a label given to coffee businesses opened after the year 2000, which share a similar mission statement or goal: to deliver high-quality coffee. Those who subscribe to the third wave coffee movement consider coffee an artisinal food, like wine, the consumption of which can be enhanced with greater education, connoisseurship, and sensory exploration beyond just a cup of coffee. Third-wave coffee seeks to highlight the unique characteristics that result from the interactions between the coffee’s source cultivar, growing and cultivation methods, processing methods, roasting methods, and the various ways to prepare coffee.

So, you know, maybe it just sounds like “snooty” coffee. I don’t pride myself on being snooty but I guess I do appreciate and notice the difference in a well-loved handcrafted coffee bean compared to the mass produced coffee beans that are roasted weeks (or maybe months, or years-Keurig I’m talking to you) in advance of the actual drinking day. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for a Starbucks PSL but I prefer my day-to-day coffee to be fresh and black.  Nothing covering up the nuanced flavors.

Here are some of the benefits of roasting at home:

• Fresher beans, richer flavor- it’s pretty challenging to find beans roasted within the current week. Roasted beans degrade in flavor so the fresher the roast, the better the flavor.
• More antioxidants- antioxidants start to degrade with exposure to air so the shorter transit time between roasting, grinding, and drinking means higher amounts of antioxidants.
• Cheaper beans- unroasted green beans for roasting are usually a couple of dollars less per pound.
• Green beans can be stored for years, whereas roasted beans should be used within the week.
• More variety- because green beans last forever (exaggeration, actually up to 12 months without affecting the flavors) you can experiment with different varieties of beans, roasts, washes, elevations and find out what you prefer.

What you need to roast your own coffee:

• Green coffee beans:
  I get mine from Fresh Roasted Coffee but you can google “green coffee beans” and may even find a local source.

• Coffee Roaster:
  This can be as simple as a hot air popper for popcorn or a $5000K professional roaster. This simple one is my favorite style:

  

• 2 colanders: Any type will do as long as you can pour the beans back and forth easily.
•  A heat gun thermometer.

  

  This is optional but helpful to know what’s happening during the roast.

•  A coffee grinder: hopefully you already have one, but just in case you didn’t know, you can only roast whole green beans and you’ll need to grind them before you can brew your coffee. If you are going to purchase one, burr grinders are best.

How to Roast Green Coffee

The basic steps I follow for roasting are:

1. Preheat my roaster about 3 minutes.
2. Add a cup of green beans and roast at highest temp for 3 minutes or until you see some color change in the beans. They will start to turn tan.
3. Reduce the heat slightly, I go from 240C to 220C to slow the roast a bit and allow more complexity to develop.
4. Listen for the sound of popcorn quietly popping.  This is “First Crack” and a benchmark for determining when to stop.  For a lighter roast I’m usually done within the next 5 minutes. I really just use my eyes to determine when to stop. Since I prefer a medium roast I will roast almost up to “second crack” which means I’m almost to a dark roast. For a darker roast, go past second crack but be careful because it gets easier to burn the beans at that stage.
5. Once I like the color of my beans- I write down the roast time for future reference then, I quickly remove the beans from the heat by pouring them into a colander and tossing them back and forth between two colanders. This helps to remove the chaff and quickly stop the roasting.
6. I like to wait 24 hours before grinding. The beans will develop more aroma and flavor over the course of the day, so I remind myself to be patient.
7. The next morning I’m jumping out of bed to enjoy my fresh roasted beans, loaded with antioxidants, flavor, and a great aroma. I also feel proud knowing I could treat my friends and family to fresh roasted coffee even in the middle of a zombie apocalypse!

Now you know the benefits of home roasted coffee, what you need to do it, and how to do it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.