In addition to our book on growing chickens, I received a little book on home coffee roasting. After all, why not add another obscure hobby to the list? I promptly ordered some green coffee beans from Sweet Marias. If you scroll down on their list of green coffees, you will find, as I did, that there is a nearly infinite number of coffee varieties to choose from. I decided on Papua New Guinea Kimel Peaberry for no other reason than it listed rootbeer and sarsaparilla as potential flavors. This is what showed up at my door.
I figured that Jessie being out of town at a conference was the perfect opportunity for me to test out my roasting abilities (i.e. fill the house full of smoke). I tried my first batch the same day I received the beans.
I thought I had reached a satisfactory roast after a few minutes and a lot of smoke. After the beans cooled and I could get a better look, it appeared that I actually had a reasonably light roast.
Batch 1: Success
The roast was indeed light and I guess the beans are characteristically mild anyhow. It is a very mellow cup of joe. Not quite to my preference, but it's a start.
I was so proud of my successful first batch that the next night I decided to try it again. This time, I was trying for a darker roast. And a darker roast I did get.
Batch 2: Failure - Burned
The house smelled like burned coffee for 3+ days
When Jessie returned home, she wanted to see how it was done so we tried again, but much more carefully. We made two batches back to back of different roasts.
Batch 3: Success - Light Roast (on right)
Batch 4: Success - Medium Roast (on left)
Lessons Learned:
1. Even if I make it myself, I don't like mild coffee
2. Coffee roasting is better done outside
3. Beware coffee-smelling hands in the night, they'll wake you up!
3 comments:
Your medium roast looks pretty good. How's the cost work out?
Roughly equivalent or slightly higher than buying it at the grocery store (when you include the shipping costs). It's definitely more for novelty than savings.
The best part of wakin' up is...smelling coffee on your hands in the middle of the night.
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