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Roasting Your Own Coffee - A Hobby You Can Love
By Jim Cameron, Fri Dec 9th
There is nothing like a cup of coffee that has been freshlyroasted, ground and brewed to perfection. There are a growingnumber of enthusiasts who are roasting their own coffee beansand enjoying the benefits of truly fresh coffee at aboutone-third of the price of beans from your local coffee shop. Arecent article touts that roasting your own coffee is one of thefastest growing hobbies in the USA today. A gift of freshly roasted coffee which you have roasted yourselfis sure to be a hit and amaze the receiver of the hand madegift. The actual roasting of the coffee beans may be the easiestand most fun part. The packaging of your thoughtful gift will bethe most challenging as you prepare the package with as muchcare as you have roasted the coffee. Coffee which will be kept for any length of time should be keptin an airtight container out of sunlight. For the trip fromroasting to the airtight container is where the creation of funideas comes in. Coffee is traditionally shipped in burlap sacks.You can buy some burlap at a craft store and sew up bags thatwill be great for packaging. At the same craft store you can buypre-cut stencils with flowers, Lions, Elephants, Crocodiles etcand stencil your bags with animals, plants or other landmarksfrom a country of origin. A Lion on a bag of Kenya or Malawi,Palm tree from Costa Rica, Coffee cherries from Colombia, etc.Plain brown bags work well also and can be decorated in manyways with a coffee theme, re: cups, saucers, coffee pots etc. (Article continued below)
Another idea, with the ease in which art can be produced andprinted on stickers with the help of a computer, is to make yourown labels. YOUR NAME’s special blend or a blend for an event.How about a wedding gift with the bride and groom’s picture andcall it the “Perfect Blend”. The possibilities are endless onhow you can package the coffee you have roasted yourself withyour own signature. All that is needed to roast your own coffeebeans at home is green coffee beans, available from a number ofsources, an oven, cookie sheet, oven mitt, metal colander and awooden spoon. Preheat your oven to 500F, spread raw beans evenlyone layer deep on a cookie sheet, place on middle rack ofpreheated oven and watch them roast. In about 8-10 minutes
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therewill be a crackling noise and smoke with a coffee essence. Atthis point the roast moves quickly and you need to pay closeattention. About 2-3 minutes after the crackling, your coffeebeans should be at the shade you like them. Carefully (using theoven mitt) remove the cookie sheet from the oven and pour thebeans into the metal colander. Stir the beans with the woodenspoon to help cool quickly. Do this over a sink or outside, asthere is chaff that comes off the beans during roasting. Andremember; NEVER leave your roasting coffee beans unattended. Almost any appliance used to pop popcorn can be used to roastcoffee beans. The hot air poppers are great, however, you maywant to roast outside or in your garage as they blow the chaffout and can be messy. There are a number of manufacturers ofhome coffee roaster, including several that use a gas grill androtisserie. The internet is full of sources to purchase raw beans, but youwant to make sure that the supplier you use knows their beansand “cups” their coffee before selling it to you. One of themost reputable sources for green coffee beans is U-Roast-Em,Inc., a high quality, no frills supplier with 30 years in theindustry. They can be found at www.u-roast-em.com on the web.Many other sources can be found using your favorite searchengine. If you’re interested in using a gas grill to roast yourbeans, check out www.rkdrums.com or www.buzzroasters.com. Forelectric, countertop-type coffee roasters, visitwww.freshbeansinc.com. Green, raw coffee beans last for years when properly stored.This allows you to build a collection of fine coffees to choosefrom as well as buy larger amounts of the great coffees and savemore money. Keep your bean collection in a cool, dry place outof any direct sun light and they will last until you roast them.As coffee ages it loses acidity and becomes more mellow. Manylike the rich mild cup of a coffee that has had a couple yearsto rest and mellow. More important than the year of the crop isthe quality of the bean, the preparation at origin,transportation and warehousing in country of consumption. If allof these things are done correctly, your green coffee will lastfor years. Suppliers who know how to cup samples of coffee beansare able to determine if all of these criteria are donecorrectly before they purchase the beans. Now all you have to worry about is your friends beating downyour door to get some more of that wonderful coffee you roastedfor them. I guess at that point you just get them startedroasting their own, they’ll be forever grateful. About the author:Jim Cameron is a semi retired 30 year veteran of the SpecialtyCoffee Industry. His small coffee business now sells only thefinest green coffee beans to the home roasting market at his website: http://www.u-roast-em.com | 