I'd like to try roasting coffee beans at home, but want to try just a small amount. The online places charge a ton for shipping. Anyone know of a place in the area that sells green unroasted coffee beans?

Ethiopian super market. One in Arlington.

I tried roasting my own beans ..once. Unplug your smoke alarm

Priapus Wrote:
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> I tried roasting my own beans ..once. Unplug your
> smoke alarm

Haha, yeah I've heard about that. Guess I better do it outside. Did your house smell like coffee for days?

Smelled like burned beans. There are 2 shells, the first shell has to crack and then the other will roast



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2014 03:42PM by Priapus.

The Whole Foods in Fair Lakes roasts beans at the store, they might sell you some green beans.

You should be able to get green beans on amazon, good ones too. But I'd think twice, Wannabe - roasting coffee is nasty business, and from what I understand the difference between perfect roast and burned is about 30 seconds. And it stinks the place up something fierce.

That said, I've seen a guy roast them in a frypan once, in Costa Rica, and the coffee was pretty damn good. He was openly and hilariously contemptuous of fancying roasting machines and the like. I will say this for him - he sold me on medium roast being the way to go, said that 'dark roast' was mostly a way to hide a multitude of sins, like shitty beans.

I completely disagree on not roasting your own coffee. I roast mine, and if I can do it and not mess it up, anyone can. The margin of error is huge as there is a wide range of roasts. If you got a bit longer then you're coffee is a bit darker - no big deal.

Yes it can be smoky. If you want to get into great coffee at home, get a AeroPress ($23), Hario Skerton Grinder ($28) and a SR500 roaster ($169). Get your beans (and roaster) from coffeeproject.com. Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions.

I hope you won't mind a question from another, Ghost, but what's your opinion of espresso machines vs. the AeroPress? I've heard raves about the AeroPress but it'd have to be pretty great to make me give up my Rancillio.

You have got me considering a go at home roasting. Does it make that much difference? I wouldn't have thought a good grinder wouldn't make that much difference but I was assured that it would and boy howdy, does it ever.

Abelard,

I would not recommend using the AeroPress for espresso. It turns out a great cup of coffee that brings out ton of flavor, but small shot espresso is a big stretch. I think you would be disappointed. I travel internationally a lot and take my AeroPress, and fresh ground coffee with me and it's amazing. If you do get one I recommend getting a stainless steel filter so you don't have to mess with the paper (which absorbs some of the coffee oil). Oh and use the inverted method with the Aeropress - youtube it.

Long story short; don't replace the Rancillio but if you're away from your machine the AeroPress is the best alternative.

BTW - I checked WholeFoods in FairLakes and they have a great selection of green coffee. It's a bit pricey (as one would expect) at $9.99 - $11.99/lb. but the selection is great.

I was actually able to find green coffee beans at Giant, but this was years ago. I would imagine you could find them at Wegmans, too. Roasted them with a popcorn popper (stovetop model)--the results were not bad. It's a very smokey process, so make sure you have the vent on in your kitchen, maybe even keep a window open.

>Long story short; don't replace the Rancillio but if you're away from your machine the AeroPress is the best alternative.

Cool. I occasionally drink decaf (or have guests who do) and I'm loath to clean out my grinder when I do so I go with pre-ground, which is pretty unsatisfying. Think I'll be laying in a AeroPress - thanks for the advice.

Out of curiosity, do you carry beans with you when you travel or do you buy them there? I've carried coffee in my luggage before but I'm always wondering if they're gonna think I'm smuggling drugs or something. Since I often am smuggling a bit of this or that (cigars, biltong) I'm worried about attracting too much attention.

Oh, and I'd love to have your setup on the road but I usually end up camping. My coffee solution is gold filter baskets that just hang over cups and pre-ground. Makes for a brutal cup but it gets the job done.

Completely agree with everyone on the smoke during roasting. The SR500 catches all of the husks which is nice but it still puts off a pretty smoky smell. I roast mine outside on the porch or in the garage. I actually like the smell but the wife doesn't.

I've carried all sorts of coffee's all over and have never had a problem with security. It's pretty obvious what it is if they do look. I have had some interesting comments about the AeroPress - apparently it looks like a..um...well a pump for men who have ED.

The AeroPress is tiny. I grind some coffee put it on to a ziplock, roll it up and it slides into one end of the AeroPress. My preference is 21g of coffee with water up to #4. Once you push that through I add another 3 oz of hot water to the cup.

Regarding roast - I let mine cook until about 40 seconds or so after the second crack. Let is sit for two days and the oil starts to come out of the bean. Yummy. It takes 4 rounds in the SR500 to roast a 1lb. But that lasts me a good while.

Grey, you're probably in a position to answer something I've never been able to study well (since I don't roast my own) - how much does super-fresh roasting matter? How long does it take fresh roast to significantly degrade? I've seen how fast things degrade after a grind but not after a roast. This is part of my campaign to justify a home roaster.

Abelard,

No worries at all. I think that home roasting is 50% having fun roasting your own coffee to how you like it, 25% saving some cash, 25% having ultra fresh coffee. The coffee is best 2-3 days after you roast it and, in my opinion, good for about 7 days. I only roast enough to last that period. I really enjoy the roasting because you can control how dark you like it. If you want to try what it's like to have fresh roasted try some fresh roast from Whole Foods. They put the dates on the bags and roast it at the Fair Lakes location.

I feel like I'm saving cash as 1 lbs of green beans turns into a lot of coffee at a great price considering the quality. In the end, with the price of the roaster I bet it's about break even over time.

In the end, you get a roaster so you can have coffee how you like it, when you like it.

I believe Dr Oz is under the gun for suggesting this on his show for weight loss.

>I think that home roasting is 50% having fun roasting your own coffee to how you like it, 25% saving some cash, 25% having ultra fresh coffee.

Oh, I'm right there with you - I enjoy the process as much as anything. My coffee service is hugely impractical - it weighs a ton, and cost me a grand plus. The only reason I have it is that I took a couple Gs off the tables in vegas and gave half to the 'leader of the opposition', which she spent on a jacket. A jacket. This left her no room to maneuver when I got a Silvia and a nice burr grinder. Marriage is all about the process, as is good coffee.

Abelard - agreed. It is. My wife rolls her eyes at my coffee setup all the time but, she enjoys it when I make her a cup too.

Nicdoot - I think Oz is in trouble for pushing Green Coffee Extract not roasted coffee.

>My wife rolls her eyes at my coffee setup all the time but, she enjoys it when I make her a cup too.

Mine too. It helped my case that we were living in England and at that time, you could barely find good coffee anywhere. Now it's everywhere - amazing how fast that all changed. Even my little village got a Cafe Nero, which is pretty good, but by then I already had my machine. Still enjoy fiddling with it, especially the 1 shot in 5 (or so) which is just perfect. No reason this can't be fun.

Greyghost-


What kind of beans do you use, and do you mix or use single origin. What do you think dunkin donuts beans are. Seems like a full and roasty flavor?

While we're waiting for Grey to weigh in, I tend to favor single origins. Coffee varies regionally and blends are fine, but it's a bit like blending wine - what you get is fine to drink but loses some of the regional distinctiveness which you might come to like. For instance, I've found that some of the middle eastern varieties a bit chaffy to my tastes, but I like the sweetness from the growers in Costa Rica near Monteverde.

It's pretty easy these days to get beans from just about anywhere, and while they might seem expensive, there aren't too many things you can get the 'very best of' for this cheap. I don't drink all that much coffee so a pound of something interesting might last me a month or two. 20 bucks a pound might sound like a lot, but that's like 4 visits to Starbucks.

Saw a lot of comments on how painful self roasting is. I roast mine outside in Air popcorn maker. Get perfect roast in about 8 minute....longer will give you darker roast...and vice versa. Have fun roasting your own coffee!

Hey there,

So sorry for the long wait - I didn't see the e-mail that said there was an update. I normally roast single origin but I take a bit from each batch and make a blend. Normally pretty good.

Dunkin Donuts is likely a blend of Arabica. If it was single origin I'm sure they would tell us as part of their advertisement.

I just ordered 5 lbs of different varieties from http://www.u-roast-em.com/. Also just ordered a Technivorm Moccamaster KBT-741. I'll let you know how it goes but I'm betting it'll be good.

Best,

Grey