Roasted Coffee Beans (106/366)

"Our culture runs on coffee and gasoline, the first often tasting like the second."
~ Edward Abbey


Nick and I love coffee. Nick even held a coffee tasting event last year, and we and our friends rated 11 different coffees side by side. It was fun, but also really interesting to be able to smell and taste the differences between the different brews.

A little while ago when Nick's parents were in town, we were talking about roasting our own beans (Nick's parents do). Nick had been thinking of doing this since last year, but we never got around to doing more research and buying a roaster. Then the other day, Nick's mom told him that they had bought us a roaster, and it was on its way to us. Oh, man! We were so excited!

The roaster just came, and we found out that Nick's parents also sent us 8 pounds of green (un-roasted) coffee beans of different varieties, too! How awesome is that?!


I chose a bean that sounded good, and filled the roasting chamber to the "fill line" with the green, unroasted beans, set the timer for 25 minutes (according to the machine's directions), and let 'er rip!


Here's a little time lapse photography to show the change in the beans as they roast - don't blink! They go from green to brown FAST, which is why you have to watch them closely! A "dark roast" turns into "undrinkable burnt stuff" in a flash.


Here's the finished product - YUM:


This was awesome! Thank you again, Mom and Bill, for sending us the roaster AND all the beans! We're so excited to roast more. I didn't realize how easy it was to get started roasting our own beans - of course, we'll need more practice to develop a good feel for the subtleties of it - but had I known that it wasn't that complicated to start, I think we would have done this a long time ago. If you love coffee, I'd totally recommend looking into roasting your own beans. You don't even need a special "roaster" to start - you can roast the beans in a pan on the stovetop, or even in a popcorn popper. Just do your research, even if you get a special roaster - like I said, the beans turn from green to brown … to burnt FAST… and can become a fire hazard if not watched carefully! Enjoy!

Related Links:
Nesco CR-1010-PRR Coffee Bean Roaster, 800 watt
SweetMarias.com
Green Unroasted Coffee Bean Sampler