And how was it?
Oh yeah, that’s usually how I like it, too. At least for the first batch. Can always go longer on the next one.
Economics will depend on how into the process you become involved. My method is stone age, backyard hillbilly, unscientific but I do get pretty consistent results; my wife and I LOVE the freshness of my roasted beans. I use an electric heat gun, a bamboo spoon to stir and move beans which are in a 4-quart stainless steel pot. The pot sites on 1X boards in a cardboard box (without the board the box burns). Not much outlay in terms of equipment so far, right? I dump the roasted beans into a SS colander and transfer back and forth between the colander and a SS sieve to cool the beans. I don't weigh the green beans when beginning the roast; I measure by volume and less is better for my method to get a more uniform roast.
If you are satisfied with the quality and character of the coffee you find at the grocery store, then no, home roasting is not an economically viable pastime. If you are dissatisfied with the coffee options at the grocery store and spend the big bucks that they charge for the good stuff which is usually not available at the grocery store (although this varies widely), then it may pencil out, sorta. For me, a lot of it comes down to freshness, and that is a big reason why I roast my own. Many people don't realize that the coffee they are buying at the grocery store is dead. Stale. Flat. It is old coffee, roasted long ago and it is way past its prime. And IMO, frequently over-roasted. Really dark roasting can obscure some freshness issues and differences between batches of beans, and I think that might be a reason why it is popular.
I used to buy and enjoy Chock Full o' Nuts medium roast back in the day. And the Beavis in me still thinks the name is funny, huh, huhuh.
You might be surprised. When you’re roasting, you get a whole spectrum of aromas from when the coffee is green and just starting to off gas, all the way to wherever you are when you finish your roast, and honestly to me none of those levels of roasting beans smell near as good as the intoxicating scent of the fresh ground (properly rested) beans. It’s not the same aroma.
how long will the beans remain 'fresh' ?? and then i assume, u roast what you need for a bit, and then roast more?
The green beans keep for a year or more no problem. Roasted coffee starts to detectably deteriorate, to me, after a couple weeks. How you store it can affect this. A good airtight fully opaque storage container helps maintain freshness— UV and O2 are your enemies. I usually have a batch mostly for espresso and a batch mostly for Aeropress hanging around at the same time. I’m roasting coffee about once every 1-2 weeks on average I’d say. Every now and then there are weeks I’m really hitting the espresso and then I have to roast more. I also like to share my beans but only with people who I feel like truly appreciate it. Yeah I’m judgy that way, same thing goes for the albacore I like to hand out— Don’t tell me you froze it!
I usually roast beans at the garage door threshold. I enjoy the changing smells (I like your word: spectrum, so true) of the beans as their color changes - but especially the aroma as the beans begin to smoke a bit. That scent lingers in the garage after I move the car back in and close the door.
