I don't know when it happened. But it happened. And as much as I hate to admit it – well, here I am. Admitting it. Lettin' it loose. Slippin' the lips. Confessing to the world…
…friends, I'm a coffee snob.
I remember back in college, sipping on my pre-ground Folgers, thinkin' I'd hit the good life. But then, as fate would have it, I met my husband. Who also happened to love coffee. And through the years, our love for one another… and coffee… only grew.
When my parents gifted us a hand grinder for whole beans a few years into our marriage, we began flirting with whole beans. And that opened us up to a whole new delicious world – freshly ground coffee far surpass the taste of pre-ground beans. It's no secret. Why do you think espresso all over the world is made with freshly ground beans?
Because freshly ground beans are ridiculously delicious, yo. That's why.
But let's take that a step further, shall we?
After a few years of freshly ground beans, our palates started to desire more. More freshness. More flavor. Even more ‘oomph' in the ‘ol morning cup of joe.
And so. Naturally. We headed for thrift stores. Lookin' for one thing… one specific item that we needed.
A Poppery Popcorn Popper. Circa 1980's. One of the only popcorn poppers available on the market that gets hot enough to home roast coffee beans (for a complete list of popcorn poppers that you can use, check out this page). After a few weeks of us looking for this gem of a popper, a friend finally found us one during a trip to Good Will. $4.
$4 for a home coffee roaster.
And thus, our love for freshly roasted coffee was born. And miraculously, it's as easy as popping popcorn. Stu is the coffee roasting expert around here – the last time he roasted, he documented his journey in photographs. Let's give him thanks.
How to Roast Coffee Beans
You will need:
– Green coffee beans (we buy ours in bulk from Sweet Maria's, but there are other sources like this or this)
– Poppery Popcorn Popper (you can find them on eBay if you can't find 'em at your local thrift store)
You'll notice that our popcorn popper has an aluminum can in the opening. It didn't come with a lid and in order to keep the beans from coming out as they turn, we've replaced it with a can to allow for more room.
– 2 colanders
1. Set up the popper in a well ventilated area. We roast our beans outside on our porch so that the chaff can fly free. Fill the popper with 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup green coffee beans. Plug in the popper and allow it to slowly start heating the beans.
2. In about 3 minutes, you'll hear the first ‘pop' of the beans. Once this happens, monitor the color of the beans closely. Mild roasts will continue for about 1 more minute (total time, 4 minutes), average roasts about 2 more minutes (total time, 5 minutes), and a dark roast about 3 more minutes (total time, 6 minutes).
3. Once the beans are close to your desired roast, dump them into a colander. Moving quickly, pour the beans from one colander to another, allowing the air to completely circulate around them. Keep pouring for another minute or so, until the beans are completely cooled.
3. Place the freshly roasted beans into a breathable bag. They'll continue to give off CO2 as they cool, so it's important to not seal them into a glass jar for at least 12 hours.
See? Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.
We do 2-3 batches each time we roast, and it provides us with enough coffee for the week. But it's never as good as it is the moment it comes out of the popper. Good Lawd, that's some delicious coffee.
I suppose it's like picking a tomato from the garden. Eating that perfectly ripened fresh fruit from the vine. So much better than the store-bought variety. Not that I'm tryin' to rag on your store-bought coffee. By all means, enjoy that deliciousness.
I'm just sayin' – I'll never go back. You can't make me! I won't do it, I say!
Home roasted coffee. If there's a more delicious luxury in life, I've yet to find it.
For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.
Kat
November 5, 2014 at 6:04 pmCan not wait to try this is so awesome
Hilary
November 6, 2014 at 7:00 amWe started doing this about 6 months ago. It is delicious! We use a whirly pop type popper and my husband roasts it on our grill side burner. Works perfect! But it does spoil you…coffee from anywhere else tastes bitter or sour.
Brenda J
November 6, 2014 at 11:48 amWe also roast using a Whirley Pop. It does raise the level of the coffee snobbery for sure, because it just tastes so much better. I’m curious what brewing method you use. We have used a Chemex for several years now and we love it…just going further down the road of snobbery 🙂 We heard from a local roaster that it is better to let the beans rest for 3-7 days before using them (I think this is because of how the Chemex works), but we like it freshly roasted just as well. And I have to have cream in mine…usually raw. And then there’s Bulletproof coffee too. Oh my goodness – I need some now! Thanks for raising the level of awareness about home roasting!
Angie
November 7, 2014 at 8:50 amI am just curious about the kind of coffee maker you have. Do you need a fancy one to make it taste oh so better or does home roasting the beans do the trick?
Shaye Elliott
November 19, 2014 at 11:36 amI use a Le Crueset french press! Much better than drip.
Dave
November 9, 2014 at 4:52 pmGreat article. I ordered a roaster and beans from Sweet Maria’s. First batch was incredible. Can’t believe I have been missing out on this all this time. Thanks for a new addiction.
Dave
Shaye Elliott
November 19, 2014 at 11:30 amAwesome! Happy to hear it. Super easy, isn’t it?
Dave
November 25, 2014 at 11:05 amActually amazing how simple it can be. I wish I had done this years ago. Thanks again.
sharii
November 10, 2014 at 2:38 pmhi love your site,,, I am somewhat confused,, I am not understanding what the tin can looking thing is on top of the popper I don’t see where it says anything about it? do the beans go directly into the popper or in a can on top,I actually already have that popper, so just need 2 metal colanders,. cant wait to try this. although I have 17 containers of folgers on hand,, there was a great sale. so why not.
David
November 21, 2014 at 6:11 pmgreat intro to home roasting.
Miranda
November 23, 2014 at 7:42 pmWe haven’t roasted coffee in a while. We started when we were looking for a cheaper way to have great coffee and roasting them ourselves was cheaper than buying the fresh roasted fair trade coffee beans available in our town. I could buy the green beans in bulk and have them shipped, and roast them myself. My husband (the primary coffee drinker) really liked them. I love your popper! Maybe if we’d had one like that I’d still be roasting. I used a skillet. As our climate is mostly Winter I had to roast inside and the smoke would stink up our place. After I was pregnant I stopped as the smell got to me. I always loved the transformation that came over the beans as they roasted. Brought so much satisfaction to do it from scratch like that! Thanks for sharing!
jani
November 25, 2014 at 12:55 pmMy husband roasts our coffee with a popcorn popper as well. There is seriously nothing like it.
p.s. You are wonderful. I’ve been following you for the past few years, living my homesteading dreams through you 🙂 If we knew each other I know we’d be kindred spirits.
Shawna
February 13, 2016 at 4:20 pmDo you ever make any flavored coffee? If so, how?
Rianne
March 8, 2016 at 3:24 pmHi Shaye! I love this post as I live in Ethiopia, the birth place of coffee, and we roast our own beans too! The smell of freshly roasted beans is pure bliss as well. We had no clue what we were missing back in the days of store bought pre-roasted beans! Enjoy yourself some good coffee!
Simca
March 8, 2016 at 11:00 pmShaye, I linked this post to my website. I hope that is ok. Love this post and wanted to share it with my readers. ????