I've been unable to find a coffee roaster I like in Vermont. I drink only unleaded on a daily basis, which further limits my choices, and with prices ay $10-20 per pound to get fresh beans (that haven't been sitting on a shelf for weeks or months), I was getting fed up.
As a "happy solstice" gift to myself, I decided to try Sweet Maria's popcorn popper coffee roasting starter kit:
https://www.sweetmarias.com/nostalgi...rn-popper.html
$20 for their recommended popcorn popper, which is known to roast effectively and evenly, already seemed pretty reasonable, but it also came with 4lbs of green coffee. Hard to say "no" at that price. They even gave me four different blends!
I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the included printout and pamphlet, which had decent instructions and pictures with which to compare roasted beans to determine the roast level.
From what I read online and in the pamphlet, I was expecting a lot of smoke and a big mess, so I set up under my stove vent hood (vented outside) and cleared the countertops nearby.
One website recommended 3oz (weight) of green beans as roasting the most evenly, so I measured them out, dumped them into the popper cold, flipped the "on" switch, started a timer, and started gently stirring with the end of a wooden spoon.
After maybe 45 seconds the popper's heat and air pressure were moving the beans around enough that I put the chute/lid on top and watched, trying to decide when the roast was done.
My reading suggested a roast can take anywhere from 3 to 15 minutes start to finish, depending on the heat the machine produces. The general idea is that the beans start darkening immediately, and at a certain temperature they go through what is called the "first crack". This is supposed to sound like popcorn popping. At that point, they're at what's called a "city roast" or light roast, where (I think?) they've gone through the Maillard reaction, the same as when you bake bread or brown other foods. This gives coffee it's roasted taste.
From there, a French roast may only be 2-3 minutes away. This is described as the "second crack" and indicates the sugars have caramelized and the beans start to develop a burned and ashy taste. The character differences between different beans generally disappears at this point.
On my first attempt, I decided I'd let the roast run until I heard the first crack, then give it another minute or minute and a half, and take it off. Unfortunately, after 14 minutes and 30 seconds I still hadn't heard anything distinct, so I removed the beans, cooled them in a colander, and compared them to the chart.
Chart says I made something between a Full City+ (dark) and a "light" French roast!
Most sources say roasted beans should rest for 8-12 hours for best taste, and may be fresh for 7-14 days (depending on how picky you are), but I didn't care to wait until the morning, so ground them and brewed them in my 1-serving French press.
Subjectively? I don't normally even like French roasts, but this was good. As in, some of the best coffee I'd had in years good.
I went ahead and roasted another 3 ounces, trying to judge visually when to take it off. At 6 minutes I cooled the beans and checked the chart, and judged they had landed somewhere between a City+ and a Full City, a solid medium roast. This also produced an excellent cup of joe. Subjectively, while it looked like a medium roast, the flavor was a little lighter than the color suggested, and it was fairly acidic. I think I might have read somewhere that this is typical of water processed decaf.
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Anyhow, I'd be thrilled if someone joined me in exploring coffee roasting.
Anyone else roast their own coffee?