By: Clinton K. Maxwell
If you have ever made your own wine, you may be the type who is curious to know what it would be like to make your own coffee, from scratch, that is. You have a coffee grinder, and now you have to roast your coffee.
Roasting and grinding your own coffee will give you a perfect cup, and it is not as hard as it sounds. There are many kinds of roasters, but something simple as a frying pan or popcorn popper would work. The most important quality is that whatever you use is very clean. You do not want to spoil the taste of your coffee with oils or foods that were cooked before.
Start with very good beans, and then decide which type of coffee you want. A dark roast coffee will have less caffeine than light roast coffee, but the lighter roasts usually have a bitter taste. You need to roast your beans to a temperature between 460F (223C) and 530F (262C). At these temperatures, you will create some smoke, so put your ventilator on, or have a small fan running. You will also want to open all of your windows to get rid of some of the smells. In addition, since the smoke and heat may set off your fire and smoke alarms, you may want to disconnect them. Just remember to put them back on when you are done.
If you are using a coffee roaster, there may be a temperature gage built in, but if you are using something else, you will need a candy making thermometer to make sure you reach the right temperature. As you are roasting you will see the green coffee beans turn yellow, then brown. If you like a dark roast, you will leave the beans a bit longer. The moisture in the bean will be released as the heat increases, and you will start to hear cracks after about 5-7 minutes. Keep stirring so that the heat is evenly spread and you roast all of the beans in turn.
Now the sugars inside the coffee bean will start to caramelize as they brown and even burn slightly. Check the color to make sure you get the darkness of roast you want. If some of the beans are starting to crack for a second time, you probably should stop roasting; this degree of dark roast is too strong for most people.
Now you will pour the beans into a metal container till they are cool and then start to shake them. Roasting the bean has removed some of the chaff, and you will now want to separate that away by putting it through a mesh screen. You can try small batches at a time until you find the exact degree of roasting that suits your taste. If you are using the popcorn popper to roast your beans, be sure it is one that is not enclosed. You want to be able to see the beans and agitate them so they are roasting evenly. If you use a pan, a cast iron one works very well.
Now you are ready to make your gourmet espresso, with your own ground and roasted coffee beans.
