this morning i attempted to roast my own coffee...it's supposed to be super fresh and most articles say it takes under 15 minutes - and you can do it in a popcorn popper! so i went to vivace and bought some green coffee beans ($7/lb) to try it out. the beans are a blend from different regions, so i'm not quite sure where they're from exactly.
i started with just a little bit (about 1/2 cup) and you can see that they're quite pale and green. oh, i also did this outside because it can get quite smoky and messy. within the first minute of roasting, it started to smell like chocolate!
i should of used a timer because after 3-4 minutes, i was supposed to hear the "first crack" - where all the moisture is being released - but i don't think i ever heard that. at least i didn't hear it over the sound of the popcorn popper. this is what they looked like after a couple of minutes.
there is also a bunch of chaff that flies off the beans. i tried to catch it into a bowl, but most of it just ended up all over the porch. i also eventually took the cover off the popcorn popper because it was getting kind of hot, and i didn't want the plastic to melt or catch on fire!
after about 10 minutes, i stopped the popper because the beans didn't seem to be getting any darker. and i never heard the "2nd crack" either so i'm guessing my popper doesn't get hot enough. this roast turned out super light.
i let them cool afterwards and soon they started smelling more like coffee beans that you buy from the store (with a hint of popcorn smell - super weird). after letting it sit for a while, i put them in the grinder and made a cup of drip coffee.
it tasted like....dirt. haha, ok maybe not that bad, but more like mcdonalds or cheap gas station coffee. really light and earthy. the aroma and flavor was just not there, and it had absolutely no depth to it. i think it's because they were roasting too long but never quite got to the right temperature which maybe burnt/dried them out? i'm not sure. i'm going to try to find another popper that might work a little better and try again - then maybe i'll get a darker roast!
1 comment:
Yea, that's definitely under roasted. With coffee, you can't really go by time. I don't know what the temp was outside when you tried this but if it's under 45 degrees (at least in Kansas) I have a hard time reaching the temps for first crack (415 F). You will definitely hear the "pops" or 1st crack. The chaff will start to blow off really well during first crack. The best analogy I've heard is that first crack will sound like breaking a stick match, while second crack will be lighter and higher pitched. While really old, I have a video on youtube, as well as plenty of others, so feel free to watch those. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESelahL3EvE)
I now roast with a bread machine and heat gun, but that's because the batch size is larger and you can do it in the winter time. Good luck! Keep at it. The good news is, you tasted under roasted coffee, so you know what not to do in the future. It's pretty gross, I'll admit I've done it.
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