Home Coffee Roasting - How to Roast Coffee Beans

Not happy with the flavor of your Folgers or Nescafe instant coffee? Want to learn how to roast coffee beans at home, for that perfect coffee-licious taste? Here are some home coffee roasting tips.
Home Coffee Roasting - How to Roast Coffee Beans
Yummm. Coffee!!

Ever since Satori Kato, the Chicago-based Japanese scientist came up with the idea of making and using instant coffee in 1901, home roasting coffee has become an obsolete art. Thank goodness for the new generation, who, unsatisfied with the standardized versions of instant coffee, decided to resurrect the dying practice of roasting coffee at home.

Those who are under the impression that home roasting coffee is a tiresome and arduous task, think again! Coffee roasting is actually quite a simple task and hardly takes a few minutes. But the result of this relatively uncomplicated procedure, is simply, a good coffee, that answers to YOUR taste buds! Besides, the taste of home roasted coffee is delightfully fresh with a stronger flavor. Overall, a good investment of your time!

So How to Roast Coffee Beans at Home?

Simple.

All you need is some dry, fresh green coffee beans available in almost any store, and an oven. Don't have an oven? No need to fret! Coffee roasting can even be done on a modest frying pan. After procuring the apparatus, pre-heat your oven/pan, put on your mittens and place the beans on the heat. The next, very important step is to take in the delectable aroma as the beans roast. But mind it, do not lose yourself or the beans may burn! Within 10 - 20 minutes, depending on how you like 'em, the beans will be ready and look the familiar brown color. Once they start becoming greasy, releasing the oils, you know that you're almost there! Take them out of the oven, and once again, you have to exercise a good deal of self-control to prevent yourself from touching those tempting beans. Wait for them to cool, clean out the excess oil, and ground them. And voila! Your home roasted beans are ready to brew!

Of course, if you want the perfect coffee, you have to earn it! You initially will have to go through the 'trial-and-error' method to get to the coveted cup. The experimentation can be with the origin of beans and with the amount of roasting you need. Simple difference really. For general knowledge purpose, there are two main kinds of coffee beans, the ones that are grown in the highland areas and the ones grown in lowland areas. Highland area beans tend to be more aromatic, milder and have a better flavor than those grown in the lowlands. Lowland grown coffee beans are stronger and have a slightly less aroma. Secondly, the taste of the coffee also depends upon how much you roast it. The more the roast, the stronger it is. So if you're a greenhorn dabbling with coffee beans for the first time, you'd want to do a bit of playing with the coffees. But don't forget to keep notes, or you might end up losing your secret formula!

Home coffee roasting is an art, practiced all over the world by the connoisseurs of the coffee, who can only be satisfied with the perfect cup. So if you are simply dissatisfied with the existing variety or even want to try different combinations of the beverage, go on! All you need is a handful of raw beans, a pan and just a few minutes.

By Arjun Kulkarni
Published: 7/14/2009
 
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