Going On To Perfection

I love good coffee. There is a lot to making a good cup of coffee. You have to have the right method – french press is my favorite. You have to have a fresh grind – grinding yourself makes a big difference. And you have to have good beans – beans from a great source and freshly roasted. Up to now, I’ve been able to achieve most everything except the freshly roasted part. Sure, those beans you see in the bins at your favorite coffee store are fresh compared to that dusty can of Folgers in the back of your pantry, but not nearly as fresh as buying from a roaster. In Katy, that wasn’t much of a problem because I could go to Dunn Bros Coffee and buy beans that were roasted the day before. But as far as I can tell there isn’t a source for good, fresh roasted coffee in the Bay area.

My solution? Roast the beans myself.

When I was in Hawaii earlier this summer, I picked up a bag of green (unroasted) beans from Greenwell Farms. I bought them because the grower suggested that a possible easy method for roasting the beans is an air popcorn popper. I figured this was an inexpensive way to give it a try, so why not?

Good decision on my part. Today, as I am writing this, I am enjoying the fruits of my easy labor – smooth, fresh, nicely roasted Kona coffee – roasted just last night in my chefmate air popper. I followed the instructions from Sweet Maria’s. I also used their pictorial guide as reference. Here are pictures from my experience.

Here are the coffee beans in their "green" unroasted state.

Beans after 5 minutes of roasting - now a "full city" or medium roast

Beans in the "roaster." The air keeps them moving so none of them burn.