What is life without a little experimenting along the way. I have spent the last couple of months drinking freshly ground coffee beans, and while I was content at that level of coffee depth events have forced my hand. Coffee is one of those consumables which we really should have the organic version of. It absorbs a large quantity of the chemicals sprayed on it which then enter us through consumption, more so than many other foods. While searching online for big bags of organic coffee beans then, I discovered that the green unroasted version was ten pound cheaper, a little spark was born.
The internet is the font of all knowledge and I love it for it and with only twenty minutes devoted to this I discovered it is seemingly quite easy to roast your own beans. It isn’t necessarily easy to roast them well or with accuracy, but to do a rough job and get started is pretty straightforward. And this is what I’ve done.
I was pretty calculated about it too which is not my usual haphazard wing it style. I timed the first crack, which is when they are starting to dry and nearly at the first level of ready. Taste dependent of course. I timed when I shook them about in the pan so they mixed and roasted evenly. In the end I actually roasted them longer than most online articles suggested. There were some saying five to ten minutes and some ten to fifteen minutes but considering nothing had happened by five minutes and I didn’t even get my first crack until twelve minutes, the twenty two minutes I gave them felt right in the moment. Felt right in a moment of inexperience however is not always the most reliable of barometers but well I had to wing it at some point.
I say all that with the confidence and bravado of someone who has successfully roasted and brewed his first coffee but the truth is they’re still cooling off in the freezer and I have no idea how successful I have been. Apparently I should still leave it over night before brewing so it can continue to de-gas but for the sake of this piece I’m just going to brew myself a coffee and report the outcome before publishing. What is life without risk.
Like a good whisky I have added a touch of water to stretch the flavour.
It smells like coffee. And it tastes like coffee, if somewhat a little bitter. Definitely going to be adding some milk. It’s a start, not as bad as it could have been but certainly could be better. Good fun this coffee roasting.
Observations and Misunderstandings 