Well, I finally did it.  I started down the slippery slope of being a total coffee geek.  I am now roasting my own coffee beans.  It is perhaps the cheapest part of my passion for coffee that could also be the most expensive.  After talking it over with some of my friends now co-conspirators, I took the easy way out.  I purchased a cheap popcorn popper from Goodwill for $3.50, a steel colander for the same price, and two pounds of green coffee beans that were basically half the price of a roasted bag of beans.

So what do you do, start looking for a popcorn popper? When you go to look for the right kind of popper, look for one with vents on the bottom of the chamber instead of one with the steel mesh or wire. The one with the vents do a far better job, and because there is less chance of it smoking and/or catching on fire.  Make sure the popcorn popper has at least 1200 watts, for the amount of heat you will need.

Now you are ready to roast some beans. Easy, right?  Right!

Pour in less than a half cup of beans into the chamber, plug in the popper and let it go. Within 30 seconds you will see some chafe flying off the beans, but don't be alarmed by it. Keep an eye on the color of the beans.  After 3 minutes the beans will darken, and after 5 minutes you will see some color.

Here it gets a bit tricky.  Most web sites say in 5 to 7 minutes you will hear the "first crack".  I did not hear it at all, and I roasted a full pound in three days [maybe due to the fact I liked listening to loud music when I was a teenager]. I took my beans to a full 15 minute roast to achieve the darkness and taste that I wanted.  If you do hear that first crack from the beans, then you are done. You can go past that a little bit if you want, or go for the gusto and roast a French roast, by taking it past the second crack if the beans are really dark. It is really up to you.  Keep a record of the length of time, the temperature and the humidity.  These all play a big part in your roasting. I always keep a small amount of my roasted beans so I can compare the color to what I am roasting. The timing of it is close to what you started with, but if it is a really hot or cold day your time table will be different.

The beans will come out hot and you need to cool them down. Get a metal colander.  If you use a plastic one, you will get some funky plastic taste to your beans (yes the beans will be that hot) and you don't want that.  Cool down to room temp, and put into a mason jar that has a lid.  Screw the lid halfway down,and not too tight because the beans will keep on releasing some gas for a few days afterwards.

In 12 hrs. you can have that cup of coffee!

**One last note, DO THIS OUTSIDE! Your family, friends or housemates will thank you. This stuff really stinks up the house.

Enough said, have fun and enjoy! 

A question was emailed to me last week, asking about the right measurements for a French Press, here is what I use.

I like my coffee on the rich side, so I will give you my Coffeeken light, medium measurements.

The coffee scoop that I use is a 1/8 cup measurement or 30 ml of whole beans.  I do not level the cup, it is rounded, which makes up the difference when you grind the beans.

Next, set your coffee grinder to the largest grind it has.

Then start measuring out the amount of beans that you will need, and put  into the hopper of the grinder, be it a cone, burr or blade grinder

• 3 cup press, 12 oz, or 300 ml

1. Light: 1 1/2 scoops level, or 60 ml of whole beans.
2. Medium:  2 scoops, well rounded or 60 ml of whole beans
3. Coffeeken: 2 1/2 scoops, well rounded or 75 ml of whole beans

• 41/2 cup press, 20 oz, or 600 ml

1. Light: 3 scoops level, or 90 ml of whole beans
2. Medium: 3 1/2 scoops, well rounded or 90 ml of whole beans 
3. Coffeeken: 4 scoops, well rounded or 105 ml of whole beans

• 8 cup press, 32 oz, or 100 0ml

1. Light: 6 scoops level or 180 ml of whole beans
2. Medium: 6 1/2 scoops of well rounded or 210 ml of whole beans
3. Coffeeken: 7 scoops of well rounded or 225 ml of whole beans.

• 12 cup press, 48 oz or 1500 ml

1. Light: 9 scoops level or 270 ml of whole beans
2. Medium: 10 scoops well rounded or 300 ml of whole beans
3. Coffeeken: 11 scoops well rounded 330 ml of whole beans

Grind your beans. Put the coffee grounds in the French Press, heat your water to almost a boil, pour your water in. After 2-3 minutes have gone by, break the bloom and let it steep for 4 minutes then gently push the press down and enjoy!   

Storing Coffee, freeze or not to freeze?

Freeze or not to freeze , tis the question, on your beans. Now that I have done my poor version of Shakespeare, lets get to the heart of this question.

If you spend any time in various coffee shops or have a wide range of coffee roasters on your list, I'm sure that  you have at any given time, have joined in the discussion on what is the right way of storing your coffee beans. There is two schools of thought. one put your beans in a air tight container and store them in your cupboard away from heat and sunlight. The other is to put your bag of beans in the freezer or refrigerator. I myself prefer the first one. A air tight container, is easy, and does not allow any moisture or air to get to the beans, which is the big spoiler for your coffee beans. By keeping them in a container you do not contaminate your beans with any type of moisture, that you will get when you put them in the freezer. Allowing moisture to make contact with your beans is to activate the oils in the beans, as a result, you will get stale beans, with a bitter aftertaste. Storing them in the refrigerator is just as bad, that 5 alarm chili that you made and is sitting next to your bag of beans is now imparting its aroma and flavor on your morning cup of coffee. And if you have butter or cream, guess what, that pure taste you like, will not be there, the butter and cream will have a coffee taste to them as well. Coffee by nature has oils in the beans, the roaster, roast the beans to break down the bean, and bring the volatile oils out. These oils are aromatic, so they quickly fill up any space with their aroma, imparting their taste on soft flavor foods, and also be spoiled by stronger aroma foods, such as chili, curry, or any other hearty foods.

Keeping your beans in a airtight container is a safe bet, no leakage of coffee aroma in your food and no freezer aftertaste in your cup. If volume is your biggest problem, order smaller amounts of beans. Your shop, can set you up with what you need, quarter pound, is the most standard, small amount, you can get. Mail order roasters can get you half pound sizes, and gladly ship it out to you. Hopefully this has help you out.     

Coffee Grinders

Over the years I have purchased several coffee grinders, each one fitting my needs at the time.  Thinking about it now, I wish I would have looked forward to see myself getting deeply involved in making the perfect cup of coffee. I started with a blade grinder, the type that you find at any coffee shop, grocery or kitchen store, for around for $20. I had relative good luck, making drip, Molita filter and French press coffee with it.

The frustrating part came when I started to make espresso; there you need a better grinder. I finally settled on a cone grinder. At first I went through the least expensive approach by getting the burr grinder, that was okay until I was up to making espresso with a counter top, pour over espresso machine. The grind from the burr grinder was not small enough, nor could I fine-tune the adjustments to make a good shot of espresso. Once I swallowed my Scottish pride and decided to spend some money, I purchased the cone grinder. At last, my frustrations of bad coffee grounds were over.

So look ahead, this is one piece of equipment that requires some long range thought. Are you going to make espresso? Or just be happy with making regular cup of Joe? Spend some time, talk with fellow coffee geeks and find out what they recommend before you buy that next item on your path to coffee heaven. The time spent on thought and study will pay off.