Green coffee bean roasting

[Greg Stahl]

Does anyone on the site do their own roasting of coffee beans?  I’m thinking of starting a new hobby!!

[Dwayne Henson]

Not I, how about a tutorial? :)

[Paul Okarma]

We were just discussing coffee on a forum I joined since I replaced my fireplace insert last year.  Some of the guys there roast beans.  Never thought of doing it myself.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/the-coffee-thread.175457/

Here was an interesting article I posted in there about the Hampton Roads, VA area and coffee.

Click Here

" … those in the local coffee and tea industry say, Hampton Roads is becoming a major player.

 There's good reason.

 Last month, about 377,000 bags of raw beans, most weighing around 150 pounds, sat in warehouses across Hampton Roads, according to the Green Coffee Association, a trade group based in New York. That's about 57.3 million pounds of coffee, enough to brew around 2 billion cups of joe."

Wow!

[Raymond Dube]

I do Greg...or used to til  the motor that turns the drum went out on my roaster (a Behrmor 1600)...I could replace the motor but to be honest, with so many local roasters now in the Chicago area I can get fresh roasted coffee pretty much 24/7. If I bought the beans in bulk (10lbs or more), I could get them for about $4-7/lb...some places charged shipping which adds to the cost....and I still had to roast them. Once roasted you need to let the beans sit for 24-48 hours to 'degas' so you need to plan ahead if you want a particular style on a certain day. I find it easier to buy what I need from local roasters...I can buy exactly what I want in the quantities I want and it's ready to go as soon as I get home :=)

That said, it's fun to see what you can do. There is an art to roasting beans, esp to get a consistent product. Just small differences in time, heat, etc can make a big difference in the final result/taste of the coffee, even though it's the same bean. But if you like to experiment, it can be a fun challenge :=)

Edited to correct a lapse in my typing skills LOL Original should have read '$4-7/lb'...a lot depends on the quality of the beans also

[Raymond Dube]

I should note that I started roasting beans because of the lack of local roasters back in the day. Same with brewing beer. I used to brew my own beer because craft brewers were non-existent back then. Now it seems like a new brewery is popping up on every block, esp here in Chicago. So I still brew an occasional batch but with literally hundreds of craft brewers available, I find it easier to just buy good beer.