How To Roast Your Own Coffee And Why You Should Start

Any person who regularly drinks coffee has a certain morning routine that gets the dark caffeinated beverage from the mug and into their stomach. Whether you're a person who commutes by bike to work, an activity that has seen a 46% increase in the U.S. since 2005, or you drive the carpool to get the kids to school, that morning coffee routine is so essential that it is set in stone.

Your routine likely includes using pre-ground coffee for the time that it saves. However, by taking just slightly more time to roast and grind your own coffee beans, you'll see many benefits and have a fun new hobby.

The Benefits Of Roasting Your Own Coffee

Before the modern convenience of buying pre-packaged coffee, Americans use to roast their own coffee all of the time. The primary benefit is that the entire process of roasting them takes only about 20 minutes and you get extremely fresh grounds. Green beans, which is where roast coffee comes from, can be stored long-term without going bad. Roasted coffee loses its flavor and health benefits, including an increased number of antioxidants, after about two weeks from its roasting date.

Roasting your own coffee beans is also a more sustainable practice. Just as a practice like using reclaimed wood cuts down on the 20% to 30% of construction and demolition waste for which wood accounts, roasting your own coffee cuts down on harmful transportation and packaging wastes. The environment benefits from a decreased amount of gas pollutants entering the air and a lowered usage of plastic packaging materials.

How To Roast Your Own Coffee

About 54% of Americans over the age of 18 drink coffee every day, and the process of roasting is so simple that every fraction of that percentage could do it. Here are the six easy steps to roasting your own coffee:

1. Buy raw coffee beans: You can get unroasted green beans from a local coffee place that does its own roasting, or from online suppliers. Keep in mind that two pounds of raw coffee beans comes out to one pound of roasted beans. You may want to do research beforehand to pick beans that have flavor characteristics you like.
2. Get the right equipment: There are professional-grade countertop roasters out there, but if you want a more affordable option you can use a hot air popcorn popper instead. They are designed to heat corn kernels to the exact temperature that you need for coffee beans. Alternatively, you could use a cast iron pan on the stove top, a manual popcorn popper, or a cookie sheet in the oven. You'll also need two metal bowls, oven mitts, and a wooden spoon long enough to stir the beans from a safe distance.
3. Roast 'em: Pour your beans into your heating element, get the heat to around 450 degrees Fahrenheit, and stir. The beans will slowly change color from green to yellow, and then a light brown. You should also hear them start to crack as they turn brown and you'll see the chaff, or husk of the raw bean, appear in your roasting equipment. Simply blow the chaff off of the top to get rid of it.
4. Pull them out once they're roasted right: The type of roast you want is entirely up to you. A light roast will give you more caffeine in your coffee. A darker roast will be more like a Viennese or French roast, but be sure to take them out before they turn into bitter black charcoal.
5. Cool your beans: After you've achieved the roasting level you want, let them cool for a few hours. You can simply lay them on a cookie sheet for this step.
6. Let them breathe and then brew: Once the beans are cool and safe to touch, transfer them to an airtight container. Whether you store them on open shelves or newly remodeled cabinets, which typically account for 40% to 50% of kitchen remodel costs, don't seal the lids completely for one or two days. The containers could explode as the beans slowly let out carbon dioxide. Grind and brew your beans within about five days for optimum freshness.

Grinding your own beans can be an interesting, fun, and -- most importantly -- tasty process. You'll have total control over the coffee you're consuming and the satisfaction of creating your morning cup from start to finish.