I have always been a lover of coffee. But like almost all regular coffee drinkers, I never knew that there was something out there that was a lot better than what you find at the local supermarket. It is true that in the last ten years or so, I had evolved from buying ground coffee to purchasing real coffee beans, and then grinding them just before using them. Then I advanced from a drip coffee maker to a devoted user of the French Press coffee maker.Restaurant
My giant leap forward came several years ago when I was first introduced to the wonders of roasting one’s own coffee beans by a friend. He himself had tasted coffee made with freshly roasted beans about ten years ago at an upscale coffee shop in Richmond, Virginia. After having been a regular customer at the cafe, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to finish a university degree in business. Before he left, he bemoaned the fact to the shop owner that he would be soon without the benefit of his great coffee. The owner told him that that was no problem: he could start roasting the coffee beans himself. That is exactly what my friend decided to do-he became a home roaster.
He bought a brand new home coffee roaster for about $80, then ordered green coffee beans online, and proceeded to carve out a path that he was to continue to the present day-that is of enjoying the world’s greatest coffee in every cup he drank.
When my friend first introduced me to the idea of home roasting, I was not prepared to spend about $80 on a home roasting machine. He then informed me that certain popcorn poppers would do almost as well.
That’s when I decided to check Walgreens, a nearby pharmacy, for such a machine. I found Kitchen Gourmet, a rotary style air popper there for about $9.
I must admit that it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I accomplished my first roast. I placed the popper next to the kitchen sink and about three and a half minutes later, the coffee beans were done, roasted to a beautiful medium brown color, just awaiting to be ground and brewed for the most perfect cup of coffee that you can imagine.