First Time Roasting Coffee

Green / unroasted coffee beans

It really was as easy as everyone assured me it'd be. The hardest part of roasting my own coffee was finding green (unroasted) coffee beans at a reasonable price. Locally grown Kona beans run $13 - $25 per pound; more than I want to pay while I'm still learning. Plenty of places sell high quality green beans starting at about $5 per pound, but then only offer 2-day air shipping. There's no way I'm paying $25 to ship five bucks in beans!

Fortunately, Dean's Beans ships their organic, fair trade beans in flat rate USPS boxes, up to five pounds for $10.35. I ordered their Mexican green beans ($4.50/lb), described as, "Large and smooth, make for easy roasting. Mellow and sweet, slightly acidic. This is such a well-rounded cup, good for any time of the day."

I roasted this first batch in the oven. Other methods offers more even roasting, but also require more in the way of equipment. I wanted as simple as possible for an inaugural batch.

Oven roasted coffee

I am by no means a coffee roasting expert, although I've drank more than my fair share. Hopefully my notes will communicate how easy the process is, and encourage you to research and roast your own.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. While it comes up to temp, spread beans evenly on a cookie sheet, fairly close together. I was able to fit 3/4 lb. on a medium cookie sheet. Once the oven is hot, roast the beans, stirring them with a wooden spoon every two minutes. I noticed the beans around the perimeter of the pan darkened faster, so I worked those in to the center as I stirred. The more you stir, the more consistent your roast will be, but it's harder to keep the oven at full temperature.

After about 8 minutes, the beans will make a quiet popping sound as their moisture escapes. You can see them shift and roll in the pan as they pop. This is known as "first crack," and indicates an internal temperature of about 400 degrees. At this point the beans may smoke quite a bit, and you'll see the skins of the beans peel off and float around. This is all normal. My first crack occurred at 13 minutes, which makes me think I let too much heat out while stirring.

Viennese roast, before removing chaff

The popping will settle down for a few minutes, then start up again. "Second crack" is the one that tells you your roasting is nearly complete. The beans are now at ~425 degrees, and roasted to a medium brown "City" style roast. I kept going about 3 minutes longer until I could see some of the beans begin to look oily, the equivalent of a Viennese roast. Once they were at a color I thought looked appealing, I removed the beans to a colander and swirled them around to cool them and separate and chaff. Your beans are done!

I've heard mixed opinions on how soon you should brew freshly roasted beans. There was a coffee roaster in Madison, Wisconsin who swore that beans were at their best within the first thirty minutes of roasting, and noticeably different after just half a day. Others say you should wait a day for the beans to fully develop their flavors. I was impatient and brewed a pot as soon as the beans were cool.

I immediately noticed that freshly roasted coffee has a brighter taste and is more aromatic. The color of the brew was on the light side, but the proportions were correct for a full flavored cup. Small amounts of volatile oils were visible floating on the surface. This first batch was an unqualified success!

I did notice that the coloration of my final beans varied slightly, due to the challenge of constantly circulating beans in an oven. Next roast, I think I'll attempt the air popper method, which promises more consistency but without investing in specialized (expensive!) roasters.

Related links:

→ Sweet Maria's offers a wealth of home roasting tips and supplies. This was the site that was first recommended to me by fellow roasters. It appears they may offer affordable shipping options now, but they didn't when I needed it most.
→ The temperature and color chart at Seven Bridges Cooperative helped me know where to aim with my roast.
→ Dean's Beans provides organic, fair trade green beans along with reasonable Hawaii shipping options and friendly service.