Roasting your own coffee

Is anyone on here into roasting their own coffee? I'm big into wine and spirits but am looking to get into "fine coffee." It seems like roasting your own is the way to go. I'm looking for a way to get started; a good website, magazine, book, or whatever will teach me about coffee and how to do it right. Thanks guys.

my friend Dave roasts his own beans and swears by it. I haven't tried the results yet but I'd love to give it a shot. I don't know what resources he used to get info - but I know he uses a popcorn machine to roast them, apparently the result is much better than a toaster oven.

That's a very good place to start learning about coffee : http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums There is also a sub-forum about home roasting : http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/homeroast

Great. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Despos

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www.sweetmarias.com

Beat me to it.

I have a Gene Cafe roaster. It's OK. I had to replace the heating element after about two years of use and also broke the glass roasting chamber once (don't drink and roast ). I usually buy my green beans in bulk from SweetMarias. Whichever roaster you choose to go with you will need a way to deal with smoke. I roast in the garage. If you roast indoors you'll need to do it under a powerful exhaust fan or vent to the outside somehow.

This is just my opinion (sorry): While the smell of coffee in a bag and brewing is sublime, the smell of roasting coffee is putrid and offensive. I just don't see how it's worth the trouble. The only reason that I'm being a downer in this thread is that the smell of roasting coffee should be taken into consideration before taking the leap.

My buddy swears by the FreshRoast SR500, costs about $150, he says it is the best coffee he has ever tried. He buys his beans green and roasts about 4 days supply at a time. says his coffee lasts longer, I am thinking about picking up a machine and trying it. Seems like you can get into this without a lot of money, unlike an espresso machine or grinder, both of which can get real costly real quick.

So, what are you planning to do with the coffe beans without a grinder?

You can get a good grinder for 150$.
You can get a decent espresso machine for 150$.



b1os said:

So, what are you planning to do with the coffe beans without a grinder?
You can get a good grinder for 150$.
You can get a decent espresso machine for 150$.

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Everytime I have spent $150 for an espresso machine it is been junk, either it made crap coffee or it burned out in 2-3 months. I have resigned myself to saving for much more expensive machine and a good grinder to go with it. I have a good enough grinder to do drip coffee style in a standard coffee maker.

Wha? Every time? Like how often?

You can get a used Gaggia CC for that money (or even less if you find some semi-defect one that can easily be fixed). It's neither junk, nor will it make crap espressi, nor will it burn out in 2-3 months.

What I'm trying to say is that if you really want an espresso machine, why not put those 150$ aside and save up for the machine and grinder first (say 700$ because you want something around the Silvia) and then see whether you want to roast your own beans. You can do it vice versa too though, totally up to you of course.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if your buddy consumes the roasted beans in four days, they won't even have gassed out.



b1os said:

Wha? Every time? Like how often?
You can get a used Gaggia CC for that money (or even less if you find some semi-defect one that can easily be fixed). It's neither junk, nor will it make crap espressi, nor will it burn out in 2-3 months.
What I'm trying to say is that if you really want an espresso machine, why not put those 150$ aside and save up for the machine and grinder first (say 700$ because you want something around the Silvia) and then see whether you want to roast your own beans. You can do it vice versa too though, totally up to you of course.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if your buddy consumes the roasted beans in four days, they won't even have gassed out.

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Oh yeah, I hear you, agree with you, machine and grinder are coming first, I am just looking down the road on the roaster, think it would fun to start playing around with it at some point, but after the machine and good grinder

Oh, then I misunderstood you. Get a Silvia though!



b1os said:

Oh, then I misunderstood you. Get a Silvia though!

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Yep, I am already planning on sinking some cash into one, and it is your fault from the espresso maker thread