Wake Up to Fresh Aroma: Pan-Roast Your Own Coffee Beans
Are you tired of drinking store-bought coffee that tastes bland and stale? Why not try pan-roasting your own coffee beans at home? Not only is it a fun and rewarding process, but it also allows you to customize your coffee to your taste preferences. Plus, the aroma of freshly roasted coffee will make your mornings even more perfect. You really don’t know coffee until you roast it yourself. And you dont need any special equipment to have this experience.
===DIY Coffee: How to Pan-Roast Your Beans at Home
First things first, you’ll need to buy some green coffee beans. The best place to get them is from a local coffee shop or online. Make sure to get high-quality beans. I recommend getting them shipped from Sweet Marias. Next, heat up a pan on medium-high heat. Cast iron works best, but any heavy-bottomed pan will do. Once the pan is hot, add your green coffee beans and stir them around constantly with a wooden spoon. You’ll start to hear cracking sounds as the beans heat up.
After a few minutes, the coffee beans will start to turn brown and release a fragrant aroma. This is when you can start to experiment with different roast levels. If you prefer a lighter roast, take the beans off the heat when they’re light brown. The more you roast them, the less caffeine. Really you have to learn to recognize the sound, the color and the smell. But the most accurate is sound. First crack (the point at which you can drink without losing your mind) sounds like popcorn. Second crack is like pouring milk on rice krispies. Dont let them get black, thats going too far (French roast), and your coffee is pretty much obliterated. I prefer to barely get into second crack if at all. Once you’ve reached your desired roast level, remove the pan from the heat and transfer the beans to a colander. Shake the colander to remove any excess chaff, which is the papery skin that comes off the beans during roasting. There are many ways to cool the coffee – I’ve seen Ethiopians flicking water from their hands into it, making it sizzle. I used a colander sitting on a bucket (with a hole cut in the lid) and run a shopvac into the bottom of the bucket (sucking hot air out). Fast and effective. Keep in mind the beans will need to de-gas the c02 so do not seal them in anything for at least 6 hours.
Feel free to grind and drink it immediately. That’s how Ethiopians do it. And they know what they are doing. I prefer to drink some right away, let the rest sit for 6 hours, then seal in an Airscape container.
Pan-roasting your own coffee beans is a simple and enjoyable process that can elevate your coffee-drinking experience. Not only does it allow you to customize your coffee to your taste preferences, but it also gives you the satisfaction of making something from scratch. So, the next time you’re in the mood for a cup of coffee, try pan-roasting your own beans and enjoy the fresh aroma and flavor.
