DIY Coffee Roasting 101

I have been wanting to try roasting my own coffee

beans, for the experience, and to see if I could notice much of a difference between fresh roasted beans and store bought beans.

Equipment:

1 $10 popcorn air popper, purchased from CVS on clearance.

1 extension cord, to allow outdoor roasting

1/2 lb green Sumatra coffe beans, from local coffee store.~$5.00

Procedure:

I poured about 5 tbsp of green coffee beans into the popper and ran it while watching the color and listenign for the "crack". The beans started cracking about 4 minutes into the cycle, and had turned a nice medium brown color by about 4 minutes. I dumped them out on a sheet to cool.As the beans roasted, chaff (the skin of the coffee

beans) popped

up out of popcorn machine and floated away.

Results:

The beans are not as uniform as I would like, perhaps because I put a little too many in the popper. As a result, some of them got more cooked, as they rotated in the middle bottom of the pot, while the ones in the top middle of the pot probably cooked less.

After I ground the beans, I got an excellent fresh coffee aroma.

I brewed using my Bodum French press. The

result has a very robust, earth

y flavor. There is a slight "soapy" flavor, which I think may come from some of the under-roasted beans.