Food & Drink
Coffee Roasting
The thirty seconds after first crack decide whether this batch is sour or bitter
Green beans cost far less than roasted, and a hand basket over a stove starts you off before any machine. The beans turn yellow, then brown, and colour plus the sounds they make is all you have to go on; early batches usually go too far. A roast then rests two or three days to degas, so today’s work cannot be tasted today. Smoke and chaff: use a balcony.
First stepBuy a small bag of green beans, roast a little batch in a pan or hand-cranked drum on the balcony, stop after first crack, and brew it two days later.
Barriers
Cost to start
Under $50
Going deep → $2k–10k
Alone or with people
On your own
Effort
Light
Without a teacher?
Self-taught
One session takes
1–2 hours
Where
At home
Why people take it up