This post is CAFFEINATED which means it is about COFFEE…..Ohh!! Yes, let me drop some knowledge. We’re going to start with the basics and talk about roasting coffee. This post is not about roasting, like insulting people for laughs. I know nothing about that. It’s about how roasting coffee beans determines how the coffee tastes. THE TASTE!
Roasting…what’s the difference between my light and dark roasts? Why does the difference in roasts matter? Allow me to explain, dahling, and in layman’s terms.
What happens upon roasting:
- When you roast coffee, sugars are caramelized
- Beans gain that body, flavor, sweetness, and complexity we look for
See more about beans and roasting levels here. The image below is from the same source.
Yes, there is a lot more science to it. No, it doesn’t matter unless you’re a coffee snob. You can do this!
Timing:
- Don’t roast too long or the beans burn
- “Very badly burned coffee tastes like old sneakers left on the radiator”* (I love a humorous simile)
- The longer the roast, “the darker the color and the deeper and less bright the taste”*
- Time how long it takes to get the shade and flavor you want. Recreate that with the same batch of green beans by stopping at the same time.
What you want:
- An even roasting, where the beans are heated evenly during the roasting process
- Roast until the coffee: a. smells like the sack, smells like bread (get back to the machine!), or begins to crackle (which means the moisture from within the bean is forced out, expanding the bean and making the snap or crackle sound; so, get ready to turn your machine off!)
- Take them out! Sitting in the roaster, the beans will keep roasting and lose their taste. I won’t say more, but the oils need to stabilize, man!
At-home coffee-roasting machines and methods:
- The oven
- The stove
- A hot-air popcorn popper
- Electric home roaster
- Fluid bed: hot air is forced into the chamber, causing the beans to rise up, and get evenly roasted (like a hot-air popcorn popper)
- Drum: hot air is forced through a screen and the heat transfers to all of the beans
Linked below are two electric home roasters I recommend:
*Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing, and Enjoying by Kenneth Davids