Making Coffee
Oct. 9th, 2005 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsI've been making coffee. Not just brewing it, but starting from raw beans (an Ethiopian harvest) and turning it into real coffee. Since I've had pleasant success with it, I've decided to try and write down what I'm doing.
Most people own a colander, a wooden spoon, and measuring cup. Other than that, the only extra tool you need is a popcorn popper, the air kind. If you already own one and enjoy using it for its intended purpose, don't use it to roast coffee! The coffee oils will become a part of the popper and you'll never get the smell out, which is okay. Go to a second-hand store and buy a used one. They're usually only about three bucks.
The one I use takes about a half-cup of beans, and I made two batches this afternoon. Yes, I keep a fire extinguisher at hand although I've never needed it. And yes, this is done out on my porch because roasting coffee puts out a lot of smoke.
Start up the popper and let it run for a minute until it's warm. Then pour in a half-cup of green coffee beans. They'll dance around as you can see in the above photo. The chimney on my popper is too short and the beans tend to pop out, especially later as the roasting becomes more energetic, so I sometimes cover the chimney with a spoon. It's a good idea to have a long-handled wooden spoon (it must be wooden, for all the usual reasons); you can counter-stir the beans in the popper and check their progress. It usually takes only about eight to ten minutes.
At first, a lot of chaff flies off. That's the skin of the bean. Then the roast settles down and smoke begins to come out. After a time, the roast becomes energetic and it becomes necessary to restrain them with the spoon. You'll hear a cracking sound and the beans will become glossy, almost oily looking. And that is oil. That's the essential flavor, and this process releases it, making the coffee suitable for drinking. Once you see the oil, you can let it go from light roast to dark roast.
When it's the color you want, pour it into the colander and stir, fast. You want the cooking to stop, so you need to cool it down as quickly as possible. Store in a cool, dark place (I use a large amber kitchen bottle). Grind and drink within a week or two. It's really quite good, and you may never have to go to Starbucks again.
Most people own a colander, a wooden spoon, and measuring cup. Other than that, the only extra tool you need is a popcorn popper, the air kind. If you already own one and enjoy using it for its intended purpose, don't use it to roast coffee! The coffee oils will become a part of the popper and you'll never get the smell out, which is okay. Go to a second-hand store and buy a used one. They're usually only about three bucks.
The one I use takes about a half-cup of beans, and I made two batches this afternoon. Yes, I keep a fire extinguisher at hand although I've never needed it. And yes, this is done out on my porch because roasting coffee puts out a lot of smoke.
Start up the popper and let it run for a minute until it's warm. Then pour in a half-cup of green coffee beans. They'll dance around as you can see in the above photo. The chimney on my popper is too short and the beans tend to pop out, especially later as the roasting becomes more energetic, so I sometimes cover the chimney with a spoon. It's a good idea to have a long-handled wooden spoon (it must be wooden, for all the usual reasons); you can counter-stir the beans in the popper and check their progress. It usually takes only about eight to ten minutes.
At first, a lot of chaff flies off. That's the skin of the bean. Then the roast settles down and smoke begins to come out. After a time, the roast becomes energetic and it becomes necessary to restrain them with the spoon. You'll hear a cracking sound and the beans will become glossy, almost oily looking. And that is oil. That's the essential flavor, and this process releases it, making the coffee suitable for drinking. Once you see the oil, you can let it go from light roast to dark roast.
When it's the color you want, pour it into the colander and stir, fast. You want the cooking to stop, so you need to cool it down as quickly as possible. Store in a cool, dark place (I use a large amber kitchen bottle). Grind and drink within a week or two. It's really quite good, and you may never have to go to Starbucks again.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 12:24 am (UTC)Two questions: One, would it help to have some sort of airflow into the cooling beans, or is the metal colander a big enough heat sink?
Two, where is a good place to get raw beans? And how would you keep the raw ones? same way you do the cooked ones?
no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 03:13 am (UTC)As for where, well, Vivace's sells them, but then they encourage home roasting. Whole Foods market sold them the one time I was there, and there's another place on Capitol Hill, the name of which now escapes me. And there's a coffee importer inside Pike Place Market.
I asked and found that Costco will sell you green beans, and they have a good variety, but their minimum purchase is something like five pounds, this being Costco.
Green beans will actually last longer than roasted. The roasting process is a chemical one and the flavor oils begin to break down quickly once you've brought them to the surface. Roasted beans become noticably stale about a week after you've done it, but green beans will last several months.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 03:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 12:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 02:52 am (UTC)And the process of Decaffination involves liquid CO2.
http://www.coffeeresearch.org/science/decaffeination.htm
no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 05:06 am (UTC)None of them are particularly viable for home brewing. As for buying decaf green beans, you just have to know where to look. As with finding the process, Google is your friend.
Alas, I don't seem to be able to find any decaf green beans here in town. But they are orderable.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 04:46 am (UTC)Yum... I'm looking forward to the morning's first cup!