Home Roasting – Going to the Dark Side

Most coffee aficionados recommend light roasts. They say that it maintains the subtle flavors of the geographical origin in which the coffee was grown. The darker the roast is, the more the subtle flavors are roasted away.

Now let me explain some basics about roasting coffee beans. The two points of reference are the “first crack” and the “second crack.” The “first crack” marks the real beginning of the roasting process. The art of roasting is knowing when to best stop the process after the “first crack” has occurred. Stop soon after the “first crack” you have a light roast. Continue to the beginning of the “second crack” you have a medium roast. Let the beans roast after the “second crack” has begun, you have a dark roast.

I’ve been home roasting since January. The first set of beans that I began to roast and enjoy was a mixture of Kenya AA and Brazilian beans. Individually the Kenya AA beans were too “bright;” the Brazilian beans were sweet, but too boring. Together they seemed to compliment each other.

I typically roasted my blend of Kenya AA and Brazilian beans just up to the beginning  of the “second crack.” So it was basically a medium roast. I liked this roast but after a while I began to use less and less Kenya AA beans in my blend. The “brightness” of the Kenya AA started to irritate me. I liked coffee that had more flavor and richness, rather than just the sensation of brightness. Finally, I ended up with a bag of Kenya AA beans and no more Brazilian beans. So now, what to do?

This past Sunday, I decided to roast the Kenya AA beans darker than usual. I actually let the beans roast 30-45 seconds into the “second crack.” I wondered what it would taste like – burnt Starbucks coffee?

Monday morning I made myself a cup of this fresh roast.

Mmmm. The “brightness” was slightly muted, but still there. The coffee also had a nutty taste. The best thing though, was this cup of coffee was real “sticky” in my mouth. I drink my coffee black, without sugar or milk. But the stickiness of the coffee was as if I had added a tablespoon of sugar to it. Now that was a good cup of coffee!

More About Roasting Coffee Beans

I don’t have the fine skills of an experienced roaster, but with every roast, I’m getting one more step closer.

Coffee beans at different stages of roasting

So let me tell you what I know about what a roasted coffee bean looks like. The picture shows the coffee bean at different stages of being roasted.

The bean to the far left is unroasted. Unroasted beans don’t even smell like coffee. They actually stink, smelling raw.

The second bean from the left right has begun to roast, but has not even gotten to the “first crack”. At this point you should smell a slightly sweet aroma – kind of like sugar starting to caramelize.

The third bean has reached the “first crack”. The “first crack” sounds like popcorn popping, occurring around 4.5 to 5 minutes in my popcorn popper. This is where the water in the bean has finally evaporated and the bean begins to really roast. Roasting caramelizes the sugars and releases the oils found in the beans. The roasted sugars and the oils produce the wonderful aroma and flavor of the coffee.

Coffee roasting requires a sense of smell, hearing, and sight. I’m not able to monitor the temperature of the beans – so I rely on those three senses. Once you hear the “first crack” now it’s time to pay close attention (this is usually when one of my kids ask me to do something for them). Trust your nose and the color of the beans that you see. The beans start to smell like coffee after the “first crack”.

For a medium roast, I typically stop the roasting at about 8 minutes. The beans have roasted beyond the “first crack” but not to the “second crack”. The fourth bean is a sample of this. As you can see in the picture, a medium roasted bean is nicely browned, but not yet shiny – like you see in dark roasted coffee. Medium roasted coffee typically gives you the inherent taste of the beans.

If I let the beans go to about 9 minutes, you will begin the hear the start of the “second crack”. When I pour these beans out they usually continue to crack on the cookie sheet until they cool down. These beans are a medium-dark roast. I like this best for my blend of Kenya and Brazil or Sumatra.

Most coffee drinkers that I know like dark roasted coffee. They like the strong attack of their taste buds. For a dark roast I’ll let my popcorn popper go all the way up to 12 minutes. Most of the beans have reached the “second crack” by this time. The fifth bean in the picture is a dark roasted bean. It begins to shine since the oils have made its way to the surface of the bean. Starbucks likes to roast their beans pretty dark. In fact, they have a carbon taste to me. I like dark roasts, but I think I like to stop just before the carbon taste kicks in.

So that’s it. One key to roasting is knowing what the beans should look like. The difference between a medium roast and a dark roast in the popper is about 4 minutes. My 12 minute mark for a dark roast is a basic guidline. It’s still best to watch the beans, making sure they look like beans at the level of roast you want.

Roasting and Tasting with Guy

I got my green coffee beans from La Prima, a local Pittsburgh coffee roaster. I bought 2lbs of Sumatra, 1lb of Kenya, and 1lb of Brazil. I first roasted the beans on their own and tasted them.

I roasted the Sumatran coffee dark and it tasted great. It was thick and syrupy. As the coffee cooled, the taste of chocolate was left in my mouth.

I roasted the Kenyan medium. The flavor was brighter than the Sumatran and did not have the syrupy body of the Sumatran. But I liked the brightness.

I roasted the Brazilian both medium and dark. It had more body than the Kenyan and the flavor was even sweet, but it was kind of boring – not exotic like the Sumatra, not bright like the Kenya.

GUY’S BLEND – so I found that my favorite was actually roasting the Kenyan with the Brazilian. This is  what I liked drinking on the bus on my way to work. The brightness of the Kenyan made the coffee flavorful, but the sweetness and body of the Brazilian made it perfect. I did the same with Kenyan and Sumatran – even better – more exotic.

MADE A CONVERT – My friend, John, from work – you know the one who gave me his Maxwell House – he mentioned that he had an old popcorn popper and wouldn’t mind trying roasting himself. I said, I bought 2lbs of Sumatran, just take 1lb. Well he paid me for the coffee. Guess what – I told him roast it for about 12 minutes. It worked like a charm!

How to Roast Your Own Coffee

So I’ve been home roasting with my popcorn popper for 4-5 weeks. The house smells great. The coffee tastes incredible.

If you’ve been reading my posts you know that it took a little time for me to get here. But let me tell you what I now do.

1) You just have to start.

2) Go to Target and get yourself the $39.99 popcorn popper – not the $14.99 one – and begin.

3) Get some raw/unroasted/green coffee beans. I don’t know if you have a local coffee roaster who can sell you green beans, but that is where I got mine. If you don’t know where to go, send me a comment – I’ll try to hook you up somehow.

3) Pour in about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of beans. You can follow the directions of the popcorn popper and put in as much coffee beans as you would have put popcorn.

4) Turn the popper on. Turn on a count-up timer.

5) Just watch the beans change color. There will be a little smoke – nothing like my oven encounters. Keep the popcorn popper near your sink, where the chaff can blow.

6) Around the 4.5 to 5 minute mark, you’ll begin to hear the beans start to crack – just like popcorn popping. Now the fun begins.

7) For a medium roast – I turned the popper off at 8 minutes; poured the beans onto a cool cookie sheet or casserole dish; then shook the beans around to cool.

For a dark roast – I kept the beans going until about 12 minutes; poured the beans onto a cool cookie sheet or a casserole dish; then shook the beans around to cool.

9) Let the roasted beans sit for at least 4 hours – to release any CO2 – otherwise the coffee may taste a little too acidic.

10) Grind the beans and make yourself a delicious cup of coffee.