One hundred years ago, coffee roasting at home wasn’t so unusual. Here’s how you can make a thing of the past work today in your home.

On Wednesday, we talked about two gadgets meant to help coffee lovers get the best flavor out of every bean they brew. But it got me thinking, we spend so much time and money trying to get the most out our beans that we probably don’t think a whole lot about what’s happening to them before we buy them. What about those crucial moments in a coffee bean’s lifespan before you get it home?

We often hear coffee experts telling us that it’s the roast that’s what’s important. You can buy locally roasted coffee, but, as I found out, roasting coffee at home can be just as cost effective and rewarding.

Why roast at home

It turns out that up until World War I, most Americans roasted coffee at home rather than buying it roasted. You can blame the popularity of instant coffee during that era for ruining that one for us.

Coffee tastes best when it retains the essential oils produced naturally by the beans. These oils are lost over time as coffee’s flavor peaks between 24 hours and 7 days after it’s been roasted. When you roast green coffee beans at home, you’ll get the freshest coffee possible.

Since you can’t exactly walk down the street and buy green coffee beans to start your at-home roasting process, look for online retailers who will ship directly to your home. They’re not hard to find, nor are they expensive. In 30 seconds, I found some Costa Rican green coffee beans on Amazon that retailed for less than $8.00 (US).

How to roast at home

Coffee roasting can be a relatively low-tech experience. You basically need a heating source, a flat pan, and the willingness to stand there and stir the beans. But this doesn’t produce the most consistent roast, so at-home roasters sometimes employ popcorn poppers, heat guns normally used for stripping paint, or improvised barbeque roasters suspended over coals. In Australia, modified bread-baking machines have seen a second life as a popular roasting method.

As at-home roasting has caught on in the last few years, more and more consumer coffee roasters have hit the market. It goes without saying that these models are more expensive than improvised methods, but they will provide a more consistent roast through a built-in heating source and constant turning. Models like the HotTop Basic Coffee Roaster also let you establish a customized roast profile with the push of a button.

If you decide to purchase one of these models, keep in mind that they do produce smoke and fumes, so be prepared to take it into the backyard or another well-ventilated area. Hey, who knows, your neighbors might thank you for that delicious, just-roasted coffee smell.

I’ve only touched the surface of all that at-home coffee roasting can be. If you truly love coffee and have a little time and patience, it might just be for you.

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