What’s the best way to enjoy your morning coffee? Roasting your coffee beans yourself obviously! It is fun, easy and absolutely delicious if you are a complete coffee fanatic. The beauty of this entire process is that you are able to create the same or possibly an even better coffee experience than the one you have at a shop, in the comfort of your own home.
Whatever method you use to roast your own coffee, we guarantee that our Coffee Roasting Equipment is the best and that you will be enjoying your perfect cup of coffee in no time.
The basic process of roasting coffee involves using heat to turn your raw, green coffee beans into golden brown roasted coffee beans, ready for grinding. Roasting time may vary according to the method, the batch and the batch’s size. On average you can expect the process to take about 10 minutes for smaller batches and 15 minutes for larger ones. It’s so simple, anyone can do it.
RYO Coffee can help you with selecting the right coffee beans for you, while advising you on major differences in flavour between the different regions and how to ensure a relatively even roast.
Did you know coffees differ from one climatic region to the other? For example an Ethiopian coffee will not have the same taste as a Colombian coffee due to climate variations.
Different roasts result in different cup flavour, so it is important to understand the different stages of roasting in order to come up with your personalised flavour. At the end of the day your coffee should be as unique as you are!
As you begin to heat the coffee beans, they will remain greenish tone for the first few minutes, then turn yellowish colour and emit a popcorn smell. At higher heats, the beans will then start to steam as the water content inside them dissipates. Soon enough you’ll hear the first few cracks, commonly known as ‘first crack’. At this point, you will know that the real roasting is happening. The structure of the bean begins to break down and oils, as well as bound-up water will be released from their little pockets.
After the first crack, the beans start to take on their origin flavour and the roast can be considered complete at any time depending on one’s taste and the flavour you are trying to achieve. The cracking is your signal together with the colour change and smell that tells you what stage your roasted coffee is at. As the browning-of-sugar continues and oils migrate, the bean begins to expand in size and the roast becomes noticeably darker. When the second crack occurs, that is the point at which the roasted coffee beans begin to start to lose their origin character and take on a more bitter flavour. This is a gradual process though. Remember that the earlier you stop the roasting process the grassier or sour the coffee could taste, and the later you do it, the more bitter it will taste.
If you keep roasting past this ‘second crack’ stage, the bean structure will disintegrate further. You will then reach the dark roast stage when the smoke is more pungent and sugars burn off completely – welcome to a French roast.
The best coffee is the one you roast yourself! By roasting your own coffee, you are able to control the roast to your favourite flavour of the day, week or month. Every morning you can have the pleasure of changing the taste of your coffee according to your mood.