Category: Beans

Coffee starts out as berries which turn red when they are ripe for the picking. Usually, these berries are hand-picked and then brought to a machine that separates the pulp from the beans. The green coffee beans are then washed thoroughly and prepared for roasting. Some producers of coffee beans do not roast their green coffee beans but sell them ready for roasting. This is because some individuals prefer to roast their own green coffee beans in their homes or some coffee companies prefer to do their own roasting to be able to control the way the coffee beans are prepared.

How To Roast Green Coffee Beans At Home

Commercial roasters use commercial methods to roast green coffee beans. The length of time that the coffee beans are exposed to roasting dictates how strong the coffee flavour is. Shorter roasting time allows the coffee beans to retain the flavour that specifies where they are grown and produced, such as Hawaiian Kona, Blue Mountain Jamaica, Kenya and Java. If the green coffee beans are roasted for a longer period of time, they lose their intrinsic natural flavour indicative of their origin. Instead, coffee beans roasted for a longer period of time become more full bodied and darker.

Initial roasting time for some coffee drinkers is seven minutes. This kind of roast achieves a light roast wherein the green coffee beans double in size and the flavour achieved is somewhat sour or grassy. Around nine to eleven minutes of roasting, the coffee beans achieve medium roast. This kind of roast gives coffee drinkers a sweeter roast compared to the light roast. The flavour is more full bodied also. In both light and medium roast, the green coffee beans are still dry and just slightly browned. They have not excreted the oil that usually comes out in the darker roasts at these times.

After about 12 – 13 minutes of roasting, the green coffee beans will have turned a slightly darker brown compared to the earlier roasts. At this point in the roasting process, the beans will have started to poop and turn a little bit shiny due to the oils escaping the surface. This dark roast has a richer body and can also be a bit spicy or chocolaty in flavour. After 14 minutes of roasting, the darkest roast is achieved. This tastes primarily of roasted coffee beans rather then the inherent flavours of a specific bean. The green coffee beans at this time are now a very dark brown colour and are oily to touch.

Roasting your very own green coffee beans can be very satisfying for those looking for the perfect cup of coffee according to their tastes.