I wouldn’t bother home roasting unless you’re actually obsessed with coffee.
I am, but this seems like one more step that has time as well as trial & error involved, I’m not so sure it’s worth it. I decided the same thing with yogurt making–not worth the hassle over the savings.
A big fan of Sweet Maria’s in Oakland for green beans and roasters. I opted for the Behmor ($300), which handles a pound with no problems. I use it in the garage, so ventilating isn’t a problem. If you have a decent kitchen fan over the oven, use that to mitigate the smoke that does come from any roasting.
Note that Sweet Maria’s sells the Behmor with 8 lbs of free greens…
http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/coffee-roasters/drum-roasters/behmor.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The payback is pretty quick, given the $6-7/lb for greens vs purchased whole bean roasts…and a quick review of the bean tasting notes on Sweet Maria’s will show that you don’t need to go whole-geek to appreciate the varieties offered…and greens last at least a year unfrozen.
5lb bag is the size of a standard size bag of flour from the grocery store. I have a pantry and the beans last for a year so storage isn’t a problem at all…
I used to brew Peet’s before I got a roaster, and the beans from Sweet Maria’s are way better (the savings is an added bonus).
I can understand it being too much of a hassle for most, especially with my model of roaster. I roast in my kitchen every other day and it’s 21 minutes full of strong smells and loud noises. But I can’t believe anyone thinking it didn’t taste that much better.
Do you roast every other day because you think the beans are stale after that long or due to limitations with the roaster?
“Much better” than what? When I go to Maine, I often get the beans when they are still warm, or at least the same day from the store I use for mailorder and in person when I’m there. I have been under the impression that beans taste their best…or make their best coffee, a couple of days after roasting, somewhat akin to letting a meat roast reincorporate the moisture after resting. So, when I order, I tell them to put it in UPS the day they roast whatever I order.
When I tried roasting, for a few months ten years ago…I never saw the benefit, and it was a huge hassle for whatever arguable benefit I found. I could see its rewards if it was a hobby or a huge passion and worth the hassle for me. (I cold smoke my own fish; make pizza from scratch in a used commericial pizza oven, but I see clear benefits in the end product from what the alternative is, and the cost.) For me, there wasn’t a benefit on any level roasting and grinding my own coffee…or making my own yoghurt or fromage blanc…or in experiencing a friend’s homemade Calvados in Normandy.
There are no absoulutes, of course, and I am only offering my perspective, given my goals, that some things are left to the pros…for me.
It’s all about doing what you find interesting. I like being able to customize the blend I’m drinking each week. Then again, I’m probably not the average consumer. I make my own butter, I get eggs from the chickens in my back yard, roast my own coffee, grow a lot of my own food, and live in a city. If you have a source for coffee that you’re happy with, there’s very little reason to switch to home roasting. The other point is that the cost savings aren’t as significant as people estimate since the coffee loses around 20% of its weight during the roasting process.
I’ve always assumed there was a loss – it’s very surprising how much water is in those dried beans! I guess a good amount is in the chaff as well. I’m going to weigh my next batch pre and post…
Roaster limitations, I’d love to be able to do a week’s worth at a time.
Coffee does need to rest after roasting, but it’s between 6 and 36 hours depending on the type of coffee (aged needing to rest the longest) then they change and decline in 2-7 days or so.
I feel that being able to buy a specific origin coffee based on detailed tasting notes (I use Sweet Maria’s) provides me with much better coffee than I can find roasted. If you can find someone who does and you are happy - stick with it. Especially if you are paying <$10/lb.
Yeah, supposedly the CO2 needs time to escape. I have tried brewing “hot” beans and it’s interesting – not bad at all.
My roaster does about 9oz at a time which usually gets us through 5 or 6 days. It says I can do batches back to back but I don’t want that much roasted coffee sitting around.
I also love Sweet Marias. What have you liked lately? Another place I’ve enjoyed beans from is Coffee Bean Corral. Doesn’t seem to be as geeky as Sweet Marias but they also have customer reviews.
We’re a big fan of Sweet Marias and home roasting. We had the cylinder type roaster (Zach and Dani’s) for a few years but the motors are too reliable over time. We switched to a Hot Top a few years and ago and it has been great:
http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/coffee-roasters/drum-roasters/hottop-roaster-basic.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You can control the roast much better with this and it seems more consistent and reliable.
If you want to get really serious about your roasts and have some money laying around:
http://www.diedrichroasters.com/index.cfm?page=HR-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
We roast about every 10 days, really no hassle at all. We keep 4 or 5 different green coffee beans around (Saluwesi, Guatemalan’s, Yirga Cheffe’s (favorite), and many others. Coffee is at it’s best from 2-3 days after roasting until about 10-14 days after roasting…then it begins to decline. We have a pretty strong exhaust fan so we blow the roasting aroma’s all over the neighborhood 
.