I'll admit it. There is not 1 single thing that I love more than a fresh cup of coffee first thing in the morning. I will rarely turn down a cup, unless it's instant.Does that make me a coffee addict? I would not deny it.
Does it make me a coffee snob? Probably, but the word connoisseur just seems nicer.
I think the addiction turned into snobery when I decided that my coffee maker was just not good enough. I needed a machine that would freshly grind the beans and provide a superior cup of joe. So we bought an expensive machine.....but I use it everyday so I know that I've gotten my money's worth. After that, the coffee was good but still not great. What could I do to make the coffee better? Well, roast my own beans of course. I'm pretty sure at this point Mony realized that I'm losing my mind but I might as well be happy doing it.
So we purchased a coffee bean roaster...and never looked back. The process is easy, but somewhat annoying. You need to roast your beans at least 48 hrs in advance to release all the gases in order to get the best flavour. There is a lot of planning involved but the end result is so worth the trouble. The green beans are much cheaper than buying roasted coffee from a store. And you cannot beat the freshness. Keep in mind that the coffee that you buy at a grocery store, or at a Starbucks has probably been sitting there for weeks. It's stale and yet we pay so much for it.
Home roasting is kind of like making popcorn in those old kernel popping machines. It's the same process, but produces a lot more smoke. The first couple of times we used the roaster, our fire alarms went off and scared the cats. We've learned that every window and door need to be open in order to get enough circulation. The cats are still scared though and run for shelter every time we are getting ready to roast.
The green beans themselves are small and become larger as they roast. It is interesting to see the roasting process the first time. It's amazing to see how it goes from being an odd green bean to becoming a fragrant coffee bean and a beautiful shade of brown.
The whole process takes only about 4 minutes; 5 if you prefer a darker french roast.
What I love is the thought that these beans come from around the world. The cup that I am enjoying this morning came all the way from Peru. Someone in Peru picked these beans for me to enjoy and I treat them the best way I know how.
It's encouraging to think that even though water divides this world, coffee brings it together.
5 comments:
I admire your ability to write...I can almost taste the coffee after reading the long post, it is unbelievable how the beans change their color and their shape, plump up and become so shiny ...I sware that I smell coffee now !
I am columbian coffee man .coffee make from columbiaaaaaa, essseeeee good coffee.
Thank you for the best mother's day ever...was wonderful spending the afternoon with you guys and tasting the coffee that you roasted this morning... accompanied with the lemon bars that Mony made and the coffee cake that Dina made...was delicious !
Have u guys tried the blue mountain coffee beans yet? We got my parents some & they don't want to drink anything else anymore! We bought it ground for ourselves & even as very occaisional coffee drinkers, we love it cuz it's nice & mild! Hope u enjoy - had we known you roast your own beans, we would have tried to get you unroasted, mind u that may have been difficult to find in Jamaica, we didn't run into any during our travels!
I still have not tried your coffee yet. I am working my way through the Fiji coffee that my sister gave then i will open yours. I am VERY excited to try it after all the rave reviews.
Post a Comment