Do It Yourself Coffee

Before we got this wonderful news of these 2 delightful girls (that may be ours! :O),  I was on a DIY kick (thanks to Pinterest and some friends I'm talking to on Facebook).  I decided to save money on our coffee beans and have fun too.   I've been doing this a few weeks now, but haven't blogged about it yet.

I bought green coffee beans (and technically it is not a bean, it is a seed) from Sweet Marias.  www.sweetmarias.com   And I followed their instructions on using a air popcorn popper as a roaster.  I bought Sumatra and Espresso green beans by the pound and it was $5 - $6 per pound.  I didn't get enough for free shipping but I will next time.

Here is the main thing about roasting...you have to watch and listen for 2 cracking sounds.  The 1st one is louder and happens pretty quickly.  The 2nd crack sounds are later and softer.  The 1st time I didn't roast long enough, I just made it to the 1st crack.  The coffee almost had a taste of fruit juice!  But I didn't let it rest a few days, like they recommended, I just tried it the next day.

Now, I'm going for longer roasts.  Today I roasted some Sumatra for 12 minutes.  I wonder if that is too long.  But I have some Sumatra from the grocery store and theirs is darker, so I think I'm OK (I'll post an update).  I will try it tomorrow, even thought it still needs to rest longer for the best flavors to come out.  Also roasted some Espresso longer than I have in the past.  I think I like a dark roast, where it gets rid of the acidic aftertaste.

I keep the roasted beans in mason jars and label them with the date and description, and how long I roasted.  This is fun, and it tastes better, and saves money.      

you can see the beans swirling around, chaff flying this is during the 1st crack.  It doesn't smell like coffee yet at all.   Later on during the 2nd crack, a little smoke comes out and the beans get much darker but it is hard to tell when to stop.  

this is damp paper towel, catching the chaff , you can't help but think of Psalm 1 as you see the chaff blowing away, it has a purpose but it is not useful in the end.  

beans cooling down, these are nice and dark, the darkest I've done so far

I'm also making our own Greek style yogurt (hopefully the girls will like that as they adjust to a new culture when they come over here).  And I'm making our own granola.  And I'm making my own laundry detergent, will also post about these later.  Next on the horizon is I want to use a sourdough starter for my bread.  I think it will be healthier than yeast.  So, I guess you could say we have some things growing over here.