popcorn coffee.

did you know you can roast your own coffee in an air popper?
it's true. my friend rebecka went to a class on it a few months ago, and i was telling carol about it last week (larry and carol are the owners of the house i live in and they are here right now for a month or so) and she was intrigued. so i asked rebecka to come over and show carol how it's done. at the last minute i also called my friend kate, who has been interested in learning how to do it as well, so the four of us had a little coffee roasting demo ala rebecka.

she came very prepared... it was like sitting through a class that was both interesting and hands on.


there were even handouts for the students...okay, here's what you need... a popcorn air popper, two metal strainers and a box with the side cut out for the stuff that comes off the beans when they first start roasting.


we talked about beans quite a bit and their physical and chemical properties, which sounds a bit dorky, but really, when you understand how the beans are made up, then you can understand how to roast them better. the first thing to do is hunt for any small rocks that may have made it into the bag of green coffee beans. coffee is still picked by people... and no coffee grinder wants to try to grind up a rock that made it in the coffee pickers basket accidentally.

no rocks, so here we go. rebecka showed how much to put in and how to get them going in a circular motion using the air in the popper.

and the timing begins.
yep. timing. roasting is not only an art form, but a science. once the beans start heating there's chaff that comes off, and there's an amount of time that passes before you hear the "first crack" of the beans. i can't remember exactly what creates that first crack, but i know it's the first of two cracks. each is subtle and sounds a little different from the other, but it's important to know when the first crack is heard and the second crack is heard.

rebecka meticulously keeps track of all this information in a lab book so she can replicate the blends and roasts she likes the best. impressive for a basement operation.
okay, there's time to chat as the coffee roasts, but not much. all in all i think the whole process was about 8 or 9 minutes. and coffee roasting is a multi-sensory activity. as time passes the beans sound different, look different and smell different. i love the first smell of the beans... it's like caramel or something. then after the second crack (which sounds more like a crackle) it starts to smell like coffee.


okay, there's our beans that are just about done, but as soon as you cut power to the popper you have to start cooling them fast. rebecka does this using two metal strainers and pours them from one to the other to get lots of air inbetween them and cool them down. once mostly cooled, we set them on a marble slate stone to cool in a single layer.
happy coffee!!!
and happy friends who woke up to grind and drink the freshest coffee ever! seriously, it was probably the most fragrant coffee grinding smell the next morning that i had ever smelled. yummmmm. carol and i sure enjoyed our cups, and kate told me later she and greg enjoyed theirs as well. they also commented on how good it smelled when they ground it.

gotta love DIY portlanders.