I look forward to roasting the week’s coffee.
Even as I sit on the deck steps and watch the chaff fly out of the roaster I feel connected with other places. The smell of the green beans warming up brings a host of un-coffee-like aromas that range from grassy to nutty. I smell the sun’s warm influence on the seeds.
I like to imagine the life of the coffee before it arrives in my house. Sometimes it has goat hair or pebbles that have come along on the journey in burlap bags. I can see it being transported by primitive means and dried in the sun on concrete slabs.
As the beans brown and make distinct cracking sounds I can smell the deeper carbony qualities created by carmelized sugars. The Guatemalan beans always remind me of dark bitter chocolate and those from Africa are more sharp, pungent and fruity.
After the second chorus of tinkling cracks I shut off the roaster and pour them into a wire mesh colander. They let off a trail of blueish smoke and hint at the smell of the coffee that they will become.
After a day or two in sealed glass jars I loosen the lid to release a heady burp-hiss of coffee infused C02.
I roasted nine tiny batches of coffee today and I will probably smell like it all weekend. It’s okay with me. I can’t stop doing it. To let some robot roast it hundreds of miles away would mean paying twice as much for a single sensory experience. And, no goat hair or chaff flying around… where’s the advantage?
This jar lid has been re-labeled for different coffees several times. It’s starting to look like a passport or a postage stamp.
Does anyone else see a figure hidden among the beans?
The beans, safely off-gassing in their jar.
Wow, one of my favorite posts so far! This post should be official literature for homeroasting evangelism.
BTW, i’ve recently joined the co-op and brought along 3 friends…with money tight and coffee back on the menu it was the obvious thing to do.
Keep Edibles–edible.
Beautiful and so true. Along with the economic benefits, you get real direct coffee education by experience, and more importantly, you get fabulous coffee. Better than anywhere else. Thanks for putting it in words.