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That would be a hoot!

I know people who have bought all kinds of expensive roasting equipment and paid attention to detail enough to talk seriously about “fist crack,” “second crack” and the dangers of over-roasting beans.

Just think: a simple air fryer will cook enough beans for personal use!

Look up roasting technique of Union soldiers. They were issued green beans and roasted their own. Suffice to say there were no fancy mechanisms.

Then again they may have just drunk crappy coffee.

I know several people, including my nephew, who use the old style popcorn poppers with the dome lid and the “stirring “ wand/wire to roast their own coffee. Apparently the base hot plate is just the right temp and the auto stirring wand keeps it all from burning.

Careful, now! Some years back I read that the lightweight paper-like chaff from the beans can catch fire in some air poppers.

I used to roast beans in an air popper. Worked well, but you have to be careful how much you roast at a time. Put too much in and it will be too heavy for the air to circulate the beans properly. That may be the cause of the fires, Uncle Al, though I only every burnt beans to charcoal. And definitely do it outside, because the chaff blows out and gets all over. The smell is also more like charring grass than ‘yum, coffee!” With an air popper you can get a pretty dark roast, but I usually aimed for the dark side of medium.

After you roast a week’s worth of beans (2 loads through the air popper for me), you need to let them sit a day or two to off-gas before you use them or your coffee doesn’t even taste like coffee.

There are lots of ways to get a good home roast, or not so good, but unless you enjoy the process and/or go all the way down that rabbit hole it really isn’t worth it. Most beans are sold single origin, but I found that only a few were really good on their own. So then you’ve got to worry about what beans to blend together, and if they’re roasted to the same level or not, etc., etc.

I enjoyed doing it for a while, but it was just too time-consuming to keep up with for something that was only occasionally better than what you could buy pre-roasted.

And now there’s a truly world-class roastery that’s local, Onyx Coffee Labs. You can tell it’s fancy because they have ‘lab’ in their name. I splurge on their beans instead of trying to do it at home (it’s my main vice, so I justify it by not spending on other expensive vices).

Did you know that there are pour-over coffee (and Aeropress, and barista, etc.) world championships? I had no idea before I started buying their coffee, but apparently Onyx wins them and you can get the beans they use for the bargain price of $210 for 10 oz. (no, I personally have never splurged quite that much on coffee).

Upset your peaceful UK neighbors and order from Black Rifle Coffee Company, I keep hearing it’s good, but can’t be sure it’s not a deliberate statement more than a good cup of coffee.

And roasting it yourself sounds like making your own kimchi, fun for a while but ultimately not truly worth the extra effort.

Given the extra stuff that sometimes goes into my coffee I have a hard time telling what’s coffee and what’s whiskey….I mean uh, uh, uh, hazelnut flavoring, of course.

As a consumer of Black Rifle Coffee, I can attest to its great flavor. TechnoWife and I both drink Just Black- yum!

We tried the roasting deal for a couple of years, and the exotic beans and all that, but ultimately came to the same decision as DurnedYankee- too much work, not really much better.

Great-grandma used roast green beans in a cast-iron skillet on top of the stove. Medium heat, pour in the beans stir. You’ll hear them crack as they roast. When they’re almost dark enough, toss in a metal colander to cool.

Back in the 80’s we got into roasting and sort of made ourselves crazy…Fer Peet’s sake…it’s coffee. A friend drinks Folger’s brewed in an ancient GE electric percolator and it’s a darned good cuppa.

I tried BR Robusta/Arabica…what they call their “Fit Fuel” but I found the Robusta makes it a tad bitter.

I buy Kenyan AA dark roast and Mocha (Yemeni Arabica) and Java (Indonesian Arabica) medium roast and blend 1/4 Mocha Java and 3/4 Kenyan AA…for a tasty morning espresso…from Peet’s, of course. I make a large macchiato in the morning.

BTW- If you can get New Guinea Gold (Arabica) blend it in equal thirds with Kenyan AA and Mocha Java (all dark roast) IMO, pretty much the perfect blend for a double espresso in late afternoon or after a good meal.

Do youse guys perk, drip, pour-over or express your coffee?

@Durned…I still make kimchee cuz we like different kinds. Just about everything we eat is garnished with kimchee, Calabrian pepper paste, Frank’s, spicy salsa, or sriracha.