Coffee Hero

A royal screwup led to my first major home-roasting success.

I’ve used several Westbend Poppery machines to roast coffee. I’ve roasted with some form of a Westbend in Tampa Bay, Northern Virginia, San Diego and now Seattle. Paul from the Caffination is using his Poppery in Philadelphia. Alex is roasting with his in Cape Cod.  Ryan, who resides in Columbus, also has [...]

My safety net is gone. Last week, I ground and brewed the last of the professionally-roasted coffee beans in my home. Waiting in the on-deck circle are five pound-bags of green, unroasted beans.

Surprises are always in store a novice coffee home-roaster, but nothing prepared me for the creatures that swarmed my fourth-ever home-roast.   My first home-roasting experience was a certified fiasco, and the second one had its bumps as well.  But yesterday, my fourth attempt finally produced the dark-roast I craved.  That’s not the reason I’ll remember [...]

I started home roasting coffee in June 1998.  Since then I’ve used a number of different roasters and methods.  I’ll be the first to confess that I haven’t kept up on all the different machines available to home coffee roasters.  What I have learned is the most important factors to consider when buying your first [...]