Yes, with a little common sense and a little bit of a guide, you can roast our organic green coffee beans at home for great tasting Kona coffee!
Prepare: (1) Do it outside or at least on a porch or area where the smoke and chaff will not cause you problems; (2) determine what amount of coffee will fit in the roaster unit you have before you start; (3) have a tool such as a wooden spoon to dip out samples if that is possible with your device; (4) have a place to put the coffee after it has reached the stage of roast you want; the coffee under the best circumstances should be cooled down fast or it might over roast from the point you remove it from heat; a wire strainer or similar where the beans can lay without falling thru but be subjected to air to cool would be one idea; (5) a small fan that can be directed toward your roasting device and/or the cooling beans may be very useful; (6) set aside about 30 minutes and pick a time you can pay attention without being distracted or interrupted; (7) have a used coffee pouch that has the zip top intact and preferably one with a one way air valve; otherwise a nice clean glass jar with a good lid; whatever you put your coffee into the coffee will degas and if it is put into a bag that cannot pass the vapors outward expect the bag to swell after the beans are put inside; (8) if you have some existing Kona Coffee that you like, have a teaspoon available to look at to compare your roast to the “target roast” visually; if you have no roasted beans look on the internet for color charts or at least get some broad concept of the color you want your beans to be when you stop your roast.
If you just want to experiment, a cheap air driven popcorn popper will work fine. These are often seen at thrift stores or yard sales for a couple of bucks.
If you think you want to do this a lot and want a device that will set temperatures and roast times and “run the program” we have had very good results with the iRoast. You just press a button and off it goes. Also these home made roasters usually have a top that fits to collect the chaff which can cut down on the fallout from roasting.
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First, coffee when roasted will smoke and the outer layer of skin will flake off and fly into the air.
You will need to know something about what roasted coffee looks like from looking at some roasted coffee you have already, notice the color especially. If you have no coffee to look at there are color roasting charts to be found on the web. You definitely want dark brown, not a medium or light brown look and you do not want to go too far dark either.
You can roast with better results outdoors because the smoke and outer hull flakes will not be as disturbing. A small floor fan set a few feet from your roaster might be a very good idea to blow the smoke and chaff away.
You will not usually roast a lot at a time, maybe 1/2 cup. If you are using a popcorn popper or a home roaster there may be guidelines on the fill cup that say “MAX LEVEL”, you should observe those limits. Otherwise if you are using a device that heats with hot air and there is no line marker, look at your instructions or look on the internet for the instructions. You need to know the amount you should put in.
If you intend to use a frying pan or another method, I have no particular knowledge of those ways -- but again many people have taken the time to write and document and you probably can find some hints or recipes already out there in cyberspace.
For air corn poppers and small home roasters that are just “on and off” you will need to turn the unit on and let it heat just a moment. Pour the measure of green coffee into the hopper. If there is a chaff collector or top, put that on. This will take some moments before anything will be very obvious, the first thing you may notice is that the beans start to turn the color of cardboard and then a bit darker. Flakes of coffee skin will curl and fly out. You will smell a distinct smoke and those further away may start to smell “roasted coffee” before you do.
For these manual roast devices, your objective is to hear the “popping” or what is officially called “the crack”. This “first crack” is usually hard to miss because it continues for a good minute or so. When this first crack occurs, you will likely experience much more of the chaff blowing up and away -- this is a rather exciting time because so many things are happening all at once. Just concentrate on the color of the beans and pay attention to whether there is “popping” or cracking and if there is smoke.
Nothing is written in stone as all the roasting parameters are so variable from time to time and machine to machine. If your humidity is high, if the beans have not been kept properly stored, if you put too many beans into the cooker, all these things can and will affect the roast time.
Some people like to roast by temperature but it is unlikely that your device has a thermometer and even if it did that is an art and science in and of itself. Your thermometer place in your location may be totally different in readings from a friend who has his thermometer placed different and more in or out, etc.
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Your main objective is to detect the first crack. Which is a time when most coffee will smoke a lot and you will hear a continuous series of popping noises. If your device allows you to put a wooden spoon in to pull up a few beans to look at do so. The beans should have an overall brown cast during this first crack.
Let the first crack go thru its cycle. The next crack will occur fairly soon and this is not the time to be distracted or not paying close attention.
Anything past the first crack will be drinkable and many people actually like this light medium roast. It has a real kick of caffeine and if you have not tried a light roast you might be surprised how smooth yet potent it is.
Usually a moment after the first crack, but could be anywhere from half a minute to several minutes -- When you hear 6 or 7 distinct pops after the first crack sequence, you are in the second crack. If you can see your beans and they look a few shades darker than first crack, you may have a very desirable roast. For the most part, a minute into this second crack should be as far as you would want to venture if you are not sure about the color of the beans and you have not had experience with your roaster before. If you take the beans out at this point and your machine proves to have under roasted, next time you can add some more time here. But too dark a roast will take the Kona Coffee profile flavor away and as well you will be burning volume and the potency of the caffeine.
If you insist on going further, check with your wooden spoon several times a minute. If you see oil on the bean you are about as far as you should venture.
If you hear no more cracks you’d best get your coffee out before it burns.
When you decide to stop roasting this is no time to stall. Get the coffee out and try to cool it down. Coffee does not stop roasting just because you remove it from the heat source. When you have the desired roast it is in the roasting device. You then dump it from the device and should try to cool the beans down fast. A small sifter or strainer might work very well for a small batch of coffee. Remember these beans are hot like kernels of pop corn would be so avoid touching them directly.
Once you have cooled your beans down, put them into some container that can breathe. If you have an old coffee pouch that has the one-way air valve that would be an excellent way to store your roasted beans.
Allow the beans to sit for about 48 hours. Then you have the freshest prime beans possible. Grind just what you need, as soon as you grind you are opening up more surface to get stale faster.
If you use a more complex home roaster with dials and settings, consult the instructions and go from there. Cool down is still a good idea, and just because you use a more automated device does not preempt letting the beans sit and degas for the best flavor.