How to roast coffee at home (in 69 words).

Here's the lightning fast guide to making great coffee at home:

Why roast at home? Save money, control flavor, and it's easier than you think.
Downsides? Costs $350+ upfront, takes 30 mins a week, and there's a learning curve.
Who should roast? Coffee lovers who already buy premium beans and don't mind DIY.
Gear needed: Roaster, green beans, cooling setup, storage.
Process: Measure, roast, cool, store, wait 24+ hours.
Where to buy beans? Happy Mug, Coffee Bean Corral, Sweet Maria's.

Click here to view the high-resolution 30-sec video above.

BTW--I need a new name for these short, actionable guides on 'hobbies-Pete-has-gone-deep-on". EMAIL ME CLEVER NAME IDEAS. 💌

Previous guides:

Why bother? Who cares?

Yeah, you'll have to spend some cash and energy getting started, but if you love coffee, it IS 100% WORTH it. The weekly-ish roasting time doesn't feel like a chore to me; it's a "relax out in the shed/garage" sort of time.

And not spending $15 for a 10oz bag of coffee every week is nice.

Who should roast their own coffee?

If you...

Really love coffee. Maybe you rock an Aeropress, pour-over, or espresso setup—or you routinely spend $15 for a 12oz bag of whole-bean coffee.
Don't mind spending $350 now to save even more long-term
Don't mind garage/basement roasting for 30 chill minutes a week (BIG DAD ENERGY).

Equipment

my home roasting equipment

You don't need much.

Roaster – Two main types: Drum Roaster: Kinda like an "oven barrel" that spins and cooks beans. More expensive. Air Roaster: Uses hot air to move and cook beans. Cheaper!
Green Coffee Beans – Buy unroasted beans online
Something to Cool the Beans – Fancy people use cooling trays. I use a $5 colander and rechargeable fan.
Something to store beans in – jars are fine to start with.

Pete's exact setup:

Roaster: Freshroast SR800 (they sell an SR540 as well, which is smaller. Don't bother)
Extension tube accessory: This is sometimes bundled when you buy one—and allows you to roast slightly MORE beans at once—AND has much better heat insulation, which allows me to roast outside in Michigan winters(!). They also sell these bundled with the Freshroast!
A cheap colander: After the roast, I'll dump the beans in here to cool.
A portable USB-recharge fan from Amazon: For blowing air up through the bottom of the colander, and move the beans around until they're cool.
A cheap scale: for measuring the unroasted beans. I roast about 220g at a time.
A cheap timer: many roasters have built-in timers, but I like my separate one (cost $5 I think)
Airscape Canisters: for storing roasted beans air-tight! These are ceramic, look nice, and are a joy to use.

Where to buy green beans?

Sweet Marias : most well-known, but too pricey
Happy Mug : Where PETE buys his beans!
Coffee Bean Corral : Decent, especially since they run random sales every month.

Green coffee TIPS:

Start with simple beans from countries you would associate with coffee (Colombia, Costa Rica, Kenya, etc) Aim for $5-8 per pound to start.
Grab samplers!! Every company offers sample packs with 3-5 different beans
Don't buy more than 3 pounds per bean until you find what you like, then order in 5, 10, or 20 pound bags ;)

My exact step-by-step roasting process:

Measure green beans (I roast 2 batches back-to-back of about 220g per batch)
Go out to my shed
(Optional) If it's below freezing (32F, 0C), I'll turn on my roaster for 2-3 mins, warming it up ❄️
Put 1st batch of 220g of beans into the roaster
Turn roaster on (at a high fan speed, because green beans are heavier)
Roast for 7-10 minutes, decreasing fan speed once a minute-ish (which gradually increases temperature! See below)
Listen for "first crack" 🔈
Once beans are cracking a lot (usually about 30-60 seconds after "first crack"), I'll remove the beans
(Optional) This is a lighter roast! For medium, I'll roast for another 30-60 seconds. If I liked a darker roast (I don't), I'd do ANOTHER 1-2 mins to 'second crack' and beyond.
Dump the roasted beans in my metal colander, and hold it above the portable fan (the air blows through, cooling the beans!)
Roast the 2nd batch
Combine the 2 batches into 1 colander, and remove any individual beans that didn't get roasted >(there are always 5-10 single beans that just didn't get roasted for some reason. I toss 'em on the ground)
Store the beans
Wait at least 24 hours, preferably 3 days, before grinding and drinking ☕

Quick note on roast temperatures:

Some beginners might just choose a temperature setting—turn their roaster on—and wait until "first crack."

But even cheaper roasters have built-in controls for heat and/or fan settings!

Here are my time-vs-temperature targets:

1 minute into roast = usually 330F
2 mins = 370F-ish
4 mins = 400F-ish
6 mins = 420F-ish
7-8 mins = 440F - 450F

These aren't rules; they're general guidelines. I've found that being a little slower, faster, hotter, or cooler—doesn't affect the output as much as I thought it would.

How to get started:

Decide if this is worth it (you'll spend $400 immediately and 30 minutes a week, not including 1-2 hours of researching your specific roaster!)
Order a roaster. The bundle has everything you need and has a 10% coupon right now! $300 is a STEAL.
Purchase a kitchen scale and/or colanders if you don't have them already
Order green beans
Roast your first batch (and get ready to be disgusted and possibly throw them away. The first batch is always the hardest!!)

coffee storage containers

Did you know...(coffee facts)

Coffee beans lose weight as they're roasted!

Beans can lose 15-20% of their total weight (expelling CO2 and shedding their skin (aka chaff) during roasting)!

Darker roasts do NOT have more caffeine?

Well, sorta.

If you measure by volume (i.e. a tablespoon) = light and dark roasts have EXACTLY the same amount of caffeine. In other words, the roasting process doesn't affect caffeine levels.

But wait!! Coffee beans lose weight, right??

If you measure by weight (i.e. 15 grams) = it takes MORE darker beans (cuz they're lighter!) to make the weight, so it'll have more caffeine!

Preferring darker coffee doesn't make you 'tougher'?

Lighter roasts don't have "less" of anything. Darker roasts aren't "stronger." (It's not like light beer haha).

In fact, light roast coffee generally has more "coffee flavor," while darker roasts have more "roast flavor."

What is "first crack?!"

When the first bean cracks open--it produces an audible "snap." After a few seconds, you'll likely hear other beans start to crack! If you were to keep roasting, you'd get a softer "2nd crack" after 2-3 more mins. This is a darker roast.

That's all I got!