Saturday, November 15, 2008

Coffee Roasting


Today the Garden St House got a very special delivery... a coffee roaster! We are always trying to find ways to save money and do things for ourselves. The coffee roaster fulfills both of those. We make other things as a house: bread, yogurt, granola, laundry and dishwasher detergent, but this is the first time it has warranted a blog.

First, let me tell you about the price difference. We were ordering fair trade, organic coffee from a local roaster at about $9/lb we now order green beans from the same company for $4/lb. The coffee roaster, which cost us about $100 will pay for itself very quickly, especially in a house the size of ours (10 adults). Then there is the quality. Perhaps even you coffee drinkers out there don't realize that coffee is not actually supposed to taste bitter. Green coffee is fine to sit on the shelf for months, but once it is roasted time only makes coffee taste worse. Think of the difference between Maxwell House (roasted goodness knows how many months ago), and Your local, high quality coffee shop (roasted maybe a couple of weeks ago) and you start to get the idea. Now consider that coffee is at it's peak flavor 12 hours after it's roasted. Then think of having a cup of that greet you every morning for $4/lb! And, its great fun too. The beans start out small, green and very dense (I tried to bite one and hurt my teeth). They don't smell like coffee either; more like an earthy vegetable. In our roaster it takes about 8 minutes to go from green to espresso roast, in which time a lovely smell and sound of crackling emerges as the beans slowly darken.

You all will have to come over some time for a fresh cup of coffee.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Oh yum! Any chance you could bring a sample to Thanksgiving? I've been making my own yogurt and I love it! Hooray for self sufficiency. What's next, cheese? And please, more info on the homemade laundry soap and dish detergent!

Mary Lundquist said...

Sarah beat me to it! I wanted to ask you to share the recipes for all your home made things! I know how to make the bread, but yogurt and laundry detergent? Also, there are many ways to make granola but the one Alison brought here was delicious. Please let me know, either by email or post it on the blog!
-Mary