by Megan Winfrey

To quote one of the best TV moms of all time, "Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!"

Like Lorelai Gilmore, I am also a big fan of coffee. I never touched the stuff, although I worked as a barista in high school, until visiting France in '06. At first I just wanted to look like a local, but I quickly learned how amazing a piping hot shot of good espresso could be. Since then I've enjoyed coffee daily and in many different forms, but this was my first go at roasting it myself. I don't think I've been as excited about a cup of coffee since I tried Kopi Luwak in Phoenix. If you've never heard of it, Google it, and please don't judge me. When a bag of green coffee from Barrett's arrived with my CSA box, I'll admit, I was intimidated by those fresh smelling, little green beans. But here I sit, with a DELICIOUS cup of medium roast coffee that I feel very proud of! I highly recommend jumping on the coffee train, and give Barrett's coffee a try. The coffee available as a JBG add-on is already roasted (to perfection!) by Barrett's, but if you want to give home roasting a try, give the office a call and I bet they can place a special order for you.

I used the air popper method, which is the most recommended method for home roasting coffee. Sweet Maria's Coffee walked me through it with this awesome tutorial page.



Here are some notes from my experience:

-To add coffee or eggs to a CSA order, just login to your CSA account, click on your upcoming delivery, and click "ADD ITEM" under available add-ons. That easy.

-I borrowed a hot air popcorn popper from a friend, but you can usually find them pretty cheap second hand or in the store for $20-$30.

-I lined a bowl in wet paper towels to catch the chaff, but not even that kept it all in the bowl. I had to vacuum the floor when I was finished.

-I wanted a medium roast, which I mostly attained, but I noticed that some of the beans remained pretty light. As I watched the beans swirling around in the popper, I noticed that the ones in the center of the swirl basically stayed in the same spot throughout the roasting process and that those were the beans that came out lighter.

-Ventilation is important! My fire alarm went off about a dozen times...

-Roasting/freshly roasted coffee doesn't smell like coffee. That wonderful aroma develops over the next 12 hours or so while it sits in a loosely sealed jar.

-Although it took about an hour, roasting coffee was totally worth it! I am so proud of my beans and every cup of coffee they make will be extra special.