How Hard Is It to Roast Raw Coffee Beans at Home?

These are two of the questions we’re asked most frequently by customers across the globe:

Can I roast my own raw coffee beans at home? And if I can roast green coffee beans at home, is it worth taking the time to do so?

In both instances, the answer is pretty straightforward - yes and yes! Pretty much anyone can try roasting green coffee beans at home, even with no professional coffee roasting skills or a home coffee roaster (even though we would strongly recommend the use of an affordable home coffee roaster). As for whether or not it’s worth doing, there’s something uniquely satisfying about taking complete control over the roasting process yourself.

We find that much of the enjoyment of coffee in general lies in experimentation.  When you roast your own raw coffee beans, you can experiment with as many different light, medium and dark roasts as you like. If this wasn’t enough to convince you, try to imagine the intoxicating fragrance of freshly roasted coffee beans reaching every corner of your home.

It may take slightly longer to roast green coffee beans than to simply buy roasted coffee, but trust us when we say - it’s more than worth the effort!

A True Labour of Love…

If quality coffee really is your thing, you stand to get so much out of the ceremony of roasting your own raw coffee beans. Along with the experimentation and aroma mentioned above, there’s also the fact that the fresher the coffee, the better the flavour.

Immediately after coffee beans are roasted, they slowly but gradually begin losing their essential oils, aromas and flavours. Hence, when you brew coffee immediately after roasting green coffee beans, the fragrance and flavour profile is as good as it gets.

As for actually getting the job done at home, it’s as easy as following these simple steps:

1. Start out with the highest quality green coffee beans you can lay your hands on. Low-grade unroasted coffee beans guarantee equally low grade results, so don’t waste your time or money.
2. The ideal temperature for roasting coffee beans is approximately 400° F, even though there is a bit of flexibility above and below this temperature.
3. Place your coffee beans on a suitable oven tray on a sheet of baking paper in a single layer. After popping them in the oven (or on the hob if using a pan), ensure that you are stirring them on a near constant basis to ensure even roasting on all sides.
4. After three to five minutes, you’ll start to hear what’s known as the ‘First Crack’. This is an extremely satisfying cracking sound that indicates you’ve reached the light roast level, so they’re ready to take out if you prefer a light roast.
5. After a couple more minutes, the ‘Second Crack’ indicates you’re now at a medium to dark roast. Again, you can take them out if you like, or give them no more than another minute or so to achieve a fully dark roast. Anything longer than this and they will be burned and unpleasant.
6. Take the beans out of the oven, give them plenty of time to cool and ensure you remove as much of the chaff (i.e. dried up husks) as possible.
7. Use the beans in the normal way and take pride in having roasted your first ever batch of raw coffee beans at home!

Hayman brings you the best and freshest green coffee beans, for straightaway brewing or for home roasting. In our online store, you will find legendary raw coffee beans, such as Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, best Kona coffee Hawaii, and Panama Geisha coffee beans (i.e. Gesha coffee) –click here to order now, we ship top green coffee beans worldwide!