My new favorite hobby

I get into some weird hobbies sometimes.

Roasting my own coffee beans is one of those weird things that I enjoy to do nowadays. I am not the only one.

Most people just drink coffee no matter the situation. My new hobby has ruined that for me. I no longer can simply just go anywhere and drink whatever coffee is thrown in front of me.

I was after that coffee house experience. The type of experience you would get from a Star-bucks or a Caribou or various coffee shops in the area.

Places like Amanda Lynne’s Espresso, Crossroads Coffee 3 sisters, and Lettuce Eat each have one thing in common fresher beans.

My wife got me an espresso machine for Christmas, which I used two to three times daily and in drinking espresso, I have noticed things like when a coffee bean has gone stale.

In my relentless pursuit to get fresh coffee beans from up and down the Hi-Line, I stumbled upon a way to make my own fresh roasted coffee beans.

This was a thought I had since seeing Malta’s own Mr. Engebretson’s Facebook post about roasting coffee with air popcorn poppers.

I did a couple of weeks of research through social media before I figured I would give it a try. Luckily for me, I had some Christmas gift money and I was able to budget an air popper and fresh beans.

After a few tries, I am finally figuring out a good roast for the beans I bought, which originate from Nicaragua.

I also enlisted the expertise of Mr. Engebretson, who graciously gave me some of his time, a couple of cups of various beans, and the best cup of coffee I have ever tasted.

Backtrack to my first roast. I made a shot of espresso right away and found that it was way too fresh and the beans need at least a day to age. I have also found that roasted coffee doesn’t smell like coffee at first and that the coffee smell doesn’t permeate until the beans have rested. During the resting period called degassing the coffee begin to develop flavors and the smell of fresh coffee.

I have noticed that fresh coffee packs a punch and eventually I want to dive deeper into roast-ing beans from various regions of the world.

Susan evens drinks my coffee nowadays. That is a win for both of us.