Smokeless Coffee Roasters are Great!

Green coffee beans can be readily found on-line. The great advantage of green coffee beans is shelf life. Nothing special is required as far as storage - your pantry or kitchen cupboard will be just fine.

The other advantage is choice. I like to encourage organic, Fair Trade coffee. There is simply no need to damage the environment or exploit peasant coffee growers around the world. And the coffee will probably taste better too. Another one of my favorites is Kona coffee from the Big Island of Hawaii. The Kona region is small - basically the westside of two volcanic mountains. It has been called the "Napa Valley of coffee."

One of the most well known Kona coffee producers is Koa Coffee Plantation. They use organic production methods and their coffee mill returns the coffee husks, pulp, etc. to the coffee plantation. In other words, everything is recycled to the land. All their coffee is hand-picked. Koa is a family-run operation, just like most other coffee growers in the Kona region. Koa was described by Forbes as the "Best Coffee in America." They have also won the Gevalia Cupping Competition.

Is home coffee roasting an art? Home coffee roasting has been practiced for a very long time by ordinary homemakers. In reality, it is like other culinary skills. No doubt roasting coffee, especially with a smokeless coffee roaster, is easier than making a soufflé. It is a lot less complicated than baking bread or a cake. All you have to do is put a measured amount of green coffee beans in the roaster and push the button. How hard is that?

Actually, there is one bit of "art" that needs attention: cracks. The first time a particular type of coffee is roasted, cracks are important. If you have been roasting green Kona coffee beans and you want to roast green Ethiopian coffee beans, you might have to adjust the roasting time by a minute or two. And definitely, if you want to change from a regular to a French roast, you would have to roast the beans longer.

But cracks? What do cracks have to do with roasting coffee? Cracks are a sound a bit like the sound of popcorn. And everyone knows that when popcorn stops popping, it is ready. Not hard to do - you just have to listen. And just like microwaving popcorn, it can be timed. Set the timer on the smokeless coffee roaster and push the button. But you have to listen the first time. And you have to decide what roast you would like to have. Coffee beans can have two cracks. At first crack, you have a light roast. Wait a little longer and you would have a medium roast (breakfast, City, American roasts). A Full City roast coincides with the second crack. And just after second crack, you have dark roasts (Vienna, French, and Italian). Listen the first time and then afterwards, you simply set the timer on the home coffee roaster. Or you can experiment with different green coffee beans and different roasts. Develop your own specialty roast. Share your creations with friends and family. After all, it is fun, the coffee is great, and you are saving money. Now that's my kind or art!

An easy way to get started is to buy a smokeless coffee roaster starter kit. In addition to the Behmor home coffee roaster, the kit has the following:

A Bodum 8-cup French Press coffee maker - a truly marvelous way to thoroughly enjoy fresh-roasted coffee

A copy of "Home Coffee Roasting: Romance and Revival" by Kenneth Davids. This book is a joy to read and is filled with information on the history and culture of home coffee roasting - not to mention a wealth of practical advice.

And to top it all off, you get to choose three different one-pound bags of green coffee beans. What a treat!