Roasted beans remain fresh for up to six days. Green beans keep for years. Years.

You should be able to achieve a medium-full city roast for a half-pound of beans in ten to fifteen minutes at 500 degrees F. My tools are a non-perforated cookie sheet, a spatula, and a collander for winnowing (you'll see) and cooling (outside in the snow). Run a google search for home roasting. Follow the advice of whomever presents the process in the least esoteric light. It is such an easy thing to do that the chief things you will take pride in, really, are saving a few bucks, eliminating middle men, and cutting through the Gourmet Coffee smokescreen.

Once more: the coffee you roast yourself will be decidedly better than anything you have bought in a store. No shit.

[ Coffee Bean Corral ]

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