Is there actually a benefit to self-roasting as opposed to buying? Unless you roast then brew in one go I don't get it? Is it due to the coffee tasting better or enjoyment of the roasting process?
There are numerous benefits. Coffee should be consumed within a week or so of being roasted to achieve the full flavor. That means that unless you visit a specialty shop like Oren's Daily Roast in Manhattan, you are likely buying roasted beans far older than that. And even Oren's doesn't throw out their beans that don't sell, so you really have to pick a type that is consumed in mass quantity to assure the beans are fresh. This is the primary reason why the coffee in specialty shops typically tastes much better than the same beans you can buy in the supermarket. They are constantly running through their inventory and are using beans that have been roasted in the past week or so.
I doubt anybody really enjoys the roasting process. It is typically done in factories that are far from any discerning noses because it smells, and there is frequently a great deal of smoke produced if you like darker roasts. That is what makes this particular machine so special. I can finally roast inside my house that doesn't even have an external fume hood in the kitchen.
Green coffee beans are also far cheaper. If you like specialty coffees like I do, you can save a substantial amount of money by roasting yourself. I used to order my roasted beans from Oren's in NY. They charge $19 a pound now for Kenya AA.
Wow! This has been a life-altering experience! You roast your own coffee beans! How that must taste. Presumably you have to grind the beans? $299 for the Behmor doesn't seem too expensive, but what else is involved?
Where does one by raw (green?) coffee beans? Do you have to also order from Sweetmarias? How does it taste, compared to store-bought? Wow!
Freshly grinding your own beans is by far the biggest improvement you can make to your own coffee. If you don't get into roasting your own, this is by far the best way to improve your own coffee drinking. You can also save substantial money by fully grinding your own beans because it takes less coffee if you use a really good burr grinder.
On the consumer market, the grinder of choice among coffee experts is the Solis Maestro:
http://www.coffeegeek.com/proreviews/detailed/solismaestro
I have had mine for about 8 years now. While it costs far more than the cheapo ones you can buy at any department story, it will likely last you a lifetime if you replace the burr now and then. I just replaced mine recently.
I would estimate that it takes 30-40% less coffee than it does with the cheaper grinders if you grind it fairly fine and use a drip coffee system.
You can buy the green beans at a variety of places. When I first started, I used
Sweet Maria's exclusively. There were very few places where you could get green coffee beans back then.
Then, one day they were completely out of Kenya AA beans, as they currently are. This is by far my favorite coffee so I desperately searched elsewhere for a source. I stumbled upon a
local coffee roaster that was selling them for a song, didn't charge sales tax if they shipped, and which also offered far less expensive shipping. Unfortunately, they have since raised all their prices to be more competitive with the rest. But they are still typically less expensive than Sweet Maria's.
I purchased the Behmor at
Roastmasters because they offered free shipping. I see they offer even cheaper prices for Kenya AA in quantity, so I will likely use them for my next order if their shipping is reasonable.
It seems that more and more internet sites are offering green beans these days.
Green coffee beans can last for years if they are stored properly, so there is no problem with buying in quantity. I usually buy 20-25 pounds at a time.
What grinder do you use?
How do you prepare your coffee?
What do you put in your coffee?
How long do green bean store for? Self-roasting might fix my problem where I enjoy coffee but don't drink it often enough to justify single-pound bags of pre-roasted beans.
I have answered some of your questions above.
I try to roast the beans at least 2 days ahead of time so they will have sufficient time to "cure".
I grind the roasted beans immediately before making the coffee.
I used to use automated drip coffee makers but I found they don't last all that long. Part of the reason may be that the water where I live has an abnormally high calcium content. But even when I lived in other areas, I found that coffee makers tend not to last more than a few years. So I switched about 5 years ago to using an electric pot for boiling water and a large Melitta coffee cone that can make 10 cups at a time, and which uses #6 filters:
But I only use 4 cups of water and drip it into a stainless steel thermos. The thermos will keep the coffee warm enough to be enjoyable for about 4 hours. I usually limit myself to those 4 cups a day which I drink with my breakfast. If I feel the need for a cup during the day, I use the single-cup Melitta cone. I have my grinder set to about 4 notches from the finest it can grind, and one full cycle of the automatic grinding operation makes just the right amount for my tastes for that much water.
Roasting your own coffee would indeed solve the problem of coffee shelf life. You could even get the Freshroast or Nesco coffee roasters that make even less than a quarter pound per batch. But if you like your beans darker, you will probably need to do so in a garage or on a patio due to the smoke. And I don't particularly like the odor of roasting coffee, although the Behmor limits this to a great extent. If you have a fume hood that vents to the outdoors, the former will probably be no problem.
So this explains your erratic behaviour.
I used to drink coffee excessively when I was young. Now I just use it to get my motor running in the morning and for an occasional pick-me-up during the afternoon. I won't deny that caffeine is a very potent drug, but like all others it is just a matter of proper moderation.
Coffee does have more caffeine than tea does. But you can get the same effect from simply drinking a bit more tea, or even drinking most soft drinks.
Are you a thrall to caffeine?
I think I covered this one with the above response.
