Actually, as a barista myself, at home I use a popcorn popper to roast beans.

As long as you pay close attention to what you're doing, and make sure to put some effort into it, the beans will turn out near perfect.

Search around to find a good retailer of green beans -- I get them from marlton coffee (an ebay store)

The_Falconer

My dad has done this a few times. I must caution, if you are going to do this be sure to do it OUTSIDE and not INSIDE. Trust me on this. Brewing of the coffee smells great but roasting of the coffee isn't all that pleasant.

powaking

I've been roasting my own beans for a couple of years now. I get them from Sweet Maria's. I read Tom's thoughtful descriptions carefully. Buying your beans is a mini trip around the world.

I use a stovetop popcorn popper. I prefer the stainless steel one that Sweet Maria's sells. It's more rugged than the aluminum one. A stovetop popper has the advantage of being able to roast a lot of beans at once. Even the expensive machines can't do that.

ManoaGirl

I've been roasting my own beans this way for about two months now. Have to roast it under the stove's fan or I set off the smoke alarm. But with the fan on high there's no problem and very little smoke. I catch the chaff in a large bowl. Roasting just takes a few minutes. I hadn't thought of tipping the popper. Will try this next time.

avlor

I had heard of this technique before, but where ever I read it from said not to use the type of popcorn popper that's pictured. I think it had something to do about burning the beans and having an uneven roast. That bummed me out because it's the kind of popper I already have, but from the article it looks like he actually did get those results. He mentions the different colored beans so it looks like the roast was a bit uneven.

karmaghost

I have been using a 7.5€ popcorn maker, and even though it works reasonably well it's still just too much effort. I have to do it outside (the chaff goes everywhere) and it has to be quite warm. If it isn't, I have to add the help of an hairdryer :-)

Fun to do every few months but not a real solution for me.

Wouter

BTW: the roast turns out great if you keep the temperature at the right amount (don't know it anymore, is written on the popcornmaker :-))

Wouter

There's a great detailed guide to roasting coffee in corn poppers at tinyurl.com/4ddaz [tinyurl.com] I swear by it.

sfjocko

Two problems: chaff everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Also smoke.

Also, it's not always easy getting the temperature hot enough, so what I used to do was put the popper in a cardboard box and close half the lid so the hot air would be recycled.

It is a lot of fun, but ultimately inconsistent. If you are the kind of person interested in roasting, might as well start right away with an iroast2 or something, which is not that expensive.

holyspidoo

Engadget had a similar article two years ago that might provide some value for your readers.

Also, Cook's Illustrated has a good method for how to roast your own coffee beans at home without any special equipment (and therefore, no extra steps). They do warn that the roasting process creates a lot of smoke, as some other comments mentioned. Be prepared to disable a nearby smoke alarm.

Wayne Elgin

How would one obtain unroasted coffee beans?

rdldr1

@rdldr1
In the US there is a LOT of sites, including sweetmarias which has a lot of choice.

In canada, there is always greenbeanery.ca which offers decent prices on large quantities (10 lbs+)

holyspidoo

@rdldr1 also : Sweetmarias is one of the best but you also can ask your local coffee store. Even if they don't advertise it, they may offer to sell them to you -- generally 1/2 the price of roasted coffee.

I have an iRoast2 and love it -- it's paid for itself and it contains the chaff for you. Smoke is still an issue but it's more contained/concentrated I think than an open popper.

devilishd

The guide that got me started was the one over on CoffeeGeek:

[www.coffeegeek.com]

Which has much better visuals and explanations than many of the guides I've seen online, including the one linked to in this lifehacker entry.

EspressoFan

While a hot-air popcorn popper is a fine way to start roasting, you'll soon discover that it's inconvenient to be limited to about 1/4 cup at a time. The serious LifeHacker can build roasters from many thrift-store finds (I once made one from a bread machine that ultimately resembled R2D2.) However, the best, cheapest, easiest LifeHacker coffee roaster is nothing more than a heat gun, wooden spoon and stainless-steel dogfood bowl.

PhilFR

This is as old as the art of making underwear out of banana leaves.

When is Lifehacker going to introduce us to the stone wheel?

swagv