Instant Coffee == Instant Yuck

I’m out of roasted coffee beans, bummer.

My caffeine habit won’t let me go without, so after scrounging around the kitchen I found some Folger’s instant. “Eh, how bad could it be?” I figured. Bad. Very Bad. Even heavily doctored Bad. After brushing my teeth twice I still can’t get the taste out of my mouth Bad.

Fortunately I have a home coffee roaster, aka an air popcorn popper, and some green coffee beans. 5 minutes of roasting later I have some incredibly fresh roasted coffee beans and a front porch full of chaff. (Chaff is the light, airy shell of the green coffee bean that comes off the bean while roasting and floats everywhere. It’s also one of the reasons that air popper roasting should be done outside.)

I learned about roasting your own coffee beans from a friend, who recommended Sweet Maria’s web site. They have a ton of good info about home roasting. It’s cheaper and better than a trip to Starbucks, and also a lot more fun!