roasting coffee in a popcorn popper

My first attempt at roasting coffee in a hot air popcorn popper.
It was very simple after a little trial and error. I found that with this model of popper 1/3 cup of beans for 4:00 minutes yielded the best results. You really have to monitor it closely, once that 2nd crack starts at 4:00 minutes, stop the machine and cool the beans down in a metal strainer or colander. Let the coffee "cure" overnight, I had it for breakfast the next day and it was great.
The beans are green Kona, pick them up for only $20 for a pound, including shipping at www.huladaddy.com they produce wonderful beans and are very quick at shipping.

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• popcorn
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[sublimephish187]

tdjtx a couple things. this is a great video and will be helpful to a ton of people. but please! do not pay $20 a pound for green kona!! don't even pay $20/lb for roasted kona! The best kona is good, but other origins offer OUTSTANDING dance-on-your-tastebuds coffees for half the price. You will have a much more enjoyable coffee experience sampling african, cental american, and indonesian. for green contact the roasterie. for great coffees terrior, PT's, and kaldis are unbeatable. (cheap too)

[tdjtx]

I buy Kona directly from the growers in Hawaii, with shipping it's $20 which is a good price for the good stuff. I don't just roast Kona, it is my fav though. I'm drinking a Jamaican blue mountain now and have roasted a wonderful Colombian. I don't really like the African variates, to earthy for me.

[markpianoman]

I just take off the lid and roast outside.

[tdjtx]

Yea, I take the lid off now, it really helps.

[markpianoman]

I have the same popcorn popper...it works perfect. You could put up to 1/2 cup of green beans in this popper. I stir the beans with the handle of a wooden spoon every 1.5 minutes during the roasting. The friction helps the chaff release from the beans....works great with a total of 5.5 minutes. I get dark-brown beans that are slightly oily (glossy)....about 20 seconds after the "second" crack.

[tdjtx]

What kind of beans do you use? I was using Kona, just started using Jamaican Blue Mountain peaberry beans and they don't roast well in a popcorn popper. I think it gets to hot to fast. I roasted them on my gas grill low and slow and they came out great. BTW the Kona was really good.

[markpianoman]

@Thetruthishere11 Sorry.....somebody has to do this work on Oahu, Hawaii!

[Thetruthishere11]

we hate you jackass.

[goddamgeorgeliquor]

I just bought this popper at the local Salvation Army thrift store for a buck, now I just have to wait for the beans to get here in the mail. Thanx for the video, it tells me just what I need to know!

[sublimephish187]

I can tell you get excited about your coffee, if I didn't care about your coffee experience I wouldn't even comment. Put the same love into a crop of African as you do into the Kona and JBM and it will NOT disappoint. Columbia, Kona, and JBM at the moment cannot compete with Africa (but hula did very recently have some good mele). Roast to medium dark to preserve the complex flavors and aromas, that way you taste more of your fantastic bean than the roaster, helps comparison.

[sublimephish187]

I'm a Barista and roaster. I promise you will find an African variety that you like more than your Kona. It's risky to rule out an entire continent!! Dry processing gives beans that earthiness you don't prefer, find some wet-processed (washed) Africans that have been sun dried and you'll see that the Kona your tasting is an incredibly boring version of the African origins, the plant originated in Africa!! Try some Kenya Peaberry, Ethiopia Sidamo (or yirg), and finally BELOYA!!

[markpianoman]

The professional roaster at the place where I buy the Oahu beans says that popcorn roasters actually roast too fast; however, for the beans I get here on Oahu, I think 5.5 min. is perfect...dark-brown roast that is somewhat oily. He says that it would be better to roast the beans slowly for about 12 minutes...of course, because of the heat level of the popcorn popper, that is not possible. BUT, I love my roast!

[markpianoman]

I live on the Hawaiin island of Oahu where the beans are grown on the north shore. They taste great and are of high quality. In fact, I have some that I roasted a couple hours ago sitting right here next to be on my night table. I let them sit there to degas (CO2 escape) during the night so I can smell the wonderful scent all night. I would describe these Oahu beans as chocolate-like Arabica. Hey, trying stirring the beans during the roasting process...really helps get the chaff to release.