The Perfect Cup of Coffee - Part One: Roasting

This isn't exactly related to photography, but I just really wanted to share this anyways. There are pictures involved, so I'll claim that as the connection! :-)

I'm not quite sure where I got it from, my immense love for coffee, perhaps it's that I was born in the Northwest (unlikely) or that I spent almost 5 years stationed near Seattle while I was in the Navy (more likely). Prior to moving back there, I didn't really like the drink. After a while though, it just felt good to walk around with a warm cup of coffee on those drizzly Northwest winter days, it was comforting. From that point I began to learn as much as I could about coffee. I bought numerous books on the subject and I now follow a few different coffee blogs. So, today I figured I'd share a little about the roasting process and how we roast most of our own coffee at home.

I'll continue later and eventually post the entire process from roasting to brewing. The process begins with choosing the right green coffee bean, then goes on to roasting it properly, grinding it to the right size for the brewing method, and then finally brewing it properly at the ideal temperature and for the perfect amount of time. I know this is a lot more effort than many coffee drinkers may prefer to put into their cup of coffee, but for me the experience is just as important as that final delicious cup. Here's a video and some photos of the air roasting method.

~Nate