Coffee Bean Roaster: Enjoying Some Special Blends at Home

Thousands of people all over the United States literally cannot survive the day without drinking coffee. A lot of people do not really feel fully awake in the morning until the time when they have had their cup of coffee.

If you are one of those people who are addicted to coffee, you should learn to make your own special blends at home instead of buying expensive cups of coffee on your way to the office. To make some really good coffee at home, you will need a coffee bean roaster and a good coffee maker.

Yes, you can always buy roaster coffee off the grocery shelves but roasting your own coffee has many advantages. If you have your coffee been roaster, you can add some unique flavor to your coffee. Wouldn't it be nice to drink some French roast coffee one morning and then have some robust Italian roast the next day?

Learning How to Roast Coffee Beans

Learning how to roast coffee beans can be a lot of fun. To get started, you need to buy a reliable coffee bean roaster. Although there are many coffee bean roasters being sold in department stores and appliance centers across the country, not all of these coffee bean roasters are really good. To make sure that your coffee bean roaster won't easily quit on you, only buy a well known brand. Yes, branded products are usually more expensive compared to those generic ones but the good news is that branded products tend to be more reliable compared to their cheaper counterparts.

Once you have your coffee bean roaster, get some coffee beans from your favorite grocery store and start experimenting with different roasting techniques. For instance, you get a good Arabian blend or the mocha blend; you need to roast your coffee beans to achieve that full body flavor with a dry after taste. Roast your coffee beans to achieve that chocolate tone. Take care not to burn your coffee beans. Burnt coffee beans do not taste good. On the other hand, if you want to get that Brazilian taste to your coffee, set your coffee bean roaster to moderate dark roast. Again, take care not to overcook or burn your coffee beans.

To learn more about roasting coffee beans in your roaster, get a book about coffee. There are plenty of books available in the bookstores regarding this subject.

A Day in the Life of a Coffee Bean

Coffee is an integral part of my family. We’ve had disputes, and discussions settled over coffee. Sometimes we have bargains and agreements done over coffee. In fact coffee has given our family time to slow down and simply catch up.

With coffee so ever famous, it’s no wonder that it’s become a business life blood. Some companies even charge up to $5 for a cup, and yet people are still buying. All the benefits, all the wonder and taste but we have never really asked about the coffee bean to whom we have much to thank for.

Coffee Beans through the Years

A lot of people consider coffee a friend, and a shoulder to lean on. The coffee bean has many secrets which we as firm patrons of its fruits have yet to explore. It’s come a long way from its humble origins; the coffee bean has had many travels. Did you know that the lowly coffee bean was first venerated for its curative properties? The bean is also brewed for religious meditation purposes.

Coffee comes from berry producing trees found in the Middle East. The berry itself looks a lot like a very small cherry, red and enticing. The berries are edible, they are very sweet. Each berry contains two locules, enclosed inside are the beans which is the cash crop. The coffee tree cannot tolerate frost or extremely cold weather that is why it is generally found on regions where there is ample sun and rain.

The coffee tree used to be a source for a tisane, where in the fruits, flowers and leaves where boiled in water, kind of like tea. It was the Arabs, who innovated upon the idea of making drinking coffee by roasting the dried coffee bean.

The Coffee Bean Travels

The story is that a Moslem stole some coffee beans from a farm in Arabia and brought them to his home in India. There he planted the coffee bean one by one and made it flourish, supplying one-third of India’s coffee produce.

From Arabia to India, word spread of the deliciously enchanting and aromatic coffee. Soon the French and the Dutch became enamored of the coffee bean as well. In their desire to produce the bewitching brew; the French brought coffee to Dijon (a region in France) unfortunately the coffee tree is not adept to cold weather, so the whole crop was wasted. The Dutch however was a lot cleverer. They planted the coffee seeds in Java where it thrived and became a reliable crop.

Even the famed King Louie XIV, who is captivated by coffee had a tree shipped to Paris, and built a Greenhouse especially for the Noble Tree. That same coffee tree is the fore bearer of the trees found in the South and Central America today.

There are 50 types of coffee trees in the world today. But only three are recognized to produce the best coffee bean of all time. No matter who you are, or where you’re from - have a quiet moment, enjoy a cup and let your mind wander.

Background of the Flavored Coffee Bean

Coffee has had many colorful stories about how it was discovered. The most popular origin of coffee story is of a goat herd who noticed his usually sluggish goats cavorting around after eating the red berries from a dark green tall shrub. The goat herd took some of the berries home and tried these as well as gave some to his neighbors and monks in the nearby monastery. The monks experimented with the berries and eventually found that scorching the beans and grinding them created a heavenly brew that was capable of keeping them alert and awake for some time.

Adding Flavor to Coffee

Thus coffee was discovered and developed. The flavored coffee bean is not as recent a development as you might think. In earlier times, adding nuts and spices to the coffee beverage was a norm in some cultures in the Middle East. Some even steeped the coffee beans in some flavored liquid to integrate the desired flavor instead of adding the flavor just before or while the coffee was brewed.

These days, people have developed many different ways of achieving flavored coffee beans. Usually, the flavored coffee bean is introduced to the flavor right after it has been roasted to the satisfaction of the roaster. The kind of coffee bean used for the flavored coffee bean is usually the Arabica. This is because it is milder and less acidic than other species of coffee. It is also not as bitter as the Robusta species of coffee which can be the fuller bodied coffee between the two.

Flavoring oils are usually what is used to add flavor to the flavored coffee bean. These can be any synthetic or organic flavoring oil that exist today. Which to use is dependent on the company that currently manufactures the flavored coffee bean. Due to the popularity of designer coffee and flavored coffee, having flavored coffee beans and grinding them on your own has become a novelty for many.

The more popular kinds of flavored coffee beans are those which are sweet and creamy. Examples of these are Amaretto, Hazelnut, Irish Crème, French Vanilla and many more. These flavored coffee beans can actually help manufacturers by masking the stronger flavors of the coffee that is used for most commercial items. Many manufacturers use Robusta coffee instead of the more expensive Arabica and the flavor them to mask the stronger, bitter taste. The flavored coffee bean has come a long way and is definitely here to stay.