A Tale of Two Coffees - Home Roasted is Best

After being away from Home Roasted coffee for a month I had run out of green beans.  Funny how returning somewhere will make you take a whole new look at something, even if it is something as minor as your choice of morning beverage.

Yesterday I got up, and after the dog walk and breakfast, I set about to roast the last of my green coffee beans.  They went about as well as planned, the taste was excellent and complex and rich.  I had a problem though, there were only enough for that morning's pot so if I wanted more I'd have to get another pound. 

Remembering that I had some rather excellent Kenya AA that had been ground a month back and that I had ordered 3 pounds of green coffee from a house in Wisconsin last week, I thought I could make due with what I have. 

I was planning on going to Wellington Florida to visit my Godmother and her Husband and have lunch next door to a Whole Foods so I could get more if I really wanted.  Once Lunch got into me, I passed on going to Whole Foods and getting the beans and live with what I had. 

Today, Sunday (Yes, the postings are still ahead of schedule) I got up and skated 2 miles with my dog, made breakfast and then the coffee. That month old Kenya AA was made per my normal recipe, the only difference was that it was a different bean.  It was a coffee that I considered excellent, sweet, complex and flavourful.

After roasting for a month and having people question my sanity, and whether the extra effort (ten minutes from green to ground is all it takes) and being told in various ways to "get a life" I was confronted with the results.

Repeat after me: I Was Right.  Home Roast Is Best.

The complexity that I grew used to was not in the Kenya AA.  The flavor was flat and unimpressive.  The coffee although brewed per the normal "recipe" was bitter.   I was back from listening to my symphony orchestra to the string quartet. 

I will admit it, I've spoiled myself.  If you roast your own coffee you may save a couple of dollars a pound, but that isn't the real reason to do it, the real reason is that the flavor is SO much better than what you will be normally able to find that you won't want to go back. 

This week I'll be getting three varieties, Hawaiian, Guatemalan, and Tanzanian peaberry coffees and will roast them per the seller's suggestions.  I am hooked.