Something's Brewing: Roast Your Coffee At Home

by Frank Vascellaro

(WCCO) It was Vice President Thomas Riley Marshall who proclaimed in 1917, "What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar."

If Vice President Marshall was alive today, he'd probably wonder what happened to the 25-cent cup of coffee.

Just as dumbstruck are a growing legion of coffee lovers who refuse to pay retail (as much as $3 a cup) for gourmet coffee at nationwide chains.

Jerry Abrams is one of them. He found resources on the Internet where he regularly buys raw, green coffee beans and roasts, grinds and brews them at home.

Dean Cycon is not only a coffee aficionado, he's an entrepreneur who owns his own beanery -- Dean's Beans in Orange, Mass.

"A year ago, we didn't sell any [raw beans] and now we're selling hundreds of pounds a week," he said.

For some people, home roasting is a hobby -- almost akin to home winemaking or beer brewing. But for others, it boils down to personal choice. Armed with a magna cum latte education, they pick their favorite beans from around the world, choose roast times and set their own standards for what is a light-, medium- or bold-roast.

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