| |
| |
|
Crafts & Hobbies Information |
|
|
|
Roasting Your Own Coffee - A Hobby You Can Love
There is nothing like a cup of coffee that has been freshly roasted, ground and brewed to perfection. There are a growing number of enthusiasts who are roasting their own coffee beans and enjoying the benefits of truly fresh coffee at about one-third of the price of beans from your local coffee shop. A recent article touts that roasting your own coffee is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the USA today. A gift of freshly roasted coffee which you have roasted yourself is sure to be a hit and amaze the receiver of the hand made gift. The actual roasting of the coffee beans may be the easiest and most fun part. The packaging of your thoughtful gift will be the most challenging as you prepare the package with as much care as you have roasted the coffee. Coffee which will be kept for any length of time should be kept in an airtight container out of sunlight. For the trip from roasting to the airtight container is where the creation of fun ideas comes in. Coffee is traditionally shipped in burlap sacks. You can buy some burlap at a craft store and sew up bags that will be great for packaging. At the same craft store you can buy pre-cut stencils with flowers, Lions, Elephants, Crocodiles etc and stencil your bags with animals, plants or other landmarks from a country of origin. A Lion on a bag of Kenya or Malawi, Palm tree from Costa Rica, Coffee cherries from Colombia, etc. Plain brown bags work well also and can be decorated in many ways with a coffee theme, re: cups, saucers, coffee pots etc. Another idea, with the ease in which art can be produced and printed on stickers with the help of a computer, is to make your own labels. YOUR NAME's special blend or a blend for an event. How about a wedding gift with the bride and groom's picture and call it the "Perfect Blend". The possibilities are endless on how you can package the coffee you have roasted yourself with your own signature. All that is needed to roast your own coffee beans at home is green coffee beans, available from a number of sources, an oven, cookie sheet, oven mitt, metal colander and a wooden spoon. Preheat your oven to 500F, spread raw beans evenly one layer deep on a cookie sheet, place on middle rack of preheated oven and watch them roast. In about 8-10 minutes there will be a crackling noise and smoke with a coffee essence. At this point the roast moves quickly and you need to pay close attention. About 2-3 minutes after the crackling, your coffee beans should be at the shade you like them. Carefully (using the oven mitt) remove the cookie sheet from the oven and pour the beans into the metal colander. Stir the beans with the wooden spoon to help cool quickly. Do this over a sink or outside, as there is chaff that comes off the beans during roasting. And remember; NEVER leave your roasting coffee beans unattended. Almost any appliance used to pop popcorn can be used to roast coffee beans. The hot air poppers are great, however, you may want to roast outside or in your garage as they blow the chaff out and can be messy. There are a number of manufacturers of home coffee roaster, including several that use a gas grill and rotisserie. The internet is full of sources to purchase raw beans, but you want to make sure that the supplier you use knows their beans and "cups" their coffee before selling it to you. One of the most reputable sources for green coffee beans is U-Roast-Em, Inc., a high quality, no frills supplier with 30 years in the industry. They can be found at www.u-roast-em.com on the web. Many other sources can be found using your favorite search engine. If you're interested in using a gas grill to roast your beans, check out www.rkdrums.com or www.buzzroasters.com. For electric, countertop-type coffee roasters, visit www.freshbeansinc.com. Green, raw coffee beans last for years when properly stored. This allows you to build a collection of fine coffees to choose from as well as buy larger amounts of the great coffees and save more money. Keep your bean collection in a cool, dry place out of any direct sun light and they will last until you roast them. As coffee ages it loses acidity and becomes more mellow. Many like the rich mild cup of a coffee that has had a couple years to rest and mellow. More important than the year of the crop is the quality of the bean, the preparation at origin, transportation and warehousing in country of consumption. If all of these things are done correctly, your green coffee will last for years. Suppliers who know how to cup samples of coffee beans are able to determine if all of these criteria are done correctly before they purchase the beans. Now all you have to worry about is your friends beating down your door to get some more of that wonderful coffee you roasted for them. I guess at that point you just get them started roasting their own, they'll be forever grateful. Jim Cameron is a semi retired 30 year veteran of the Specialty Coffee Industry. His small coffee business now sells only the finest green coffee beans to the home roasting market at his web site: http://www.u-roast-em.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Hobbies - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How to Value Your Jewelry at Home or Work Many thanks for taking the time to read this compact jewelry article entitled 'How to Value your Jewelry at Home or Work'. You are about to discover the intricacies and formulas that highly qualified Gemologists and Valuers are using, right now, to evaluate and appraise gold, silver and platinum jewelry. Are Your Airbrush Products Selling? If So, Here Are 3 Ways To Further Skyrocket Sales! One of the biggest challenges faced by airbrush artists are proof of what you say is true! The potential customer is going to find it hard to believe you. Whether it is, if you can do the work, whether they think you are charging them too much, or it is simply that you are artistic, potential customers are going to find it hard to trust you. Scrapbook Photos -- Getting Adventurous With Your Layouts When you have selected the photos for your scrapbook, you'll need to decide how best to lay them out on the pages. Don't feel obliged to follow any principles that don't suit your own design. Embroidery Designs and Thread Colors for Machine Embroidery Sewing I wish that I had a nickel for each time I've been asked for the "exact" colors I used in aan embroidery design or for a conversion chart for specific embroidery thread brands - I would be a very wealthy woman!Everyone seems to think that someone is going to knock on their door with a search warrant if they don't use the exact colors a designer used in the test sew out or the color numbers used in the stitch directions.Not so - if you don't "think outside the box" and use colors that you enjoy, or just prefer, you are really missing the real fun of machine embroidery! Come to think of it, I don't believe that I've ever used the exact color on any design I've ever stitched in 6+ years-some because I didn't have the exact color & others due to a dislike of the colors used. Woodworking Tools: Right Selection And Care Will Save You Money, Part 5 Woodworking: Tools Of The Trade, Part 5 - Tools For AssemblyA civilization's maturity and intelligence is judged, in part, by the diversity and sophistication of its tools. When it comes to woodworking, the human race is quite advanced. The Leather Look, Accents, and Punching for Your Scrapbook A leather look can add elegance to your scrapbooking page.To create a unique leather look, simply distress cardstock. Woodworking Tools: Right Selection And Care Will Save You Money, Part 4 Woodworking: Tools Of The Trade, Part 4 - Tools For ShapingA civilization's maturity and intelligence is judged, in part, by the diversity and sophistication of its tools. When it comes to woodworking, the human race is quite advanced. Are You Making Money At Craft Shows? If you are involved in the crafts business, and are profitable, you are among the rare breed who have successfully combined art with business. If, however, you still have yet to show a profit (or enough profit) after a show, this article may get you going in the right direction. Learn Exactly How To Repair Your Sewing Machine At Home! My name is Tony Asef and I start my own sewing machine business 21 years ago with little knowledge of repairing sewing machine at that time. I remember very good when I was looking for someone to teach me all trick in sewing machine repair business. Use Newspaper Clippings, Graphics, Kids Art, and Clipart to Enhance Your Scrapbook A popular addition to scrapbook pages is newspaper clippings. Newspaper clippings of birth announcements, team photographs, or favorite celebrities add a personal touch to scrapbook pages. Jewelry Insurance - Hints and Tips So You Dont Get Ripped Off As crime and drug use increases, the risks involved in having Antique and Estate Jewelry just lying around your home seem to treble. It becomes a nightmare and you find you are just not sure what to do. Sewing A Button On By Hand I have so many people come into my shop saying something like - I can't even sew on a button. How sad it is that a whole generation has lost out on learning how to do just the basic skills of sewing. Creating A Family Tradition-Jigsaw Puzzles Do you find it difficult to spend time together as a family?There are so many pressures and activities that can take away from the sense of family which was more commonly experienced 50 years ago. Parents often both work, and their commute can be tiring and long. A Few Tips About Comic Book Bags We store comics to keep them valuable. Air pollution, ultra violet light, dirt and oil from fingers as well as rough handling all contribute to the deterioration of a comic. How to Use Feathers and Dried Flowers to Give Your Scrapbooks an Artistic Feel Feathers make exotic and interesting embellishments and borders. Feathers add an air of softness. Make Your Own Lampshades When redecorating your room, you may be faced with looking for new lampshades (or perhaps a lampshade you currently have has gotten damaged). So why not make your own!If your lamp currently has a lampshade on it, half of the battle is already won! You have a base to start building your new shade. Scary Halloween Crafts Looking for some great Halloween crafts for your Halloween party, haunted house, or just for trick-or-treaters?A fun craft is something that can keep you occupied for hours on end especially if you enjoy it. Here are some ideas that will hopefully set you on your way in preparation for your next Halloween. Scrapbooking Childrens Favorite Stories Countless memories are built during the formative childhood days. If there's an excellent means to record them down in some ways, it'll be scrapbooking. Leather Care Leather CareWhen buying leather, the best thing you can do is ask the people who you buy it from, what the manufacturer recommends for leather care and cleaning. Don't forget to ask what other products may work well for leather care too, as there may be something you're more comfortable using. Ideas for Making Gift Baskets Do you want to give gifts to your friends or family for birthdays, Christmas or some other holiday, but you just don't know what to get them?Just take a decorative basket and you can create a gift basket filled with great items that either your friends or family will love.The items basically you will need to create a gift basket will include:**A decorative basket;**Shrink wrap;**Any color tissue paper;**Different assortment of shredded paper.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
