Winter Projects - Roasting Coffee Beans At Home

Unfortunately, we can't grow coffee in Utah.  Coffee plants are shrubs or small trees that flourish in  high elevation sub-tropical and equatorial regions.  Native to Ethiopia, coffee has been planted all around the world since it was first brewed in the 11th century.  Coffee is grown in Central and South America, tropical Asia and all over Eastern and Southern Africa.
I recently found out that raw coffee beans can be purchased for about half the price of roasted beans.  There are many youtube videos on roasting coffee.  It's not too complicated so I sent for some beans and gave it a try.  I used a cast iron pan and a wooden spoon to roast the beans on my stove.   My first two batches were horrible - very acidic and sour.  Not drinkable.  I figured out that I wasn't roasting the beans long enough or hot enough.  I was afraid of burning them and smoking out the house.  The third batch is much darker and tastes awesome (beans from Sumatra).  I opened all the windows so the smoke wasn't a problem.  It smells wonderful.
Here is a link to Sweet Maria's - a resource for coffee beans and information.  Here's a link to Dean's Beans - another excellent coffee website.
Here's a tutorial video about coffee varieties and history that I found to be very helpful in choosing beans.
And here's a picture of my successful batch of home roasted coffee beans!

home roasted coffee beans