One day Drew was walking through a nearby village and smelled the sweet aroma of freshly roasted coffee. He followed the smell for a while and came upon this man (pictured above) happily roasting coffee in an earthen cooking pot. Although you are unable to see it, I assure you he is smiling. Drew was able to purchase enough for us to try it out. It was amazing! Over the previous months we had gotten used to drinking Africafe, a powder "substitute" for coffee. The only way it resembled coffee was in the color it made when you dissolved it in hot water. Needless to say this was a step up.
We quickly realized that by walking a few extra kilometers to a different village up north, we were able to cut out the middle man and buy the raw beans in bulk. Not only were they cheaper but we were able to ensure the quality of the product. What savvy businessmen we are! We read online about how to properly roast coffee and we found out that it's fairly easy. 
All you do is throw it into a pot over a flame and stir constantly until you hear two distinct sets of pops, similar to the sound popcorn makes when it pops. I don't mean to suggest that there isn't technique involved, because there clearly is. I mean look at me. The key is to use a fluid motion when stirring while maintaining a flexible wrist with the other. Look at that form.
After the beans turn brown and we had heard the second pop, we took them out to let them cool. After they were done cooling, we ground it all up and it was ready to brew. 
Pretty simple, huh. It makes it that much more enjoyable to drink when you take part in the whole process. 
3 comments:
an interesting process and discovery but when you are already eating such a healthy diet, why throw the poisons that come from roasting coffee beans into your body. I know it must smell wonderful-- why not just cook them up for the aroma? Africafe sounds like a better, less harmful choice.There have to be some great herb teas available. (I'll send some from here in the next package)
Glad to see Matt's roasting technique includes having a fire marshall close by.
FYI -- this was on AOL today:
http://www.aolhealth.com/healthy-
living/longevity/coffee-dangers?feed
deeplinkNum=0
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