Coffee Roasting

If you know me (or have read my blog for any length of time), you know about my love for coffee. You might also know that my wonderful husband roasts coffee for us at home. Home roasting allows us to get a wonderful quality coffee for a great price. We aren't after cheap coffee or spending loads of money on coffee. We are after the best cup of coffee we can afford and this is the way we've found to make that happen. Thankfully, Gil enjoys the process and has done the best he can without the roaster he would like. After hearing of this, several people are intrigued by this process, so I decided to share! Here goes....

When this box lands on our doorstep, we feel loved...even though Gil just ordered it himself a few days prior.  

Prior to roasting, this is what the green coffee bean looks like. 

Admiring the goodness. 

Loving the goodness. 

Posing with the goodness. Until this moment, I hadn't realized how closely his red hoodie matched the kitchen walls. 

Each bag of beans are different and labeled according to the country and farm where it was grown. The label also includes a description of what the bean should taste like when roasted properly. 

Gil ordered 3 different beans this time. 

Oh, I can't wait for morning! 

Here's the set up: box fan facing outside, popcorn popper, mesh strainer, large bowl to catch chafe. Kids allergy medicine not necessary for this process. 

Fan on. Popper on. 

Beans go in, 3 Gil-handfuls per batch. 

Popper lid on, which blows most of the chafe into the bowl. 

We wait while it roasts. 

And have time to take a few silly pictures. 

Those blue eyes. 

After roasting. 

Unplug roaster, pour beans into mesh strainer for a quick cool. 

Shake to help cool as fast as possible. 

Look at the goodness. 

Smell the goodness. Oh wait, you can't. Sorry. 

He's been through a number of popcorn poppers, but this particular brand and model is the one that's held on the longest. If you ever, and I mean EVER, see one of these at a thrift store, BUY it! 

And the beautiful bean. 

No, I was not paid by sweetmarias.com for all of this free advertising. Would have been nice though, eh? This is just how we do it~ 

Magical Morning Moments

The best part of my day happens before I open my eye lids. It starts like this:

• Dog huffs repeatedly, in an attempt to beg to be let outside. Being gentlemanly, he refrains from barking. I love him for that. 
• Gil *encourages* him to quiet down a few times. 
• Gil begins to huff repeatedly, as he layers on the clothes to escort Judah out. I love him for that. 
• All is quiet while the boys are outside. 
• Somewhere in dreamland, a coffee grinder is switched on and the time warp begins. 

Time stops. 

Some days, the time warp feels like it lasts for hours. It's amazing, heavenly and totally my love language. I know, thanks to my husband's vast coffee knowledge, that the ground coffee will only sit in the french press for 4 minutes. But the moments just don't add up. 

Here's what I know:

coffee grind time + water boil time+ 4 minutes to do whatever it does in the press+perfect cup prep= not that long (in real life) 

But, if you account for the time warp, the moments stretch. 

Here's what else I know:

Sleep during the time warp is deep and sweet, it's powerful and concentrated. It's like a nap in the sun, which is so much better than normal sleep. 

After the elongated minutes, I feel someone standing nearby. I have a 6th sense- I can tell coffee is close. 

Time begins. 

• I *gracefully* sit up, eyeliner smudged and hair going in ever direction possible. He loves me for that. 
• He places the cup of goodness in my hands and walks away. I love him for that. 
• I drink most of the powerful goodness, then begin to move. 
• Somewhere in real life, I hear kid chatter and the day begins. 

I know I am loved during these magical morning moments.