I have discussed in a previous article how quickly coffee loses its fresh flavor. This phenomenon is not limited to ground coffee but beans as well. Once the beans have been roasted, their flavor typically only lasts about two weeks. The problem is that we often aren't certain how much of that two week time period has gone by from point A to point B when purchasing coffee beans from the local supermarket. The truth is from the roaster, to the warehouse, to the grocery store shelf is a process that very well could take up the vast majority of that two-week time period.

The good news is that those of you who are serious coffee connoisseurs have the option of roasting your very own coffee. There is a great plethora of equipment that allow would be roasters inexpensive options for roasting at home as well as more expensive completely automatic equipment that allows you to have the roast your prefer as fresh as you can stand.

Coffee roasters are quickly becoming household must haves as far as kitchen equipment goes. For any serious coffee drinker this is an absolute no brainer to put on your wish list. Roasting your own coffee then grinding and brewing almost immediately (you want to be sure you allow your beans 12 to 24 hours of rest after roasting, but it sure beats when compared to an unknown number of days on the grocery store shelf it seems fairly immediate) after it has been roasted is one of the best ways to insure that you are getting the freshest, most flavorful cup of coffee possible. It also allows you to experiment with blends; brews, roasts, and flavors without making the commitment of a half-pound or so of coffee that might never be used in order to do so.

Aside from the benefit of freshness, when home brewing you can also select the degree of roast your beans will have. If you are lucky enough to have a local shop where you can purchase freshly roasted coffee beans, the chances are that you can't go in and find each and every variety. The fact is that not all varieties sell and it's hard to guarantee fresh roasted when you're not sure the product will sell quickly. If your favorite isn't a wildly popular roast, then chances are your local coffee shop won't offer it as a freshly roasted selection.

There are two basic choices in home roasting equipment. The first is manual, while this allows you a greater deal of control; it also involves the greatest amount of effort on your part and isn't recommended for everyone. Many people prefer not to do this not only because of the effort involved but the amount of smoke produced (this is particularly problematic for larger batches of coffee). Manual roasting is much more labor intensive but is also much cheaper and provides for more control over the roasting process. The other thing you can do is purchase equipment (small appliances) designed specifically for coffee roasting. While some swear by this, others claim that problems do occur. There is rarely 100% perfection in any endeavor however and as far as I'm concerned, the ease of use in addition to the flavor benefit is worth the expense of these machines as well as the risk of an occasional bad batch.

Be careful that you use these machines as they were intended. Failure to follow instructions and making oversized batches can invalidate the warranty and break the machine. The purpose of home roasting is to have freshly roasted coffee. You don't want to make huge batches at one time or the flavor will be lost before the beans are used. If you really love your favorite roast of coffee and you prefer it fresh, a home roaster might be an excellent investment for your coffee drinking pleasure.