Idea #408 – Roasting your own coffee in the Nicaraguan forest
The process of the production of the coffee consists of several essential stages. When coffee beans are collected, they are still green, without aroma nor flavor. At first, grains are extracted from the cherry, before being separated from the ‘parchment’ which surrounds them. The phase of the roasting, the main stage of the manufacturing of the coffee discovered by chance by the Arabs in the XIVth century comes then, which is going to allow to extract the deepest aromas.
The operation takes place in a cylindrical grill, a roaster, a device provided with a heating drum, in permanent rotation so that grains, always in movement, are roasted in a uniform way and without burning. The system can be mechanical, or completely manual, as Esteban does. When the coffee is introduced into the cylinder, the temperature is between 180°C and 220 °C. The end of the cooking is visibly made by very experimented craftsmen, in two sessions. After the roasting, the coffee bean changed color, set of the volume and lost of its weight: on 150 kg before of the roasting, there remains 120 kg because of the loss in water of the grain. The coffee must be cooled then quickly, in the water or in the air. Indeed, he would continue his cooking, if we left him as is and we would obtain a more elaborate roasting that that wished.
The roasting is rich in an infinity of nuances: light (blonde or New England), average (amber or American), averagely pushed (monk’s dress or Light French, the most usual in France), pushed (brunette or French), very elaborate (very brown or Dark French or Italian). Once these realized stages, it remains only to taste the coffee !
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Around Esteli, Nicaragua
