Starting the day with coffee

By Rennie Phillips

As a boy growing up on a ranch in Nebraska, coffee was something we drank pretty much all day long. Mom and Dad had coffee for breakfast, dinner and supper. But there was a coffee break midmorning and there also was coffee in the middle of the afternoon. I can't remember if they had coffee in the evening. Dad doctored up his coffee with cream and sugar and it seems like Mom drank hers black. Dad fixed his coffee so it was almost like creamed sugary soup. It sure was good to dip cookies in.

I can't remember drinking coffee until college. Long hours almost made coffee a necessity. Coffee sure helped keep the eyes open while studying, but it was more of an occasional habit. I was never real particular about the brand or kind or even how I drank it.

About 15 years ago, I got to talking with my brother in Nebraska and found out he was roasting his own coffee. He had bought an aluminum Whirley Bird Popcorn Roaster. He would put an old cast-iron skillet on a gas burner and set the roaster in the skillet. He probably put about half to two-thirds of a cup of green coffee beans in the roaster. It was slow when he was heating the skillet and it transferred the heat to the roaster, but it worked: home-roasted coffee beans.

Not saying anything against my brother, but I thought to myself if he can do it, so can I. So I did some checking and ordered a stainless steel Whirley Bird Popcorn Roaster. I also ordered some green coffee beans. I was in business. I used the side burner on my old gas grill and it worked perfectly. I tried using a cast-iron skillet like my brother, but it didn't work for me. I put my roaster right on the burner. I burned the first couple batches of coffee to smithereens. But my burned batches of coffee sure seasoned the popcorn roaster. After a few batches I kind of got the hang of roasting green coffee beans and the results were impressive, at least to me.

When I bought my roaster, I also bought a 3-tasse French press. It was supposed to be a 3-cup French press, but it only filled an average coffee cup. I bought one of those cheap coffee grinders. I was in business. I couldn't believe how much of a difference my home-roasted, ground and French press coffee tasted. I had been drinking regular grind store-bought coffee, so this fresh roasted coffee was totally new.

So I drank coffee beans from Kenya, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Colombia, Costa Rica and the list goes on and on. Awesome. But there were times when I simply burned the beans until they were worthless. So I'd pitch a batch now and then. Some I ended up under-roasting. I drank it even though it wasn't the best. But every now and then all the pieces fell into place and I ended up roasting a batch to perfection. That was the goal.

My brother in Nebraska keeps roasting his coffee just as I do. We still use our Whirley Bird stainless popcorn roasters, but not as much as we used to. About two years ago I started to use a regular hot air popcorn roaster. I sort of retired my old Whirley roaster. Now I pretty much just use my hot air popcorn roasters.

I ordered one air roaster from Sweet Maria's, an online store out of California. They have a kind of startup kit with green coffee beans and an air popcorn roaster. It does a decent job.

Now I roast my coffee beans just enough that I get that fresh roasted coffee taste, but I stop while I can taste the subtle hints of the coffee region where it came from. Each country and region grows coffee beans with a very specific taste profile. I roast the green beans so these single origin tastes stand right out. If one roasts the coffee too dark, all these single origin hints disappear. Over-roasted coffee just tastes burned.

The day before yesterday I drank the last of the beans I'd roasted from Costa Rica. But even as I was about to run out of Costa Rica, I started to roast green coffee beans from Tanzania. Both the beans from Costa Rica and Tanzania are good drinking coffees, but they taste a lot different. The Costa Rica is smoother and more subtle. The Tanzania is stronger and more in your face.

I still use my French press now and then. I also use an AeroPress now and then. Right now I pretty much use a Clever dripper to make my coffee. I grind between 3 and 4 tablespoons of roasted coffee beans, put this ground coffee in a filter that fits in my Clever dripper, and then add about 200-degree hot water. I add about 16 to 18 ounces of hot water. This fills a very old 6-ounce coffee cup and a coffee mug. I drink enough coffee that I add a little cream to help my stomach adapt.

So my morning starts out with two 6-ounce cups and two coffee mugs that are probably 12 ounces. On some days I need another round. Some days I will take a coffee break in the afternoon.

Coffee is how I start my day.

Until next time.