What do you do with that old hot air popcorn popper? Roast coffee? That couldn’t work.

After a brief visit to Metropolis on Granville (coffee roasters and cafe) refreshed my barista days post college I started thinking more about coffee. I figured a hot air popcorn popper is pretty much the exact same thing but accepts way smaller quantity. The Metropolis guys are not using hot air (so you know). I had a “Popcorn Pumper” from a salvation army trip and figured what the heck.

I filled up the popcorn measuring cup with green beans purchased at the Ethiopian bodega on Broadway just south of Granville and poured them in. Plugging the machine in, (thus turning it on) and setting a timer for 10 minutes was all the prep needed except for setting a big bowl next to it to catch the chaff (if that is what it’s called).

The last time I roasted was around January and the weather really affected the roasting time. I let the beans go then for about 12- 16 minutes and they were dark but not too dark. This time we’re talking 6-8 minutes and they’re just as dark. They have that great oily sheen to them and smell chocolaty and terrific. You want to do this outside. There is smoke and flotsam from the process. All the more fun on a cold morning. Let them cool before you grind and brew.

I thought I was crafty but, of course, a search on the internet for “hot air coffee roasting” yielded many results and, I’m sure, many ways to improve and personalize this process.

Ethipoian green beans run $5.99 a pound and bulk up when roasted. The weight doesn’t equal the size.