Russell Home Roasting About

From curiosity
To reality.

I started drinking coffee like many others: when I became a parent. A simple pour over setup introduced me to the joy of a morning ritual while also transporting my senses to the countries where coffee is grown. As I made small tweaks to recipes and learned more about the science and art of coffee, I began to appreciate the details many specialty roasters provide. The origin, elevation, soil, variety, processing method, and roasting profile can all drastically impact flavor. In exploring how small changes affect coffee, I wanted to compare similar coffees with slight differences, but traceable specialty coffee can be hard to find locally. There are some great local roasters, but they often do not carry the same origin with different processing methods. That search is what introduced me to home roasting.

As a tinkerer at heart, home roasting fit a niche I did not know existed. Coffee roasting is a combination of thermodynamics, data analysis, food science, and art. Add in the prototyping and modifications required to get a roaster running, and I was hooked.

My first roaster was a modified West Bend Poppery II. It was (and still is) an excellent home roaster, though it took me about two hours to roast a 12oz bag. With encouragement from friends and family, I eventually moved up to a small drum roaster capable of keeping up with demand. The programming, modifications, and troubleshooting are what keep things interesting.

I look forward to sharing some coffee with you!

- Mitchell Russell