By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
Those of you who know me are aware of my fondness for coffee. My bio even states I’m a coffee 
snob. Actually, just like some of you have a favorite recipe for triple layer chocolate cake or yeast rolls or delicious soup, I’m particular about my coffee.
This weekend, I roasted some of my favorite beans from different parts of the world, and I wanted to share with you just how easy it is to home-roast coffee beans.
Here’s a list of what you’ll need:
- Green beans – that’s what they call unroasted coffee beans
- An air corn-popper. I use two poppers so one machine can cool while another batch is roasting. My popper is a West Bend 82419 Air Crazy. Its design works better than newer models.
- A method of timing the roasting.
- A strainer to catch the roasted beans with a wet paper towel inserted to catch the chaff.
- A second strainer to shake out excess.
- A cookie sheet for beans to cool.
- Small jelly jars with lids or a storage container designed to keep your beans. at the peak of flavor.
- A journal to record the type of beans, how long they were roasted, and your response to the taste.
Here’s what the prep looks like. Your senses will go nuts! Inhale the rich nutty aroma. Listen 
to the first and second crack of the beans as they abandon their shells. Imagine the first sip of your coffee.
Here’s a DiAnn tip: The process always sets off my smoke detector in the kitchen. Consider removing it until you’re finished.
I prefer a dark roast, so my roast time is from 14 1/2 minutes to 16 minutes depending on the type of beans. A milder roast can be much shorter. Each person has to 
figure out what works best for his/her personal taste.
Be sure to leave the lid loose on your storage for about 8 hours so your coffee beans can breathe, and all those yummy oils can swirl into them.
Here’s the secret! I learned everything about how to home-roast my coffee beans at Sweet Marias. This site is amazing! https://www.sweetmarias.com/
And I watched this video several times (I’m a slow learner) until I memorized each step. Take a look at how simple the process. http://legacy.sweetmarias.com/airpop/airpopmethod.php
I’m not telling you my favorite beans because that would take away the fun for you.
My goal is to develop a roast of my own called Adventure Coffee. I’ll let you know when I have
the perfect blend.
Are you ready to roast your own coffee beans?
DiAnn’s Library Corner
This week begins a special Library Corner. Each week I’ll post a tip that will help you reach out to readers and encourage them to return again and again to your library.
Stay healthy – your patrons need you!
We have contest winners from last month’s Crazy4Fiction Giveaway! I’ve heard back from all of the lucky people except one.
Congratulations to:
Amanda – Grand Prize of Kindle Paper White loaded with lots of DiAnn Mills books.
Leann – A $50.00 Gift Certificate.
Mary Lynn – Texas Shaped Cutting Board.
Debra – Texas Fudge. Yum!
Kathi – A personalized copy of Deadly Encounter.
Pamela – A personalized copy of Deadly Encounter.