Home coffee roasting  

I have always heard Starbucks over-roasts their beans. Beans from different localities can take certain roast levels (there are several...goto Sweet Marias to see a detailed tutorial). But I'm more convinced it's the freshness that makes the most difference between good & bad coffee. Home roasting guarantees you have the freshest coffee because you can control how long beans sit. From everything I've read before diving head-first into home roasting, 2-3 weeks after roasting & coffee starts getting stale. I do know this, the smell following the normal rest period after coffee has been roasted is completely different from beans I had purchased from the grocery store that sat several months. Stale beans have a very harsh, burnt odor. Trust me, when you can compare old coffee to fresh you'll know it. I would say old coffee has a bitter taste but people that don't like coffee say it's bitter anyway. I truly believe you would notice the difference. Once I started roasting beans at home the money savings was just an added bonus.