I’ve been roasting for several years, starting with a Cach and Dani’s, then a FreshRoast, then an I-Roast 1, then a Gene Cafe and finally a Behmor, which I love. I also played around with a heat gun and aluminum bowl for a while, which is fun but tough on the arms.

None of these roasters is tough or time-consuming, and the Behmor can be used inside with only an open window for ventilation without setting off the smoke alarms. The coffee you get is better than nearly everything you can buy pre-roasted, and cheaper than you’d pay for good-quality roasted beans. I figure at a pound a week you’d make up the roaster’s cost in just over a year, even though saving money is really not what makes home roasting a big deal.

When I hit the roast right, which is just about every time now, my wife’s morning latte tastes as if I’d put chocolate in it. To me, that’s what makes it a big deal.