[mdavis6890]

I endorse Sweet Maria's! I've been ordering from them every few months for many years, and I think they're great. Aside from good raw coffee, they usually add a little postcard or other nice touch inside the package as well. Last time I got a whole (empty) burlap coffee sack that must have come from the grower. Neat!

I also use the popcorn-popper roasting method and with just a little practice turns out excellent results. I've been doing it this way for 10 years. While I could upgrade to a fancier roasting method, I've never found the need. If this seems like too much time/work considering it's 15min of constant attention over the stove, consider whether it's any faster to go out and buy pre-roasted coffee.

One word of caution on the espresso section of the article: I think his price-point thresholds are too low. I don't think you will have acceptable results less than double those numbers. You might get away with a $300 grinder, but even $500 is at the very lowest end of an acceptable espresso machine. You're better off with pour-over then.

[ndsipa_pomu]

I found using the popcorn machine for roasting took too much attention, but here in the UK I had to adjust for external temperatures and resorted to putting the machine in a large cardboard box during winter to get the temperature high enough (re-cycling the hot air) which of course is a bit of a fire risk. Also, you can only roast quite small amounts at a time (e.g. 100g) whereas my Behmor can happily handle 150g, but doesn't need constant watching.

Edit: Just realised you're likely using a stove-top popcorn maker which I've never tried. I used an electric hot-air popcorn maker which has the advantage of blowing the beans around so they roast evenly and also blowing the chaff out of the top/side chute (outdoor usage recommended).

[mdavis6890]

Yes - for clarification I'm talking about using a stove-top whirly-pop style pop-corn-popper. I can do about 250g at a time.