This story was originally published by Canary Media.

Some people had sourdough to help get them through the pandemic.

Zach Whitney had coffee beans.

The former barista began experimenting during the COVID-19 lockdown with a small, electric coffee roaster, seeing what flavors he could coax from tiny batches of fresh beans in his suburban Minneapolis kitchen.

“Unlike homebrew [beer], people wanted my coffee,” Whitney quipped about the early results he shared with friends.

Small electric appliances have long been an entry point for at-home coffee roasting, which like other craft hobbies saw an uptick during the pandemic. Almost all commercial roasting today, however, happens in gas-powered machines, which tend to come with more scale and precision — and greenhouse gas emissions — compare

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