The first coffee roasting happened in the…
15th century
They began it…
The Ottoman Empire and Greater Persia
First vessel(s) used for roasting coffee beans…
The earliest vessels were thin and circular. They were mostly perforated pans made from metal or porcelain. Another type was a shallow pan resembling a dish with a long handle so that it could be hand-held over a vessel of hot coals till the coffee beans got roasted.
However, thanks to the size of the vessel, a small amount of beans could be roasted at one time.
Commercial vs Home-based Roasters
Early folks roasted coffee beans in the confines of their kitchen in ovens. A little later, commercial roasters entered the scene, but they couldn’t compete much with home roasters thanks to appliances made for them.
First appliance(s) for Home-based Roasters…
The earliest roasting device was a spherical coffee roaster invented in Cincinnati, Ohio. It could be conveniently fitted on top of a kitchen stove (that used wood for burning) with a burner opening. Local shops were the source of green beans and the preferred roasting techniques were to lay coffee beans on a metal sheet in the oven or stirring the beans in a cast-iron skillet on fire.
Breaking commercial patterns…
Commercially roasted coffee packs made inroads between 1864 and 1900s in both US and Germany. The initial weight of the packets was 0.45 kgs.