So this morning I tested my roast from yesterday. I burned out my initial popcorn maker (about a year of use outdoors in a shed, so I got my $12 worth from it) just after the first crack started so I had to cool the beans and go to Superstore for a new, cheap popcorn maker. This one is better: seems hotter, more powerful fan, and has an on/off switch which is nice. No more reaching past the hot popcorn popper to pull the plug (or using a power bar).
Anyway, I was fascinated with the roasting power of the new popper and let the beans go well into dark roast territory. Much darker than I could get with the old popper. This, combined with my lack of a decent grinder, led to a bitter espresso. I currently grind with a blender, screwing a mason jar full of coffee beans onto the blender base instead of the blender jug. Works great for anything bigger than espresso.
At some point I'll get a decent burr grinder and for now I'll use my home-roasted beans for regular coffee (made in one of those stove-top espresso makers for my thermos) and continue using Illy in my espresso machine (Breville 800esxl).
Looking forward to roasting again soon... Now that I can do it indoors (new fume hood is powerful enough to suck up all the coffee roasting smoke) I'll do a few 85g batches back to back instead of just one 85g batch out in the shed.
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