Understanding Light, Medium and Dark Roast
Have you ever been surprised by the many stages of coffee roasting? One would suppose that the difference between the colours, or perhaps the differences in caffeine content, is what separates them into the various roast degrees. Even if this could be the case, each coffee roast level has unique qualities that serve as its primary means of differentiation. A fun fact about coffee beans is that they are a light shade of green before roasting, which may seem obvious to some people but often surprises them. Coffee beans absorb heat during roasting, changing their colour to a darker colour.
Coffee Roast Levels
However, other aspects affect the flavour of your chosen beverage in addition to the type of drink. The kind of bean roast that was used in its preparation is one of them. The flavour of the beverage you create or buy will be greatly influenced by the sort of roast you choose.
The difference between coffee roasts is one of the things we are asked most commonly. Everyone has a preferred roast level, and we're here to explain how each of them varies from one another. We refer to the length of time and intensity of our roasting of the coffee beans as "roast levels." Light, Medium, and Dark are the most common terms used to define various coffee roasting degrees.
With the light roast, let's begin. The lighter beans have been roasted for less time. Coffee beans that have been lightly roasted have a light brown colour and lack surface oils since they have not been roasted long enough for the oils to do so. They'll smell fruity, and the aromas of their place of origin will be more apparent. See our single-origin light roast beans. Once they reach a medium brown colour, coffee beans are regarded as medium roasted. The idea that light roasts don't contain as much caffeine as their darker, stronger versions is a common one. The opposite, however, is true! The caffeine in beans gradually cooks away when they roast. As a result, more caffeine from the initial green coffee bean is retained in lightly roasted beans since they roast more quickly and at a lower temperature.
What type of coffee has a light roast?
You might be curious about what kind of coffee employs a light roast. Except for espresso, you may use light-roasted coffee in a variety of coffee beverages. Pour-over and drip brew techniques, which bring out more flavours in the beans, may also be utilised with lightly roasted beans. You should make your coffee so that you can determine what is ideal for you because what you enjoy may differ from what another individual like. If you want coffee with light and delicate tastes, go for the light roast.
The most widely consumed coffee in the United States is a medium roast, commonly referred to as American roast or city roast. Some taste elements are still there with a medium roast, but they have a more toasted flavour that may also be slightly bitter. Coffees that have been given a medium roast have a medium brown colour and little surface oil. In comparison to a light roast, medium roast coffee is said to be sweeter and to have a more balanced acidity. This mixture produces a smooth taste. The first foray into the realm of coffee roasting was the medium roast style. We can taste the coffee beans' natural characteristics without giving them a burned flavour by not roasting them too darkly. Because it still has interesting elements of nuts, chocolate, and fruits along with the typical dark roast characteristics, the medium roast can serve as a gateway coffee for some dark roast users.
Flavours
To put it another way, a medium roast is a roast that is "just perfect" between light and dark. The sweet tastes include caramel, nougat, and brown sugar. Almonds, peanut butter, and other nutty tastes are all included. The delicious flavours include c berries. A medium roast coffee can have a creamy or tea-like texture and weight. Acidity might be gentle, fruity, or complex.
Coffees that have been deeply roasted have a colour that is near to black. The beans are characterized by a thick layer of glossing oil. Nearly all of the coffee's original tastes have been roasted off, leaving just an extremely strong, smokey flavour. Dark roast coffee has an oily face and a shiny black colour. It tastes bittersweet, in contrast to other roast types. Dark roasts typically taste very bitter to the taste. This is also because some bean tastes are lost during roasting.
Compared to the previous two kinds, these beans have been roasted a little longer. These beans have been roasting for enough time that the oils have been released. Coffee beans that have been darkly roasted are typically roasted between 221 and 248 degrees Celsius. Dark roasted beans' lower acidity makes them a perfect match for cream or milk. Pour-over or drip brewing techniques can be used to prepare this roast. Due to their different names, buying a Dark Roast from another roaster might be confusing. Some of these are espresso roast, French, Italian, New Orleans, and Continental roast.
Final Thoughts
It is seen that medium roast coffee has the ideal balance of each side, even though light, medium, and dark roast all have their distinctive flavours, health advantages, and caffeine contents. In the past five years, medium roasts have returned in style as more focus has been placed on a day-to-day, easy sipping. These coffees aren't as complex as the ones from the early 2010s. You consume a considerable quantity of caffeine with a cup of medium roast coffee. For our new Clean Coffee, we decided on a medium roast and then adjusted it to make it the best cup of coffee on the market. With modern processing and harvesting techniques, the quality of light-roasted coffee is still rising quickly. These coffees continue to demand extremely high prices because they are always challenging our perceptions of what coffee can taste like and pushing the envelope.