When buying coffee, one of the first things you'll need to choose from is the types of coffee roasts.
There are three main types of coffee roasts although, they each overlap which creates five types of coffee roasts, if you want to get specific.
In this article, I'll describe all five coffee roast types and how to choose one, or two based on what flavours you enjoy the most.
So why is it so difficult to choose the right roast type?
It all starts with the fact that we are all different. Our diet and breadth of food and drink choice have an impact on what coffee roasts we like.
Since your palette will have grown accustomed to more or less bitterness or more or less acidity for example.
Some people have a sweet tooth and some don't. For this reason, there is a wide ranging choice of coffee roasts which all have a significant impact on flavour when we sip on that gorgeous cup of speciality coffee.
I'll also delve into the different types of bean blends and roasts so you can learn how many types of coffee beans are there roasted.
I'll also teach you what flavour notes you might expect from each roast type. Including what works best as black coffee and what works best with milky style coffees.
Although, these our general guidelines, coffee is totally subjective like most food and drink therefore, you should trust your own palette along the way as that's the most accurate tool.
What's the difference between 'strength' in coffee roasts?
1. Light Roast
So what are the characteristics associated with a light roasted coffee?
A light roast has visual differences that make it distinct when compared to a medium or dark roasted coffee. This roast type is light brown in colour and the bean is less brittle.
Since the bean itself is harder, this means it takes a little more grinding powder to grind light roasted coffee into tiny particles suitable for coffee brewing.
Why is the light roasted coffee bean harder than dark roast you might ask?
It's simply down to the coffee roasting process. A light roast is roasted for a lower duration of time than a dark roast. Hence the colour change since the darker roast looks 'more cooked'.
Time isn't the only variable though. Darker roasts can be roasted at hotter temperatures too, which are carefully managed through the 'roast curve'.
Of course, this isn't an issue when you're using an electric coffee bean grinder.
2. Medium-Light Roast
3. Medium Roast
4. Medium-Dark Roast
5. Dark Roast
If you're into stronger, harsher flavours then choosing a dark roasted coffee is definitely for you.
https://coffeeaffection.com/types-of-coffee-roasts/
Coffee roast levels
Dark roast vs medium roast.
Caffeine content between coffee roasts.
Light roast coffee vs dark roast?
Why do different coffees have different roasts? Does this affect flavour? Will dark roast coffee have more caffeine, or will a light roast coffee have more? What really is “strength” in the context of supermarket packaging? Let’s delve in and investigate. Dark Roast Coffee vs Light Roast.
Light, Medium and Dark Roast Coffee
At Balance Coffee, we generally roast light to medium end of the roasting scale as we believe roasted coffee tastes better this way as it retains the natural sweetness from the original raw bean.
In essence, the darker you roast coffee beans, the more bitter the coffee becomes. There is no reason to say it’s a negative, if that’s what your taste buds desire then that is what you like.
Moving on to supermarket coffee, this is more-or-less the same thing as “strength”. And it has less to do with strength in terms of the caffeine content but how much it has been roasted on a scale of light to dark.
Generally speaking, you won’t find lightly roasted coffee in the supermarkets as the shelf life is shorter than dark roast coffee. .
What's the difference between light and dark roast coffee?Are Dark Roasts Stronger?
It depends how you define “stronger”. If you’re linking supermarket rating scales and our roast levels, then yes - the higher the number, the darker the roast.
Darker beans or, coffee that’s been roasted for longer, has been heated to higher temperatures during the roasting process.
This means, they become denser due to the breakdown of acids and thus, a bitter flavour profile is produced. The reason supermarkets stock dark roasted coffee is for commercial purposes; to mask poor quality and an increased shelf life.
Dark Roast Coffee - Does That Mean There's More Caffeine?
What is the difference then between strength of flavour and caffeine content? Does light roast or dark roasted coffee pack more of a punch? It’s a tricky subject matter as there are a lot of variables at play.
It’s not just down to the beans themselves, it’s also about what method you use to make coffee. For example, pourover coffee methods like V60, Kalita or Chemex will produce more caffeine than an Aeropress.
Alexa Tucker writes a great article on how each brew method produces varying amounts of caffeine. To summarise, dark and light roasted coffee beans have pretty much the same levels of caffeine.
However, if we are talking about a single cup of coffee, dark roasts will have a higher caffeine content.
The reason for this is they have less mass - they physically use more beans per gram than a lightly roasted coffee which in turn means there will be more caffeine present. Enjoy this article?
Sign up to our Balance Coffee Club newsletter below for monthly recipes, tips and hacks that'll improve your coffee game!
