Understanding Roast Levels.
So we all know there’s light, medium, and dark roast coffee. But what does each roast level mean, and how does it effect your cup of coffee?
The basics
Simply put, roast level is a result of how long a coffee has been roasted for. All un-roasted coffee starts off as green coffee: the technical term for un-roasted coffee. It kind of looks like a green peanut. As green coffee gets roasted, it goes from green to pale, to yellow, to light brown, brown, dark brown, etc… A light roast coffee is a coffee that has been roasted for a shorter amount of time compared to a dark roast coffee. Think of it like grilling a steak. Steak that’s been prepared rare has been grilled for a shorter amount of time than a well-done steak. This article will go into the basics of how roast level affects your cup of coffee.
Caffeine Levels in Light vs Medium vs Dark
Specifically speaking, coffee roasters use more specific terms when talking about roast levels like, “City Roast,” “City+,” “Full City Roast,” etc… We use those terms too. But for the purposes of this article, we’re going to stick to the general terms of light, medium, and dark.
Roast level has many other significant affects on coffee. But to keep it simple, we’re going to focus on two main areas: caffeine levels and flavor. Below is simple guide to explain the relationship between roast level and caffeine level.
Lighter the roast = higher caffeine
Darker the roast = lower the caffeine
This is typically why light roast coffee is considered a morning or “breakfast” coffee, and a dark roast coffee is an evening coffee. Basically, green coffee (un-roasted coffee) has the highest level of caffeine, and the caffeine is “cooked out” as it heated up in the roaster. So the longer coffee is roasted, the more caffeine gets roasted out of the bean.
Roast Levels and flavor
Flavor in coffee is a study all in its own. It can be broken down in a lot of different ways. For the purposes of this article though, we’re going to keep it simple and focus on two main attributes: origin flavor and roast flavor.
Origin flavor in coffee is defined as flavors that are intrinsic to a particular coffee from a particular origin. Coffee has different flavors depending on where and how it is grown and processed. And when we say, “flavors,” we mean flavors like fruity, herbal, sweet, nutty, berry, etc. Not like “French vanilla” or hazelnut flavored coffee.
Roast flavor contrasts origin flavor in that it’s not tied to a specific region or origin but rather to the roasting process. The longer a bean is roasted, the more roast flavor is imparted. Roast flavor is usually depicted as chocolate, bittersweet, or burnt.
The flavor relationship between origin flavor and roast flavor is like a sliding scale. The more origin flavor, the less roast flavor and vice versa. This matters because each single origin coffee has a unique origin flavor (or “flavor profile), and how the roaster master roasts the bean will determine how much of that origin flavor is expressed or suppressed. We’ll go into more detail about origin flavor and roast flavor in another article.
Bringing it all together
As long as the coffee you’re drinking is high quality and roasted thoughtfully, you can’t go wrong really (…this is just our opinion). But if you’d like a more informed approach when choosing your next bag of coffee, here’s a guide:
Light roast: Higher caffeine, origin flavor eclipses roast flavor
Medium roast: Medium caffeine, origin flavor and roast flavor are balanced
Dark roast: Lower caffeine, roast flavor eclipses origin flavor