Light to Dark: A Quick Walk Through the Different Levels

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Most people don’t think too much about the different kinds of coffee. They only think about the one that they normally get in the store. It’s understandable, we don’t like when we’re forced to change as well. But if you are feeling a little froggy, let’s go through the differences of different roasts. As they change, you can get wholly different flavors and bring out different aspects of the coffee. It can lead you too some wonderful finds in your next cup.  

So what are they? 

Basically, you have your light, medium, dark. Bam, done. Nothing else to worry about. Have a good day. 

Seriously, we’ll start off with light, also known as cinnamon, light city, and New England. Why so many, because no one really knows where the end marker is on each level. It’s light brown with very little to no no oil. They will also have crisp acidity (which will explain in a different post about this). These are not roasted past the first crack, So they can hit temperatures of 340-410 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Next up, is the medium roast.

Again, there is a plethora of roast levels inside this range. You must hit temps of 410-464F and go past 2nd crack. Really, quite a large range. There are lots of different names for this level: city, regular, American, which are usually below 428 degrees. Then you have ones like Vienna, full-city, are going from 429-464.

These types are generally will give you a balance between acidity, aroma, and flavor. Each one will lean a bit towards one of those, but a much better balance than light or dark roasts. 

The daunted dark roast.

These guys are the trickiest of all. Go too long, ash. Not long enough, loss of their flavor. You really must hit a sweet spot for them to be perfection. Their temp levels are 464-482 degrees. So not much room to navigate them. Hit your mark and get them out of the roaster and cooling. Different names for these are Italian, French, Spanish, New Orleans, espresso.  

These are all going to be less dense, and will have a smoky, burnt/bitter taste to them. They will also have oils on the surface of the roasted bean.  

If you are looking to see which one has the most punch of caffeine, it will always be the lighter roasts. The longer your roast your beans the more that is extracted out of them. Darker you go the thinner, if you will, the bean becomes.  

The medium roasts are going to be most people’s cup of choice. But inside of them, you have a large variety of options. The large range that you have to choose from gives everyone a chance to find something unique in their cup.  

So, don’t get stuck on only one choice. Move around, buy a 2 oz travel pack if you want to try out a new one. 

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