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A Quick Guide to Coffee Roasts

INTRODUCTION

Science and art meet in the act of roasting coffee. During the roasting process, sugars, starches and fats within the coffee bean are emulsified, caramelized, and released, creating the fragile coffee oil. This oil is the substance that gives coffee its flavor and aroma.

Choosing a degree of roast for a particular regional coffee or blend of coffees is a complex process that often relies on trial and error to perfect. Ideally you choose a roast that maximizes body and aromatic complexity . Coffee roasters often use terms like "cinnamon" "city" and "french" to describe the degree of roast of a particular coffee. Without a point of reference these terms can be ambigious.

Understanding the style of roast used by the vendor you purchase your coffee from will ensure you select the coffee that best suits your taste.

THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS ROASTS

A lightly roasted bean may range in color from cinnamon to a light chocolate-tan. Lighter roasts are generally not used for espresso since they produce a sharper, more acidic taste than do darker roasts.

Darker roasts, in contrast, have fuller flavor, approaching a bittersweet tang. The amount of oil drawn to the surface of the bean increases proportionately to the length of the roasting time. Dark roasts can range in color from a medium chocolate color with a satin-like luster, to an almost black bean with an oily appearance.

The darker the roast the more you will taste the char, rather than the flavor of the bean. Many extreme dark roasts will tend to have a smokey flavor and are better suited for brewed coffee rather than espresso. As the roast darkens, caffeine and acidity decrease proportionately.

CINNAMON ROAST

The lightest roast, "cinnamon", is the color of bark cinnamon and does not have oil on the surface. Large manufacturers often incorporate very light-roasted coffee into their blends, because roasting for a short time saves both money and adds bulk -- the less time in the roaster, the lower the weight loss and the higher the yeild. A cinnamon roast rarely appears in specialty coffee shops though, because it is low in body and high in clorogenic acid, which produces a grassy taste

CITY / FULL CITY ROAST

"City" is barely darker than cinnamon, and "full city" is used for a medium roast, more or less a dark cinnamon color with no oil on the surface. Most of Longbottom's regional coffees are full city roasted.

VIENNA ROAST

At the next darker roast, the beans are half-covered with oil droplets and their color is a uniform milk-chocolate brown, verging on bittersweet chocolate.

FRENCH ROAST

Oil completely covers the beans and they are the color of bittersweet chocolate. At that point, the beans are heavily carbonized, and one kind of bean more or less tastes like another.

NOTE: Espresso roast is often associated with French roast, however, an espresso should be roasted much lighter.

Table of Roasts:

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