Roasting
Light, medium, dark: what roast level really means
Roast level changes how a coffee tastes more than almost anything else. Our head roaster explains what happens inside the drum and how to pick the right roast for you.
Noemi Castillo5 min read
Green coffee beans are hard, grassy and taste nothing like coffee. Roasting is what turns them into the drink we love. In about twelve minutes, sugars caramelise, acids change and hundreds of aromatic compounds form. Where we stop that process decides almost everything about the cup.
What happens in the roaster
Around eight minutes in, beans make a cracking sound, a bit like popcorn. We call it first crack. It is the moment water inside the bean turns to steam and bursts its structure open. From there, every few seconds matters.
- Light roasts stop shortly after first crack, keeping bright acidity and fruity, floral notes
- Medium roasts develop for a minute or two longer, balancing sweetness, body and acidity
- Dark roasts push toward or into second crack, bringing out smoky, bittersweet flavours and heavy body
Despite the myth, darker roasts do not contain more caffeine. By weight, they have slightly less, because roasting longer burns off a little mass. The bold taste comes from roast flavour, not from extra kick.
Why we roast the way we do
Most of our coffees sit at light to medium. That is where you can taste the difference between a washed Ethiopian grown at 2,100 metres and a natural Colombian from Huila. Roast much darker and they both start to taste like the roast itself.
Our House Blend is a little more developed. It needs to taste good in a latte, stand up to oat milk and work in an office drip machine at 3 p.m. on a Thursday. Chocolate and toffee do that job better than jasmine.
There is no correct roast level. There is only the coffee you want to drink tomorrow morning.
Finding your roast
If you drink your coffee black and enjoy wine or fruit tea, try a light single origin like our Ethiopia Guji. If you take milk, start with something medium like the Colombia El Mirador or the House Blend. And if you have always loved dark roast, try a medium side by side. You might be surprised how much sweetness you have been missing.
Better still, come to our free public cupping on the first Saturday of each month. You will taste three roast levels of the same coffee and find out for yourself.
