Coffee Roasts

Coffee roasting is the chemical process by which aromatics, acids, and other flavor components are either created, balanced, or altered in a way that will change flavor, acidity, aftertaste, and body of the coffee as desired by the roaster. Sounds important doesn't it?!

Roasting Time

The length of time a coffee bean is roasted directly affect the flavor. The longer the beans are roasted the stronger the flavor. The dark color of coffee is directly related to the caramelization of the sucrose in coffee. To maximize sweetness you want to minimize the carmelization of sucrose, yet you do not want to roast too lightly or bitter tasting compounds will not thermally degrade.

  • Medium Roast - Makes for a moderate brew popular roasts that fall into this category include American Roast or Regular Roast.
  • Heavy Roast - Results in deep chocolate brown beans and produce a strong coffee. French roast and Italian roast are some popular roast that fall into this category.
  • Combined Roast - This is when ratios of medium roast and heavy roast are combined to make new categories. For example, European roast is two-thrids heavy roast to medium roast and Viennese roast is the opposite proportions.

Stages of Roasting Coffee Beans

The second step is often called the first crack. This occurs at approximately 400F (205C), it cause the bean to double in size and turn a light brown color, and like anything stuck in really hot temperatures the bean experiences a small weight loss. The third step is a short endothermic period followed by another exothermic step and is often called the second crack. The roast color is defined as medium-dark brown and in this step the beans take on an oily sheen.

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