Dark Roast Coffee Beans vs Medium Roasted Coffee Beans

I'm surprised, Oscar, that you would use the term Espresso when describing a type of roast. The degree of roasts for espresso change according to taste. I've roasted to just past second crack when the oil beads a little on the surface on some blends and the crema and taste was extraordinary. I do admit there is a range ideal for espresso, there is no one point in the range that is best.

Also, to say that a Dark roast is only good for espresso is not correct. A dark roast can add body to an otherwise thin cup of coffee.

We need to stress diversity in taste for coffee and it's roasts here in the USA. Us yanks have relinquished ourselves to a weak stale cup for far too long. So long in fact, that most yanks taste a real fresh,properly made cup of coffee and wonder what's wrong with it. When we, as professionals, pidgeon hole roasts and beans, the public follows suit and thinks that's how it should always be, thus cutting themselves off from another world of taste.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mikeftrevino

We need to stress diversity in taste for coffee and it's roasts here in the USA. Us yanks have relinquished ourselves to a weak stale cup for far too long. So long in fact, that most yanks taste a real fresh,properly made cup of coffee and wonder what's wrong with it. When we, as professionals, pidgeon hole roasts and beans, the public follows suit and thinks that's how it should always be, thus cutting themselves off from another world of taste.

---

Yes! Down with Truck-Stop-Coffee! Blech!!!!
I am not a professional roaster, but I AM a professional drinker! LOL

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by haldir

Another thing I read that I found surprising the darker coffees have less caffeine than medium roasts.

---

YES THEY DO HAVE MORE THAN REGULAR ROASTS BUT I ACTUALLY HEARD THIS WHILE I WAS ON VACATION IN PUERTO VALLARTA MEXICO IT IS ACTUALLY A WEIRD STORY i WAS OUT DEEP SEA FISHING WITH WWW.PUERTOVALLARTAFISH.COM WHEN THE CAPTAIN OF THE BOAT TOLD ME ALL ABOUT IT HE WAS RAISED COLUMBIA AND MY GOD THIS MAN KNOW MORE ABOUT COFFEE THEN ANY ONE i HAD EVER MET

Hmm, maybe ask Mr Steve Diedrich, about caffene stability in heat....So far as I know heat esp the low heat coffee is roasted at doesn't affect caffine content. I asked this very question during a roasing class.

see:
Pasted from:http://www.roastmagazine.com/backiss...necontrol.html
.................................................. .................................................. ............................
Roast Level



Beyond selection of the green beans, the roaster is commonly thought to control one more variable in the final caffeine content of the beans: the roast level. Popular lore has always been that the darker the roast level, the lower the caffeine content. This is not really the case, as caffeine changes very little during the roasting process. Caffeine has a very stable crystalline structure with a boiling point above 600 degrees Fahrenheit, far above roasting temperatures, which rarely exceed 470 degrees Fahrenheit. This means there is very little change to the caffeine during the roasting process. The minimal amount of caffeine lost during roasting is attributable to sublimation, which is the transition of a substance directly from its solid state to its gaseous state, as commonly occurs with dry ice. Caffeine undergoes this transition at around 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Since coffee is roasted at temperatures above 350 degrees, a minimal amount of the caffeine is lost this way during the roasting process.
Although minimal caffeine is driven off or destroyed in the roasting process, the bean undergoes major changes during roasting. This can confuse the situation because the caffeine content per weight and per volume changes—not because the caffeine changes, but because the size and the weight of the bean changes. Ironically, because the bean loses weight (mostly water) during roasting, the caffeine content by weight increases, but because the bean increases in size during the roasting, the caffeine content by volume decreases.
It is fortunate that there are no requirements to label caffeine content on packages of roasted beans. So many variables contribute to the caffeine content of a single origin at a defined roast level that it is nearly impossible to predict the content without decaffeinating the bean and measuring the amount extracted. Now take differing cultivars from multiple farms and multiple countries, throw in a little robusta for an espresso blend, and you might need to put on another pot of coffee and call an organic chemist.



SPECIAL THANKS to Ted Lingle and Joseph Rivera of the Specialty Coffee Association of America for their contributions to this article and to Gene Spiller, author of Caffeine.



JIM FADDEN is a mechanical engineer and frequent contributor to Roast Magazine.
He can be reached at jim@roastmagazine.com.
.................................................. ..................................................

So, before making any statment do due research....

MY$.02

light, medium and dark roast are subjective terms. Starbucks' lightest roast is darker than some people's darkest roasts. Some in the industry are starting to put Agtron number, a sort of industry standard for lightness and darkness, on their bags - those who can afford an Agtron machine that is.

these are kinda where my favorite lie

Medium Dark Roasts (12 to 13 minutes)
Medium dark roast is when the beans are roasted for a long time at a high enough temperature to bring the natural oil of the coffee to the surface.

Some examples of medium dark roasts are:

French Roast - which is also known as "Dark Roast". French Roast beans are often used to make espresso.

Continental Roast - which is slightly lighter than French Roast but with spicy body.

Viennese Roast - which is roasted a little longer than regular American roast and has rich chocolaty body.

Full City Roast - which is even darker than City roast.

There are different types of roasting processes. These include crown roast, dark roast, and french roast. French roast coffee would be considered a dark roast.

There are so many different kinds of choice roasts depending upon the taste of the consumer. Some darker roasts will seem burnt to some and just right to others.

The taste and flavor choice is most definitely up to the beholder!

Espresso doesn't have to be made with dark roasted beans.

I often buy specialty coffee beans from all around the world and most of the time the recommended roast goes from light to medium (not to hide the subtle difference that is worth the higher price tag).

I always try my coffee in espresso, French Press (Bodum) and the usual filter. Of course I grind the beans myself.

Many light to medium roasted beans produce an excellent cup of espresso. For a softer morning cup, try using twice as much water for a given quantity of coffee in your espresso machine, it will still be more intense than a boring filter coffee.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mikeftrevino

Us yanks have relinquished ourselves to a weak stale cup for far too long. So long in fact, that most yanks taste a real fresh,properly made cup of coffee and wonder what's wrong with it.

---

Same could be said for US beer :wink:

I agree with what you've said. It's a misconception that espresso roasts have to be dark and oily. Not true at all. Not true also is that espresso has to be blend of different beans. Some swear by single origin extractions. A good blend might be fuller and rounder for some tastes but to single origin enthusiasts the good character note(s) of a single varietal can be muted or masked in a blend. SO or blend is as much a matter of taste as light, med or dark roast.

As far as I've read there are un palatable elements in coffee that need to be roasted out while certain palatable elements need to remain. Sugars accounting for the coffee's sweetness and certain acids should remain. Anything beyond that is a matter of taste and has little bearing outside of taste on whatever extraction method you prefer.

1st crack is the release of moisture as the bean's internal temperature rises and causes it to pop like popcorn. It's a necessary stage to achieve palatable roasts and at this stage the roast will reflect the bean's particular character.

2nd crack is optional. As far as I know it's the point where steady heat causes the cellular matrix of the bean to break down. The 2nd crack is therefore quieter than 1st crack and at this point the roast will begin to take on the character of the roast rather than the type of bean. Sugars continue to caramelize and even burn and the opening of the cellular matrix frees oils that start to rise to the bean's surface. Liberating the oils and forcing them to the surface exposes them to oxidation and makes it more important that you use the roast soon after degassing as the oils run the risk of going rancid.

Crema is not necessarily better with an oily roast either. The opposite might be true in that a lighter roast not showing oils retains those oils better since they still remain enclosed in the bean's intact cellular matrix. I home roast and rarely roast past the middle of second crack to the point where oil shows with all my beans and grind fresh for dose of espresso. From the start of extraction to the end the shot is all crema that settles out only after the shot is pulled. I attribute that not only to fresh beans and a good grind but also to a lighter roast where the oils are liberated only at the time of grinding and not during roasting.

There are other names for roasts from cinnamon, light city, full city, full city+, Vienna, French and Italian, I believe. I like going by colour more. Light, medium and dark work for me and are less arbitrary.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wolfgang

For a softer morning cup, try using twice as much water for a given quantity of coffee in your espresso machine, it will still be more intense than a boring filter coffee.

---

Maybe you want to pull the same espresso shot and then add hot water. It should be better than pulling a long shot by twice as much.