How do you prefer your beans to be roasted?? Light, Medium, Full, or Double Roast?

[grndslm]

I've been drinking coffee from medium roasted beans. My friend tried it and said it didn't taste good, but I disagree. I think he thinks its a tad bitter, which it may be. I asked him what he drinks and his reply was that his dad's coffee is "Dark Roasted... Folgers, I think". Then he said that it either comes half-and-half with "chicory" or he adds in chicory.

But I think that he just likes the "sweeter" taste of a dark roast. Supposedly, that's common. I posted a "Guide to Coffee" elsewhere on this forum that explains...

There is great similarity between the concept of roasting coffee beans and cooking fine steaks. Those who truly know about and appreciate fine steaks generally shun the idea of cooking them beyond medium rare, with most preferring rare. The reason is that as you cook the steak more, just as with coffee beans, you remove the qualities that made it unique and of high quality in the first place. In short, if you’re going to cook/roast something to that extreme there’s no point in starting with something expensive since it’s all going to end up tasting the same anyway.

Here's some good info to kick off the thread....

Click here for pictures---Coffee roasting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


[h=2]Roast flavors[/h]At lighter roasts, the bean will exhibit more of its "origin flavor"; the flavors created in the bean by its variety, the soil, altitude, and weather conditions in the location where it was grown.[SUP][9][/SUP]
Coffee beans from famous regions like Java, Kenya, Hawaiian Kona, and Jamaican Blue Mountain are usually roasted lightly so their signature characteristics dominate the flavor. As the beans darken to a deep brown, the origin flavors of the bean are eclipsed by the flavors created by the roasting process itself. At darker roasts, the "roast flavor" is so dominant that it can be difficult to distinguish the origin of the beans used in the roast.
Below, roast levels and their respective flavors are described.[SUP][10][/SUP] These are qualitative descriptions, and thus subjective. As a rule of thumb, the "shinier" the bean is, the more dominant the roasting flavors are.

	Roast level	Notes	Surface	Flavor
Light	Cinnamon roast, half city, New England	After several minutes the beans “pop” or "crack" and visibly expand in size. This stage is called first crack. American mass-market roasters typically stop here.	Dry	Lighter-bodied, higher acidity, no obvious roast flavor
Medium	Full city, American, regular, breakfast, brown	After a few short minutes the beans reach this roast, which U.S. specialty sellers tend to prefer.	Dry	Sweeter than light roast; more body exhibiting more balance in acid, aroma, and complexity. Smoother than the traditional American "medium" roast, but may display fewer of the distinctive taste characteristics of the original coffee.[SUP][11][/SUP]
Full Roast	High, Viennese, Continental	After a few more minutes the beans begin popping again, and oils rise to the surface. This is called second crack.	Slightly shiny	Somewhat spicy; complexity is traded for heavier body/mouth-feel. Aromas and flavors of roast become clearly evident.
Double Roast	French	After a few more minutes or so the beans begin to smoke. The bean sugars begin to carbonize.	Very oily	Smokey-sweet; light bodied, but quite intense. None of the inherent flavors of the bean are recognizable.

Sooo.... how do YOU prefer your beans to be roasted?

 

[dtatum]

I prefer a medium roast. I have read that most Americans prefer the medium roasts. Darker roasts coffees are preferred in Europe. Maybe they know something we don't or the tastes are region specific. The Medium roasts get my vote!!!

 

[eldub]

No coffee should be bitter.

The darker you roast, the more "roast" flavor is imparted and the less flavor of the bean remains.The darker the roast, the less the quality of the bean matters.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

No dark Roast here. NO WAY IN HELL.... lol
I normally drink Light to Medium roast even my Espresso. I rarely roast pass second crack.
I will roast dark if the beans are not very flavorful. But I normally give these away to someone who likes darker roast.....

 

[PinkRose]

I prefer a medium roast. I usually buy Papua New Guinea beans, and the roaster offers it in medium and dark roast. One day, I ordered two pounds of beans and forgot to specify which one I wanted (I usually point to the medium). Unfortunately, the woman packaged up the dark roast and I was too busy looking at other stuff to notice what she was doing.

I saw my mistake right away when I got home, but I decided to brew the coffee anyway. There was quite a difference! All I could taste was a roasted somewhat burnt flavor, and it totally changed the taste of my coffee. I ended up giving the bags of beans to my friend and he used them for his espresso.

Needless to say, ever since then I've been very careful to specify which roast I want. Actually, the folks in the shop know me now, and they automatically reach for the Papua New Guinea Medium roast when I walk up to the counter.

Rose

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Rose... Papua New Guinea is great beans and love them with light roast for me. Great flavor and lovely aroma.... I do understand why people would dark roast but always you lose all the intensive flavor and just taste burnt and roasted flavor that isn't very sexy....

 

[Indesio]

City roast, not the full city (when oils come surface). Just the poit before. I just stop roasting when the first crank ends. I don't like smoke flavor on my coffee, just opossite on my idiazabal cheesse and the lax (smoked salmon).


Salu2.
Indesio.

 

[aroaster83]

I tend to discharge at maximum the cusp of second crack, as I don't like to get into roast notes on many of my coffees. However, I find that since each coffee and origin is different, you need to roast them accordingly and find the sweet spot. Anyone else?

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I agree with each origin of coffee should be roasted differently but for my own, I never liked to see any oil on my coffee bean. Mostly dry surface and brown color is what I would like. However, when I roast just for espresso. I find it much better to be mix my normal roast with 1/2 of dark roast to intensify the flavor....

 

[JRMobile]

Mine, I prefer full city roast or medium brown. It is just an in between sensation. It keeps the sleekness of the lighter roast and achieves the sweetness of a darker roast. For me, it’s perfect.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Some of us are so blessed to be able to roast our own bean.... If you are not roasting your own bean...I encourage anyone to try. Just little investment(20-50dollars) to be able to roast at home..... It is liberating experience....
It is very difficult to roast all your beans but once you roast your own bean, you can find out what really hit your taste bud....

 

[KonaCoffeeBuzz]

I like light roast sometimes. It's very tricky to pull off. For kona coffee I tend to prefer their darker roasts more.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

How expensive is to purchase Kona green beans. I love Kona beans but I haven't been able to find supplier with decent price.

I normally roast Sidamo, Sumatra, Yirgacheffe and Kona beans little darker as well.
I love light roast, just about end of the first crack for most of my south american beans...

 

[bprotsman]

How expensive is to purchase Kona green beans. I love Kona beans but I haven't been able to find supplier with decent price.

Expensive. Due to the shortage from the Beetle bug destroying most crops the price has gone way up. Supply/demand.
Instead of seeing the extra fancies and fancy grade there's a lot of Prime out there.

Anyways, when did we start calling F/R "double roast"??

 

[kencovending]

I prefer medium to dark roast coffee bean because this is produced from 100% Rainforest Alliance certified coffee beans, good for health and have a great taste.

Kenco Vending