What is French Roast?

CoffeeMusic

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I see a lot of companies, mainly the big box grocery store brands, making French rost coffee. What does that mean and is it just a gimik to convince non coffee experts that their standard coffee is something special?
 
Hi Coffee Music,

If you do a Google search for the roasting levels for coffee beans, you will see many descriptions of each kind of roast.

French Roast is one of those levels. Here is an example:

Roasting just slightly longer brings coffee to the French Roast level. With more oil on the bean and a little darker color than Full City Roast, French Roast brings coffee to the height of it's flavor. French Roast creates a deep heavy flavor, some of the more subtle flavors of coffee will be hidden by the dark roasted smokeyness.

~ Rose
 
French roast is just before the last roast style wich is charcoal roast :decaf: If that can give you an idea of the quality of the green beans to go to french roast territory.
 
Was this level of roasting made popular in France because they didn’t have access to high-quality coffee beans?
 
Hi Coffee Music,

If you do a Google search for the roasting levels for coffee beans, you will see many descriptions of each kind of roast.

French Roast is one of those levels. Here is an example:

Roasting just slightly longer brings coffee to the French Roast level. With more oil on the bean and a little darker color than Full City Roast, French Roast brings coffee to the height of it's flavor. French Roast creates a deep heavy flavor, some of the more subtle flavors of coffee will be hidden by the dark roasted smokeyness.

~ Rose

So it's another way of creating longevity for the coffee, not flavor. I knew it! Why do that to coffee.
 
French (alt. Turkish, Dark, Espresso) is the name applied to a degree of roast of coffee beans resulting in a dark brown coffee bean. In this roast, the beans are well into the second crack. French roasted beans will have a dark brown color and a shiney surface from its oils.
 
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I bought a French Roast once. French Roast is cooked longer than Dark Roast. Anyway, I opened the bag, rolled it shut and bent wire to secure it. Placed it in a kitchen cupboard. I was sitting 15 feet away and it felt as if my lungs were closing off!!! It was that pervasive and noxious!!! I had to take the bag outside to the trash! I couldn't have it in the house!
 
A little bit history about French roast:

[FONT=q_serif]Roasted coffee was sent over to the French colonies in the south but would often be oxidized or get wet and mold on the way over. Re-roasting the coffee allowed the coffee to be used, the darker roast removing the tainted flavor and breathing a bit of life back into the coffee. A lot of roasters today still re-roast coffee that is nearing the end of its shelf life to avoid the loss.[/FONT]
[FONT=q_serif]French wasn't because Europeans liked darker coffee so much as it was Americans trying to recoup losses. The coffee they were running through a second time was French.

So just like French fries, French roast has nothing to do with France![/FONT]

Very interesting, no wonder my lungs were shutting down from a closed bag, placed in side a cabinet and from 15 feet away!!
 
One thing I do know is that you can't buy French Roast coffee in France and, with the execution of one Amazon seller in the UK, I can't find it anywhere in Europe. As of Dec. 31, the UK will no longer be in the EU and I will have to pay the 25% Danish duty on anything I import from the UK.
 
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