The roasting of green coffee beans is a skill derived from years of practice. After 20 years BUZZ Coffee has had plenty.
You may recall an earlier blog on 'Smell the Coffee". This is a further step where you also look at the coffee beans.
There are 4 Types of Coffee Roasts you will find:
1.Light Coffee Roasts
Common Names: New England, Half-City, Cinnamon.
Light roasts are roasted for the shortest time. Lightly roasted beans reach an internal temperature of 356°F – 401°F, right after the first “crack” occurs.
These beans will not have oils on them.
The longer a bean is roasted, the more the heat pulls out the caffeine and the acidity. Light roasts have the most caffeine and the most acidity.
The acidity in light roasts is often accompanied by a citrus or lemon tone which is pleasing to the palate.
2.Medium Coffee Roasts
Common Names: City, Regular, American
Medium-roasted coffee will reach internal temperatures of 410°F-428°F. This is after the first crack and just before the second one occurs.
They have a little bit more body than a light roast and less acidity.
These roasts are considered to have balanced flavours. The acidity and body of a medium roast can vary but are usually somewhere in the middle.
3.Medium-Dark Coffee Roasts
Common Names: Viennese, Continental, Full City, Light French, Light Espresso
Beans roasted to medium-dark reach an internal temperature of 437°F – 446°F. This is during or just after the second crack.
This roast will also start showing the oils on the beans’ surface because the temperatures are high enough.
These roasts have a richer, fuller flavour, more body, and less acidity.
4.Dark Coffee Roasts
Common Names: French, Espresso, Turkish, Italian, Dark French, Heavy
The roasting temperature for coffee beans to a dark roast is between 464°F – 482°F. There are visible oils on dark roast beans.
Sweeter flavours occur because the sugars in the coffee beans have time to caramelize.
Longer roasting time helps the development of a richer flavour and full body. A buttery finish is often the result. They also have the least acidity of all coffee roasts.
Dark roasts have the least amount of caffeine.
What does the roasting process do?
The coffee bean is the seed inside a coffee cherry, wrapped in a delicious fruity cover.
Coffee beans are green and have almost no aroma, except for an earthy, grassy smell.
The roasting process is what makes coffee beans into a delicious cup of BUZZ coffee!
The roasting process toasts the coffee beans, darkening their colour and giving them chocolatey, caramelized flavours.
At higher temperatures, oils appear on the surface of the beans. At 401°F, the beans crack for the first time and start to expand. Around 437°F, they crack a second time. High-quality coffee beans are never roasted above 482°F.
Beyond that temperature, they will start to thin out and get a burnt taste. You do not want to drink charcoal!