Strength is relative. Yes, folks, this is a coffee post. At least once a day someone comes in and asks me which different roasts we have, or tells me they’d like a cup of the dark roast because they ‘like strong coffee’. I politely tell them we have ‘medium’ roasted coffees exclusively. Why? Unlike many shops, we buy our coffee from a roaster who cares about quality, flavor, and integrity. This is not true with all shops, for many reasons (some valid, some not). However, we are lucky enough to work with truly specialty coffee. So, what exactly are the differences between roasts? A light roast is characterized by a 426-435 degree rumble tumble in a roasting drum, and can last as short as 3 minutes. Roasters will listen for what’s called “first crack”; when the bean itself reaches about 405 degrees internally, it makes a soft cracking sound similar to popping corn (but softer in volume). These coffees mostly accurately present their origin flavors, and are put to excellent use in cuppings. From 435-440 degrees, the beans will be classified as a medium roast. Roasted this way, a coffee will still be able to show off many individual characteristics of origin, as well as process and method of roasting chosen by the roastmaster. For this reason, most true artisan coffees are medium roast. They are sweeter, smoother and more balanced in acid, aroma, and complexity than any other roast. When the beans crack once more, and oils begin to rise to the surface, it’s called a “full roast”. This method produces a less complex coffee, with a heavier mouth-feel than a light or medium roast. At this point, the coffees taste more like the roast than the bean. What you’re tasting is the process, and, unfortunately, not the true flavors of the bean. A “double roast”, or French roast (what most people would recognize as “dark roast”) happens even after second crack, when the beans begin to smoke. Sugars carbonize and the beans are very oily. This is the point of no return for flavor. Everything you taste in a coffee like this is chemical reaction produced by the bean to heat. Most coffees cannot stand up to this process, though some (arguably) can. So why do most people immediately think the only truly “strong” coffee is a dark roast? Unfortunately, folks, because of Starbucks. We owe a lot to Starbucks for bringing second wave coffee culture to the United States, but we don’t have to like them for it. Their lingo and misnomers have burrowed so deeply into our society that what isn’t necessarily true has become absolute fact. Dark = strong. This has been drilled over and over into customers heads from the start. It’s simply not true. Strength is a tricky thing to target. Strong flavors? Strength of caffeine? Strength of brew? A full body, or a thick mouthfeel? Yes, a dark roast has strong flavors, but it no longer retains the taste of coffee. The nuttiness and singed taste that comes from a dark roast is often there to disguise the bean’s original quality, which would show through as poor in any other roast. In this respect, Starbucks can buy a cheap crop of green coffee, not bother to pick out any imperfections, roast the crap out of it and tout its profound strength in order to sell sell sell and none the wiser. And this is exactly what happens. Brew is dependent on the barista, and standards. A “Gold Cup” standard defines the amount of TDS, or Total Dissolved Solids in your cuppa joe to a certain percentage, but that’s another story altogether. And what about caffeine? Well, caffeine molecules change drastically when attacked with heat for long periods, which is exactly what roasting (and to some extent hot brewing) does. A dark roast will have the least caffeine of any of its siblings. So what is strength, exactly, when it comes to coffee? In my world, it’s a properly brewed cup of coffee that tells me a story. Where did it come from? What did it take to get from where it grew to where it was roasted, and from there to the cafe it was prepared in? I want to taste characteristics of the land it grew on, the people who farmed it. I want to taste the care put into it where it was roasted, the skill of the barista who brewed it for me. That’s what a “strong” cup of coffee is.

Strength is relative.

Yes, folks, this is a coffee post. At least once a day someone comes in and asks me which different roasts we have, or tells me they’d like a cup of the dark roast because they ‘like strong coffee’. I politely tell them we have ‘medium’ roasted coffees exclusively. Why? Unlike many shops, we buy our coffee from a roaster who cares about quality, flavor, and integrity. This is not true with all shops, for many reasons (some valid, some not). However, we are lucky enough to work with truly specialty coffee. So, what exactly are the differences between roasts?

A light roast is characterized by a 426-435 degree rumble tumble in a roasting drum, and can last as short as 3 minutes. Roasters will listen for what’s called “first crack”; when the bean itself reaches about 405 degrees internally, it makes a soft cracking sound similar to popping corn (but softer in volume). These coffees mostly accurately present their origin flavors, and are put to excellent use in cuppings.

From 435-440 degrees, the beans will be classified as a medium roast. Roasted this way, a coffee will still be able to show off many individual characteristics of origin, as well as process and method of roasting chosen by the roastmaster. For this reason, most true artisan coffees are medium roast. They are sweeter, smoother and more balanced in acid, aroma, and complexity than any other roast.

When the beans crack once more, and oils begin to rise to the surface, it’s called a “full roast”. This method produces a less complex coffee, with a heavier mouth-feel than a light or medium roast. At this point, the coffees taste more like the roast than the bean. What you’re tasting is the process, and, unfortunately, not the true flavors of the bean.

A “double roast”, or French roast (what most people would recognize as “dark roast”) happens even after second crack, when the beans begin to smoke. Sugars carbonize and the beans are very oily. This is the point of no return for flavor. Everything you taste in a coffee like this is chemical reaction produced by the bean to heat. Most coffees cannot stand up to this process, though some (arguably) can.

So why do most people immediately think the only truly “strong” coffee is a dark roast? Unfortunately, folks, because of Starbucks. We owe a lot to Starbucks for bringing second wave coffee culture to the United States, but we don’t have to like them for it. Their lingo and misnomers have burrowed so deeply into our society that what isn’t necessarily true has become absolute fact. Dark = strong. This has been drilled over and over into customers heads from the start. It’s simply not true.

Strength is a tricky thing to target. Strong flavors? Strength of caffeine? Strength of brew? A full body, or a thick mouthfeel? Yes, a dark roast has strong flavors, but it no longer retains the taste of coffee. The nuttiness and singed taste that comes from a dark roast is often there to disguise the bean’s original quality, which would show through as poor in any other roast. In this respect, Starbucks can buy a cheap crop of green coffee, not bother to pick out any imperfections, roast the crap out of it and tout its profound strength in order to sell sell sell and none the wiser. And this is exactly what happens.

Brew is dependent on the barista, and standards. A “Gold Cup” standard defines the amount of TDS, or Total Dissolved Solids in your cuppa joe to a certain percentage, but that’s another story altogether. And what about caffeine? Well, caffeine molecules change drastically when attacked with heat for long periods, which is exactly what roasting (and to some extent hot brewing) does. A dark roast will have the least caffeine of any of its siblings.

So what is strength, exactly, when it comes to coffee? In my world, it’s a properly brewed cup of coffee that tells me a story. Where did it come from? What did it take to get from where it grew to where it was roasted, and from there to the cafe it was prepared in? I want to taste characteristics of the land it grew on, the people who farmed it. I want to taste the care put into it where it was roasted, the skill of the barista who brewed it for me. That’s what a “strong” cup of coffee is.

  1. anneapocalypse reblogged this from coffeeminx and added:
    I think another reason for that perception is people assume coffee is like beer and chocolate in that darker = stronger...
  2. coffeeminx reblogged this from enderrr
  3. sporthappens reblogged this from enderrr and added:
    Very informative...just an excerpt (which mirrors my opinions
  4. latteslut reblogged this from enderrr
  5. enderrr posted this