Roast Flavors
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.
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. 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. |
| 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. |
Read more about this topic: High Altitude Coffee Roasting
Famous quotes containing the words roast and/or flavors:
“I [Boswell] ... insisted that admiration was more pleasing than judgment, as love is more pleasing than friendship. The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef; love like being enlivened with champagne. JOHNSON. “No, Sir; admiration and love are like being intoxicated with champagne; judgment and friendship like being enlivened.””
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“Of all the flavors one eats, salt is indispensable; wherever one goes in the world, one’s mother is dearest.”
—Chinese proverb.