Friday, August 26, 2011

Ever Wonder About Coffee Roasts?

A quality coffee post by enderrr:
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.  ... 
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For the rest of this fascinating article CLICK HERE

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