Light Vs Dark roast.
In the early gourmet coffee days, coffee was just coffee. It was a much simple affair. As long as you ditched the socks and stainless steel pouring kettle and be seen pulling shots from a cool looking machine and adding fresh milk instead of sweet condenser, you are special. That alone guarantee you at least $4 for a cup of Joe. Time have change now and there is so many factors that goes into not just the cup, but the bean before it is brewed and served. We are talking about coffee roasting!
In my previous post on coffee roasting, http://iamabarista.blogspot.com/2011/05/roasts-n-posts.html, I shared a lot on the basic of roasting. A good roast certainly will be helpful in allowing the Barista behind the bar to prepare wholesome espresso beverages and serve it. A bad one will be harder to 'tame' but should an experienced individual be well versed to control and tweak certain brewing guidelines like grind setting, dosing of proportion or even brew pressure, the coffee will still taste close like it should. Then again, what is a good or bad roast? To go light or dark? (of course this argument is based solely on a roast that is palatable to end consumers. I am not considering 'light' to be roasts before first crack that looks uneven and taste grassy nor 'dark' to be almost Vienese and with spots of oil on surface after roasting.)
Some beans aren't suited well for dark roasts, and some beans arent suited well for lighter roasts.
When I think of light roasts, I think of acid and fruit. Coffees that are light, fruity, and acidic take well to light roasts. Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, and especially Ethiopian Yergicheffe Region coffees come to mind for light roasts. Dark roast coffees have more pronounced body, smoky and chocolate flavors, and more aftertaste. Indonesian Coffees like Sumatra and Sulawesi are great dark, as well as some african beans, like Uganda, Kenya (some kenyan anyway), and espresso blends.
It all depends on what you like in a cup of coffee, and the beans themselves. Most roaster will do test batches and cup to see which bean tastes best at which level. Even a certain bean that would normally be roasted light might be suited at a medium. It really depends on the lot itself. I have seen many pre-judging an espresso beverage just solely based on the roast degree without tasting. Today it seems, light roast is the way to go in this industry. Be it to be serve as an espresso based beverage or in pour over bar, most cafe owner request for the beans to go light. End consumers at the receiving end cant really control this situation and buy whatever that is on the shelves unless the cafe owners themselves are roasting.Personally, I think light roast is the way to go for pour over coffees. This preserve the characteristic of the coffee and at time through tasting, be able to tell and gauge where the are the places of origins of these coffee. Medium dark and dark roast(not to be mistaken to espresso roast or slightly oily beans) are at times a perfect way to go for espresso based beverages, especially when a blend of 3 or more origins are used. Roaster would definitely want to bring out the sweetest spot of individual coffee and ensure all these origins work well together in unity and not potraying individualism in a bag of blends.
I say here, the judgement of the individual roaster on the cupping table is influential and they should be the best person to recommend to cafe owners/ end consumers based on palate and not just because there is money to be earn and putting up with adamant owners/ consumers with their 'light is the way to go for all.'
If you want to taste the difference between light and dark roast, try and find a roaster who will roast a Yirgacheffe, Columbia, Costa Rica, or Brazil to light and dark roasts. I have done this and I have cupped all these coffees at 5 different roasts, and I am still amazed at how the taste changes along the way. Normally I settled on the lightest roast( just before second crack) for the best fruitiness and acidity and ramp it up after second crack for a medium-dark roast for the body, aroma, sweet spot and chocolates tones.
The next time you see a roast darker than what you think it should be, give it a try. The roaster know what he is doing. If you want every coffee to be plum, sour apple, grapes and berries, get a fruit salad or buy a bottle of wine. The world of coffee is not just about fruitiness and acidity, it is more than that. Give medium dark roast a chance and before I end this, a light roasted Sidamo natural or Yirgacheffe still ranks as some of my favorite coffee. Via pour overs and not in your Mazzer or Dittings to be serve as an Espresso.
In my previous post on coffee roasting, http://iamabarista.blogspot.com/2011/05/roasts-n-posts.html, I shared a lot on the basic of roasting. A good roast certainly will be helpful in allowing the Barista behind the bar to prepare wholesome espresso beverages and serve it. A bad one will be harder to 'tame' but should an experienced individual be well versed to control and tweak certain brewing guidelines like grind setting, dosing of proportion or even brew pressure, the coffee will still taste close like it should. Then again, what is a good or bad roast? To go light or dark? (of course this argument is based solely on a roast that is palatable to end consumers. I am not considering 'light' to be roasts before first crack that looks uneven and taste grassy nor 'dark' to be almost Vienese and with spots of oil on surface after roasting.)
Some beans aren't suited well for dark roasts, and some beans arent suited well for lighter roasts.
When I think of light roasts, I think of acid and fruit. Coffees that are light, fruity, and acidic take well to light roasts. Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, and especially Ethiopian Yergicheffe Region coffees come to mind for light roasts. Dark roast coffees have more pronounced body, smoky and chocolate flavors, and more aftertaste. Indonesian Coffees like Sumatra and Sulawesi are great dark, as well as some african beans, like Uganda, Kenya (some kenyan anyway), and espresso blends.
It all depends on what you like in a cup of coffee, and the beans themselves. Most roaster will do test batches and cup to see which bean tastes best at which level. Even a certain bean that would normally be roasted light might be suited at a medium. It really depends on the lot itself. I have seen many pre-judging an espresso beverage just solely based on the roast degree without tasting. Today it seems, light roast is the way to go in this industry. Be it to be serve as an espresso based beverage or in pour over bar, most cafe owner request for the beans to go light. End consumers at the receiving end cant really control this situation and buy whatever that is on the shelves unless the cafe owners themselves are roasting.Personally, I think light roast is the way to go for pour over coffees. This preserve the characteristic of the coffee and at time through tasting, be able to tell and gauge where the are the places of origins of these coffee. Medium dark and dark roast(not to be mistaken to espresso roast or slightly oily beans) are at times a perfect way to go for espresso based beverages, especially when a blend of 3 or more origins are used. Roaster would definitely want to bring out the sweetest spot of individual coffee and ensure all these origins work well together in unity and not potraying individualism in a bag of blends.
I say here, the judgement of the individual roaster on the cupping table is influential and they should be the best person to recommend to cafe owners/ end consumers based on palate and not just because there is money to be earn and putting up with adamant owners/ consumers with their 'light is the way to go for all.'
If you want to taste the difference between light and dark roast, try and find a roaster who will roast a Yirgacheffe, Columbia, Costa Rica, or Brazil to light and dark roasts. I have done this and I have cupped all these coffees at 5 different roasts, and I am still amazed at how the taste changes along the way. Normally I settled on the lightest roast( just before second crack) for the best fruitiness and acidity and ramp it up after second crack for a medium-dark roast for the body, aroma, sweet spot and chocolates tones.
The next time you see a roast darker than what you think it should be, give it a try. The roaster know what he is doing. If you want every coffee to be plum, sour apple, grapes and berries, get a fruit salad or buy a bottle of wine. The world of coffee is not just about fruitiness and acidity, it is more than that. Give medium dark roast a chance and before I end this, a light roasted Sidamo natural or Yirgacheffe still ranks as some of my favorite coffee. Via pour overs and not in your Mazzer or Dittings to be serve as an Espresso.
great read, thx. I also find some roast profile of (same beans) works better with milk based drinks like cuppuccino/latte, as oppose to espressos.
ReplyDeleteCan't help agreeing to this article. You have just hit the nail at the right spot. Roasters nowadays go to the extreme spectrum of light that every Espresso I order left me squirming and tummy quenching. For the exception of Starbucks whom completely is at the other end of the spectrum, espresso that I have tried from PPP, Loysel, Jewel and a few others is extremely bright. Me and wife ended up ordering a macchiato each time instead. Wonder what roast will Toby's be doing?
ReplyDeleteHey Anonymous, thank you for following my article...
ReplyDeleteHi Mark, someone's meat is another person's poison. I guess lighter roast is certainly not something your palate appreciate. The cafes you mentioned has a cult following. They are successful with great man leading the business and shaping the coffee industry. Loysel and PPP actually roast on demand their coffee. I believe you can share your feedback and at the same time, request for a slightly darker roast the next time you make a bean purchase.
Hi suhaimie,
ReplyDeletebeen reading up on your post. My interest has take me to venture into the unknown of setting up a cafe. Would you be availalbe to do some consulting and training work? If so, how may I contact you?