Finding the Right Roast for You (2024)

FAQs

How to choose the right coffee roast? ›

Determine your taste preference: Roast profiles vary in flavor and intensity, so it's important to determine what kind of taste you like. Light roast coffee tends to bring out the nuanced, fruity, or floral flavor notes while the dark roast coffee tends to bring out roasty, smoky, and chocolate notes.

Some roasters use a system where the roast level is broken down into City, Full City, and Full City Plus. In this system, a light roast is equivalent to City. Full City is more like a medium roast. Full City Plus is on the darker side of a medium up to and including dark roast.

Our “roast levels” are used to describe how long and thoroughly we roast the coffee beans. The most common words to describe different levels of coffee roasting are Light, Medium, and Dark. Coffee roasting is one of the most influential factors of coffee taste.

Health-wise, dark roasts are high in antioxidants and contain a compound beneficial for stomach health, while medium roasts retain more chlorogenic acid, associated with reduced inflammation and improved blood sugar regulation.

Medium-roasted coffee beans are smooth and balanced, with rich, approachable flavors. Dark-roasted coffees have a fuller body with robust, bold taste.

Taste & Acidity

Being the in-between of the light and dark roast, the medium has the most balanced taste of the lot. A balanced body and rounded flavour are what you can expect. It's also not too acidic, which is what a lot of people like about it.

Full City (Medium)

Full City beans are darker in color. Almost all of our coffee at Battle Alley Coffee (which can be purchased here) is roasted to Full City as it's offers a more noticeable flavor than most coffee drinkers are used to while still being liked by the majority of people.

Simply put, the lighter the roast the more complex the flavor! Light roast offers multilayered complexity, revealing traces of sweetness, fruit tanginess, or even a subtle floral aroma. Light roasts are lighter in body because the coffee bean has not been roasted long enough to produce caramelized sugars or oil.

To fully realize the flavor potential of the beans, premium roast coffee is typically roasted to a medium or dark level. Some of the delicate flavors and aromas of coffee beans are not showcased when they are roasted to a lighter level as roasting accentuates delicate flavors.

Here it is: if measured by weight, caffeine content is virtually equal in light roast and dark roast coffee. But, if measured by scoop, light roast coffee will have oh-so-slightly more caffeine, since the beans are denser than a darker roast. Because they've been roasted longer, dark roasts have less mass.

Is dark roast coffee healthier? ›

Improved Liver Health

Drinking dark roast coffee every day can help reduce your risk of liver cirrhosis, or the scarring of the liver. Regularly drinking coffee can also reduce your risk of liver cancer by up to 40 percent. So drink up and enjoy knowing that you're doing something good for your health!

Dark Roasts - a study published in 2010 found that dark roast coffee is easier on the stomach than light roasts because it produces an ingredient that prevents hydrochloric acid from building up in the stomach.

Light roast coffees are less bitter, sweeter, and can have a citrus aroma. While dark roasts carry a more pronounced bitterness with an aroma reminiscent of nuts or chocolate. Medium roasts are more balanced in that they have body while still carrying complex brighter notes.

Medium roast coffee beans usually produce the smoothest tasting coffee. They lack the acidity levels of lighter roast coffee beans, while also having the body and mouthfeel to create a full tasting cup of coffee. The result is a well-rounded drink with a balance between body and acidity.

Simply put, the lighter the roast the more complex the flavor! Light roast offers multilayered complexity, revealing traces of sweetness, fruit tanginess, or even a subtle floral aroma. Light roasts are lighter in body because the coffee bean has not been roasted long enough to produce caramelized sugars or oil.

Medium Roast Coffee

The beans are roasted to 420 degrees Fahrenheit and removed from the heat just after the "first crack" but before the second. This non-oily roast is preferred in the United States, often earning it the name of "American roast".

Light roast coffees are less bitter, sweeter, and can have a citrus aroma. While dark roasts carry a more pronounced bitterness with an aroma reminiscent of nuts or chocolate. Medium roasts are more balanced in that they have body while still carrying complex brighter notes.