Know Your Roast
A Guide to Coffee Roast Degrees: Finding Your Perfect Cup
Welcome to your guide to understanding coffee roasts! The roast degree drastically influences the final flavor profile, body, and even caffeine content of your brew.
We’ve done the heavy lifting for you! Each of our coffees is roasted to a specific level that we believe brings out its very best flavors. You can find the roast type clearly marked in the description of every bag. Our quick guide below will tell you exactly what to expect from every sip.
Here’s a breakdown of the roast levels.
LIGHT ROAST
The Purest Expression of Origin
Color: Light brown, like cinnamon. The beans are dry and matte, with no oil on the surface.
Flavor Profile: This roast preserves the most unique characteristics of the coffee’s origin. You’ll experience high acidity, lively flavors, and pronounced floral or fruity notes. It has a toasted, grainy quality, similar to the flavor of the green (unroasted) coffee bean itself. It lacks the smoky or bitter caramelized flavors associated with darker roasts.
Best For: Those who enjoy bright, complex, and nuanced coffee flavors. It’s ideal for pour-over, Chemex, and other manual brewing methods that highlight acidity.
MEDIUM ROAST
A Balanced, Crowd-Pleasing Profile
Color: A deep, rich milk chocolate brown. The beans generally have a dry surface, though minimal oil might begin to appear.
Flavor Profile: This is the most popular roast level, offering a perfect balance between acidity and body. The roast flavors begin to develop, but the origin characteristics are still clearly present. It’s smooth, often with notes of chocolate, caramel, or nuts, and lacks the intense bitterness of darker roasts.
Best For: Everyone! This roast works beautifully for almost all brewing methods, from drip coffee makers to French presses, making it an excellent all-around choice.
MEDIUM-DARK ROAST
Rich, Full, and Bold
Color: Dark brown, with a rich color similar to dark chocolate. A light sheen of oil usually appears on the surface of the beans.
Flavor Profile: The roast flavors start to dominate the origin characteristics. This roast has a full body, less acidity than lighter roasts, and develops rich, deep, bittersweet flavors with heavy notes of dark chocolate and toasted nuts.
Best For: Those who love a rich, bold cup of coffee with more body and less brightness. It’s fantastic in a French press or for an automatic drip brewer.
DARK ROAST
Bold, Smoky, and Intensely Flavored
Color: Very dark brown, almost black. The beans are very oily and have a prominent shine.
Flavor Profile: In this roast, the unique flavors of the coffee’s origin are almost entirely obscured by the flavors of the roasting process. You’ll experience a bold, smoky, and intensely dark flavor, often with notes of charcoal, dark chocolate, and significant bitterness. It has a heavy, syrupy body.
Best For: Those who prefer an intense, powerful, and smoky flavor. It’s traditional for espresso blends and for brewing in a Moka pot, as it stands up well to milk and sugar.
