Which is Better for Weight Loss: Light Roast or Medium-Dark Roast Coffee Beans? Which Tastes Better: Light or Medium Roast Coffee?

In recent years, as people's material living standards have improved day by day, more and more attention has been paid to healthy eating. As one of the common daily beverages, how to drink coffee healthily has also become a topic of concern for everyone. FrontStreet Coffee would like to introduce which types of coffee are suitable for everyone to drink.

Black Coffee is Healthier

Coffee is divided into milk coffee and black coffee. Generally, black coffee is healthier. Black coffee is a general term for coffee without milk or sugar, including commonly consumed pour-over coffee, Americano coffee, and so on. Among these black coffees, the roast degree of the coffee beans used varies, resulting in different flavor profiles.

Coffee Roast Degrees

The roast degree of a coffee bean largely determines the direction of its flavor expression. Coffee bean roasting can be simply divided into three degrees: light roast, medium roast, and medium-dark/dark roast.

Light Roast / Cinnamon Roast

Drop time: From the beginning of first crack to dense cracking

Flavor: The bean surface appears cinnamon-colored. At this point, the grassy flavor has been eliminated, with strong acidity and a slight aroma. Often used for brewing pour-over coffee.

Medium Roast

Drop time: Between dense first crack and its end

Flavor: The bean surface appears chestnut-colored, with a light taste that's acidic with a hint of bitterness and moderate aroma. It preserves the original flavor of coffee beans and is often used for pour-over coffee or blend coffee.

Medium-Dark Roast / City Roast

Drop time: After the first crack, between the first and second cracks

Flavor: The bean surface appears light brown, with a bright and lively taste, balanced acidity and bitterness with subdued acidity, and it releases the excellent flavors in coffee. This is the standard roast degree and also the most popular roast degree among the public.

Dark Roast / Italian Roast

Dark roast is also known as "Italian roast"

Drop time: From the end of second crack until the bean surface turns black and oily

Flavor: The bean surface appears black with an oily sheen. Before the coffee bean fibers carbonize, the taste is strong and complex with powerful bitterness and rich roasting and caramelized aromas. It's mainly popular in Italy and often used for making Espresso coffee.

Is Light Roast Coffee Healthier?

Researchers found that most beneficial components remain unchanged across different roast degrees, but in darker roasted coffee, two substances—chlorogenic acid and antioxidants—are significantly reduced. Chlorogenic acid is an important bioactive substance with antibacterial, antiviral, white blood cell-boosting, liver-protecting, gallbladder-promoting, anti-tumor, blood pressure-lowering, blood lipid-lowering, free radical-scavenging, and central nervous system-stimulating effects. Therefore, the experimental conclusion suggests that lighter roasted coffee is healthier.

According to current research results published in the "Video Medical Journal," Scandinavian-style roasting is a "healthier" roasting method for the human body compared to Italian roasting. This means that light roast coffee contains more beneficial substances for the human body than dark roast coffee.

How to Brew Light Roast Coffee Beans?

Since light roast coffee is healthier, how should we brew light roast coffee beans? Let's take FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry Project as an example. This bean uses light roast.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters

• Dose: 15 grams
• Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
• Water temperature: 91-92°C
• Grind size: Medium-fine grind (78% pass-through rate with #20 standard sieve)
• Dripper: V60

Brewing Process

First, make preparations (warm the dripper and server, grind coffee, prepare water at the appropriate temperature), and pour in the coffee grounds. Begin the first water injection while starting the timer. Inject 30 grams of hot water for the first segment, moving from the center outward in circles. The coffee grounds absorb water and slowly expand, forming a plump "coffee burger."

Stop pouring when 30 grams of water has been injected, and wait for a 30-second bloom time. Starting from the 31st second shown on the electronic scale, begin the second water injection, pouring in circles from the center outward. Keep the water flow stable and vertical. When the water column impacts the coffee grounds layer, foam will appear. This brewing segment allows the coffee foam to release, spreading across the entire grounds surface, with the liquid level rising to the root of the short ribs. The water amount for this segment is 100 grams.

When the liquid level drops to 1/2, begin the final water injection. In this segment, also pour 95 grams from the center outward in a "smelling aroma" pattern. The originally dark brown foam transforms into light yellow coffee foam, and the liquid level returns to the same height as during the second injection. After all the coffee liquid has flowed into the server, remove the dripper and end the extraction.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473