Roast Level Discussion: Is Light Roast Coffee Easier to Store or Dark Roast Coffee? How to Brew Dark Roast Coffee Beans

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Research Topic: Are Light-Roasted or Dark-Roasted Coffee Beans Easier to Store?

To find the answer to this question, we need to conduct an experiment: when blooming, which type of coffee bean—light-roasted or dark-roasted—releases gas for a longer period? By comparing the gas release volume of coffee beans with different roasting degrees, we can determine how much gas coffee beans need to release during storage. From the formula gas release = flavor loss, we can deduce that coffee beans with vigorous gas release are more difficult to store.

Experiment Setup

Today, we're using two beans for comparison:

First: Golden Mandheling Wet-Hulled Process G1, dropped before second crack

Second: Yirgacheffe Kochere Washed Process G1, dropped 1 minute 45 seconds after first crack

Both beans were roasted within the same hour on the 24th.

They were used for brewing 24 hours later on the 25th.

● Here, we'll set aside the brewing process and extraction efficiency, simply observing which one has a longer blooming time.

Experimental Groups

Divided into two groups:

Using BARATZA BG grinder

Using blooming water temperature of 90℃

Using blooming water amount of 35g±1

First Group: Fine Grind Suitable for Pour-Over

Light-roasted Yirgacheffe Kochere

Medium-dark roasted Golden Mandheling

Second Group: Coarse Grind Suitable for Pour-Over

1. Light-roasted Yirgacheffe Kochere

2. Medium-dark roasted Golden Mandheling

Blooming is intended to allow coffee powder particles to fully contact water, let the fiber gaps absorb sufficient water, and release gas, which is more beneficial for subsequent extraction and flavor release.

Observations

● From the timer above, we observed that

The light-roasted Yirgacheffe has a longer gas release time, as if desperately breathing continuously, unwilling to lose its life.

While the dark-roasted Mandheling has already stopped "breathing," with its gaps fully expanded to achieve maximum gas release.

Because the fibers of light-roasted beans are relatively compact, with fewer and smaller fiber gaps, they need more time to absorb water fully, and some denser powder areas will continue for longer periods.

The gaps between the internal fibers of coffee beans become looser and more numerous with deeper roasting degrees. This is because the beans expand and may also develop cracks, making the beans more brittle. Therefore, the blooming and gas release time ends earlier than for light-roasted beans.

Dark Roast Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted dark roast coffee beans—including Honduras coffee, Brazilian Red Bourbon coffee, and Indonesian Mandheling coffee—all have guaranteed quality and brand reputation. More importantly, they offer extremely high value for money. A half-pound (227g) package costs only around 80-90 RMB. Calculating at 15g per pour-over cup, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each single-origin coffee costing only about 6 RMB. Compared to the dozens of RMB per cup typically sold in cafés, this represents exceptional value.

FrontStreet Coffee: A Guangzhou-based roastery with a small storefront but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online shop services at https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473