Have You Heard of Nordic Coffee Roasting? Is Nordic Roast Really Too Sour to Drink?

Introduction to Nordic-Style Coffee Roasting

When it comes to coffee, many people's preconceived notion is that coffee is bitter. In fact, coffee as a fruit originally has no bitterness at all, but rather a subtle sweetness that isn't overwhelming. Due to the dominance of espresso for many years, its dark roasting method caused coffee beans to transform from sweet to bitter, which led to the widespread belief that "coffee is bitter."

However, innovative Scandinavians were clearly not satisfied with the single dimension of "bitter coffee." They forged their own path in the roasting process, finding a way to make coffee less bitter.

Nordic coffee roasting is equivalent to light roasting. This roasting method doesn't make coffee very bitter but rather restores more fruit flavors. Thus, when you drink Nordic coffee, it's like a fruit bomb in your mouth. Upon careful tasting, you'll notice citrus flavors, strawberry flavors, pineapple flavors... a variety of fruit aromas flash through your mind.

Therefore, Nordic coffee is meant to be savored slowly, similar to drinking wine. Take a small sip and don't rush to swallow—hold it in your mouth for 10 seconds. Every second, you might discover fruit flavors you never imagined.

Historically, light roasting didn't just emerge today, nor was it pioneered by specialty coffee. Most coffee in America before the 1960s was lightly roasted, primarily not to showcase the origin flavors of coffee, but for one purpose: to reduce moisture loss and save money. When the specialty coffee concept was introduced in the late 1960s, American specialty coffee actually debuted in dark roasted form. As for Scandinavia, light roasting has always been their customary roasting style—people there prefer to drink lightly roasted coffee.

When Scandinavians drink light roasts, Americans also drink light roasts, but the difference is: Scandinavians enjoy high welfare levels and affluent lifestyles, choosing high-quality, expensive green beans; while American light roasting was to reduce costs. Both use the same method but with different intentions.

Light roasting can best represent the origin flavors of coffee because the roasting flavors produced by the Maillard reaction are minimal. For example, when we conduct cupping, we mostly use light roasting to allow every taster's palate to clearly discern the coffee's flavors while minimizing the impact of roasting on taste. However, the key issue is that many green coffee beans are not suitable for light roasting, especially hybrid varieties of Arabica and Robusta.

As for whether the acidity from light roasting is a hallmark of specialty coffee, this is a matter of personal opinion. Acidity can be considered a neutral sensory experience with varying levels of intensity; but acidity quality has positive and negative distinctions. Sharp acidity is not a positive flavor. If it's mixed with astringency, graininess, or cool bitter flavors like grassy almonds, then the question isn't whether this coffee meets specialty standards, but whether it even passes basic quality thresholds.

Whether to adopt light roasting in coffee production first depends on the physical and chemical state of the green beans being roasted, but more importantly, on the preferences of your target audience.

Key Point:

Nordic coffee uses a light roasting method. This roasting approach doesn't make coffee very bitter but rather restores more fruit flavors.

In Summary:

FrontStreet Coffee is a research-focused coffee establishment dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation because we want more friends to fall in love with coffee. Every month, we hold three coffee events with significant discounts because FrontStreet Coffee wants to help more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price—this has been our mission for the past six years!

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