Which is Better: Medium or Dark Roast Coffee Beans? Is Medium Roasted Yirgacheffe as Floral as a Fairy?

FrontStreet Coffee: An Introduction to Coffee Bean Roasting Levels

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

We often equate coffee origin names with coffee flavors - hearing Yirgacheffe, we think it's acidic, while Mandheling is synonymous with strong bitterness. In reality, what determines coffee flavor is the roasting level, not entirely the coffee bean's origin. This doesn't negate the inherent flavor characteristics of coffee beans, but coffee beans are not naturally born with specific flavors. The flavor differences in coffee beans are only known after comparison under identical roasting conditions.

For example, Yirgacheffe is classified as an acidic coffee, but its acidity gradually diminishes with extended roasting time, instead becoming a coffee bean with heavy bitterness. Generally, the shorter the roasting time, the more acidic the coffee; the longer the roasting time, the more bitter. From this characteristic, we can understand that what determines coffee's acidity and bitterness is the degree of roasting.

The most challenging aspect of roasting lies in determining the optimal time to stop roasting. The best timing to stop roasting depends on how the roaster captures the characteristics of the coffee beans. For instance, Cuban coffee beans have thin fruit pulp and possess unique acidity and aroma. Using medium to high roasting levels can best remove astringency and produce coffee with unparalleled superior acidic sweetness. However, if French Roast is used, the flavor becomes hollow, and the coffee beans are ruined. On the other hand, if Kenyan coffee beans with thick pulp and high moisture content are roasted using light levels like Light Roast or Cinnamon Roast, the coffee would likely be too acidic to be palatable.

Roasting is the Key to Coffee Processing

Roasters must correctly grasp the potential of various raw beans, knowing what level will kill the flavor and what level will bring out the best performance, then evaluate the roasting of raw beans. However, regardless of how advanced the roasting techniques used, Brazilian coffee beans won't become Colombian coffee beans, and beans with fermented flavors won't become normal beans. Roasting adjusts flavors within the range of characteristics that the raw beans already possess.

The same variety of coffee beans will have different flavors when roasted to different degrees. Let us remember the flavor characteristics of various roasting levels, and then choose coffee beans with suitable roasting levels according to our own taste preferences.

Yirgacheffe is suitable for light to medium roasting, offering fresh and bright floral and fruit aromas, with unique citrus and lemon fruit fragrances, accompanied by jasmine perfume. It possesses acidity similar to wine, with a clean and pure taste without impurities - like drinking freshly brewed fresh citrus fruit tea with a lasting aftertaste.

Knowledge Point: The source of coffee's aroma and flavor is highly volatile. Therefore, the longer coffee beans are stored, the more their aroma and flavor diminish.

In summary: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research hall that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. Our unconditional sharing is only to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Additionally, we hold three low-discount coffee activities every month because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends drink the best coffee at the lowest price. This has also been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past 6 years!

END

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473