Can Light Roast Coffee Beans Be Used for Espresso? Which Is Better: Pour-Over or Espresso?

It is widely recognized that coffee beans used for espresso are generally roasted to a darker degree. Among coffee roast levels, there is one called "Italian Roast" with an Agtron value of 25. This is the darkest of the 8 roast levels, typically resulting in coffee beans with a shiny, oily surface.

However, modern espresso beans are generally not roasted as dark anymore. Taking FrontStreet Coffee's espresso bean series as an example, most have an Agtron value of 55, which corresponds to "City Roast" in the 8-level roast scale. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will experiment with how lightly roasted coffee beans perform when extracted as espresso. When we refer to light roast coffee, we mean "Light Roast" and "Cinnamon Roast" in the 8-level roast scale, with Agtron values between 85-95.

Why didn't FrontStreet Coffee conduct this "interesting experiment" before? Because FrontStreet Coffee previously used an older espresso machine (a veteran in the shop) with limited features, and its performance in extracting light roast coffee was not ideal. Now, with a new espresso machine that offers more manual control options, FrontStreet Coffee can happily conduct these experiments!

This experiment tested three beans: Guanka (natural process), Guodingding (washed process), and Dorothy (enzyme washed process). Why are they all Ethiopian beans... Well, FrontStreet Coffee needs to gather data first before having an excuse to experiment with the Red Label beans!

Testing Guanka (Natural Process)

First, we tested Guanka. If you want to extract espresso using light roast coffee beans, remember to adjust the grind setting finer. Otherwise, you might witness the following scenario:

Extraction time at 7 seconds: Extremely fast flow rate

After three parameter adjustments, the extraction parameters for light roast Guanka were: 20g of coffee grounds, 8 seconds pre-infusion, extracting 35g of coffee liquid at a constant 6bar pressure, with a final time of 30 seconds. The espresso emitted a sweet berry aroma, and tasting it was like concentrated fruit juice, with a jam-like texture accompanied by a stimulating sensation.

FrontStreet Coffee made both a hot Americano and a hot latte with Guanka. The hot Americano gave off an enticing sweet berry aroma, tasting like raspberry juice without a hint of bitterness, with a finish reminiscent of passion fruit honey.

When made into a hot latte, the performance was somewhat mediocre, as the coffee was largely masked by the milk flavor, highlighting the sweet milk taste (like baby formula).

Testing Guodingding (Washed Yirgacheffe)

Next was the washed Yirgacheffe Guodingding. Drawing from the Guanka extraction experience, FrontStreet Coffee adjusted the parameters to: 20g of coffee grounds, 6 seconds pre-infusion, extracting 32g of coffee liquid at a constant 5bar pressure, with a final time of 26 seconds. Similarly, FrontStreet Coffee made both a hot Americano and a hot latte for comparison.

The crema from the washed Guodingding espresso dissipated quickly. Before adding hot water, only a thin layer of crema remained. The hot Americano also performed well, with rich citrus flavors and a smooth, full-bodied texture, finishing with white floral notes. The only drawback was the slightly short aftertaste.

The latte performance was less than ideal. The entire cup tasted rather weak, and unlike Guanka, it didn't enhance the sweetness of the milk. It felt as if the coffee and milk were repelling each other.

Testing Dorothy (Enzyme Washed)

Finally, we tested Dorothy. Because Dorothy exhibits "white peach oolong" flavors in pour-over brewing, FrontStreet Coffee also refers to it as "White Peach Oolong." FrontStreet Coffee also adjusted the parameters for this coffee: 20g of coffee grounds, 10 seconds pre-infusion, extracting 35g of coffee liquid at a constant 6bar pressure, with a final time of 29-30 seconds. The resulting espresso emitted a rich honey peach aroma.

Again, both a hot Americano and a hot latte were made for comparison. Having learned from the "Guodingding" experience, FrontStreet Coffee directly extracted the coffee over hot water this time. FrontStreet Coffee considers the Dorothy Americano to be the best tasting among the three beans, with rich honey peach flavor, creamy texture, and oolong tea aftertaste. It's by no means inferior to pour-over coffee.

When made into a hot latte, it presented an unexpected experience - the entire cup tasted like drinking light cheese, which was both surprising and interesting.

Conclusion

Based on the performance of these three light roast coffee beans, they all showed good results when made into Americanos, effectively expressing the original flavors of the coffee beans. However, when making lattes by combining with milk, the flavors of light roast coffee tend to be relatively mild and can easily be overpowered by the assertiveness of milk.

For those who want to use light roast coffee beans to make espresso, this approach is certainly feasible. However, extracting delicious coffee requires extensive theoretical knowledge and practical experience to achieve good results.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473