What Determines the Bitterness and Acidity of Coffee?

There have been a few occasions when FrontStreet Coffee recommended Mandheling after consulting with customers who dislike acidic coffee, only to be told that they've tried Mandheling and found it acidic...

Generally, Mandheling coffee exhibits flavors of herbs, nuts, chocolate, and caramel, without any sour taste. So, can Mandheling possibly taste acidic? Yes, and quite simply - just don't roast the coffee beans as deeply.

Acidity and Bitterness in Coffee

In our minds, Ethiopian and Kenyan coffee beans are acidic, while Blue Mountain and Mandheling are bitter. But in reality, the acidity and bitterness of coffee have little to do with origin and are mainly related to the roast level.

In coffee roasting, the period after the first crack is called the development phase, which determines the final flavor direction of the coffee. The shorter the development period, the lighter the roast level, and the coffee flavor tends toward acidity; conversely, the longer the development period, the longer the caramelization reaction, the deeper the roast level, and the coffee flavor tends toward bitterness.

Acidity and bitterness are just the main flavor directions of coffee, but if coffee only tastes sour or only bitter, it's not appealing. The most important thing is to highlight sweetness and aroma.

Different Roast Levels of Coffee

For example, Kenyan coffee beans are equally famous in the consumer market for both light and dark roasts. Light-roasted Kenyan coffee exhibits bright acidity like plums and cherry tomatoes; dark-roasted Kenyan coffee presents a clean, rich flavor like dark chocolate - bittersweet with a strong aftertaste.

Why Some Coffees Remain Dark Roasted

Some friends might wonder why Mandheling and Blue Mountain coffees still insist on dark roasting in the era of light-roasted coffee popularity. Combined with statements like "roasting coffee beans deeply to cover up defect flavors," people begin to doubt whether the quality of these dark-roasted coffee beans is inferior to light-roasted ones.

Undeniably, whether it's high-quality or low-quality coffee beans, if roasted to near-charcoal level, the resulting taste is highly consistent - bitter enough to make you question life. But obviously, neither Blue Mountain nor Mandheling exhibit a purely bitter taste in these dark roasts; rather, they are bitter with sweetness. If there were any poor-quality beans inside, the flavor feedback would expose them completely.

Moreover, coffees like Blue Mountain and Mandheling were already world-famous before the rise of light-roasted coffee. Mellow, balanced, and rich are the labels for these coffees, with Blue Mountain even considered the standard "coffee taste." In this context, maintaining consistent flavor quality is precisely what these coffee beans insist on! Of course, in the wave of "specialty coffee," you can still find light-roasted Blue Mountain and Mandheling coffees with fruity acidity in some shops.

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