The Difference between Light, Medium and Dark Roast in Coffee
KNOWING the different roasting levels in coffee is as important as knowing what single origin you will buy for brewing later. 😊 Roasting level, brewing method and single origin include 3 important factors that will determine what the characteristics of the coffee will come out when brewed.
Various roasting levels from Green bean to dark roast:
* 1. Light roast * ☕
For those who like coffee with tea-like texture and soft characteristics, light roast is a suitable level of roasting. You can check the purchased coffee beans to find out the level. Lightly roasted coffee beans generally will not only look like the “youngest version” of the coffee brown color, but also no sparkle of oil is too visible on the surface of the coffee beans.
The longer the roasted coffee beans, the more oil will appear on the surface of the coffee beans. Because coffee beans ‘light roasted’ tend to be roasted in a short time – and sometimes in low temperatures, coffee oil has not had time to appear on the surface of the coffee beans.
* 2. Roast Medium * ☕
The texture is a little like tea and is more “tanned” than light roast. Almost the same as light roast, if you see roasted coffee beans at this level, then you will not find coffee oil that is too obvious on the seeds. But if you try two manual brew brewers, each roasted with light and medium, then you will feel the difference.
Roasted coffee in medium level tends to have a more intense taste compared to light, but the levels are still not as strong as dark roast. Because it is able to present the right flavor and composition, it’s no wonder that this roasting level is also quite popular in many roasters.
* 3. Medium-dark roast * ☕
Next in the coffee flavor spectrum is the medium-dark level. This is a level that will bring a heavier and more intense body to coffee. Roasted beans in this level tend to have an oil sheen on the surface of the coffee beans. When it is brewed, it feels more like a delicious bitter-sweet character.
* 4. Dark roast and beyond * ☕
Dark coffee roast (and the level above it is like Italian, Vienna or French roast), generally done if the coffee will be added again with a mixture of milk, sugar and so on into either cappuccino, latte, flat white and so on. Rarely brewed manual coffee, aka manual brew, which uses this roasted level. Dark roast coffee basically almost no longer holds any character other than charred and bitter scorched taste. Even if there were original characters left, that too was very little. The advantage of this dark roasted coffee, lies in the fragrant and fragrant aroma so brewed with hot water.
To recognize dark roast coffee beans we can see from the coffee beans. Usually roasted coffee at this level looks very shiny because the oil or oil (coffee) it contains is released quite a lot from the long roasting process.