When I want a cup of coffee, I’m looking for comfort in a cup, that cozy feeling when the coffee hits the spot, along with a little sweet chocolatey note, and a hint of bitterness and acid.
Light roasts relly don’t do any of that for me at all. What experience do you have when drinking it? What parts do you enjoy?
I’ve got a mokka pot and an aeropress and I’m willing to give it a try.
exactly the same as you. Comfort in a cup and a cozy feeling. Just the exact flavours are different. It’s all a matter of taste.
But in general i do want the same balance of sweetness and acidity with at most a hint of bitterness, if any at all. If it is overly acidic, then the extraction was off.
What makes light roasts interesting is that they accentuate the origin flavours in the coffee that come from its variety, processing and location, where it was grown. All of that goes away when the coffee is roasted for longer. That is why high quality specialty coffees are always light roasts.
The cool thing about light roasts is that there is a huge variety in flavours. If you don’t want that much acidity, you probably don’t want light-to-medium roast african coffees (kenya, ethiopia), because those will be berry or citrus forward. Coffees from south america might be more your jam. Ultra light roasts tend to be more floral, so that might be ok again. I had green coffee from tanzania once that i roasted myself very light. It tasted like peach with an aftertaste of black tea. Together it was pure ice tea. Incredibly delicious and not very acidic at all.
Also pay attention to the processing. If you want clean and subtle flavours, go for washed. If you want something wild and funky, go for anaerobic fermentation. You get unbelievable flavours like cream sodas or bubble gum.
In terms of how to prepare it, i would recommend the aero press. But you can always buy a V60 for 20 bucks. That is my personal go to. The more important thing is a good grinder though. Don’t cheap out there because that really makes a world of difference. Good quality hand grinders are fairly affordable these days.
Check out lance hedrick on youtube. He has a ton of tips for how to make really good coffee with a lot of scientific explanations. Very thorough. He also has recommendations for good grinders at all price points.
most dark roasts taste very similar
you get a much larger variety with light roast
I’d recommend the aeropress over the mokka. But I think to really get into lighter roasts a cheap v60 is the way to go.
You probably won’t lose your love of medium roasts but you likely will find some cool new coffees that you will enjoy in a different way. There is so much variety in the lighter side of the spectrum. I think it’s completely unfair to make a blanket statement about not liking lighter roasts. Especially will all the coferments and crazy stuff going on with lighter roasts, they really don’t fit at all into a simple flavor profile category.I find them much harder to perfect the brew though. It’s also much more rewarding when you finally nail it.
As a suggestion, if you are interested in exploring I’d recommend starting to do this with a good local roaster /barista. Tasting a few well - brewed cups in cafe will give you some framework at least of what the light side has to offer. Personally when I started brewing my own light roasts I made so many lousy cups I never would have stuck with it if I didn’t already know that there was a real prize for getting it right.
Honestly I’d love starting out with a barista, but my problem is a lot of them seem very confident… but it’s hard to tell what’s confidence and what’s actual knowledge, because we’re a filter-coffee culture and the bar is so low everyone thinks they’re a genius
think tea drinkers. its just a more subtle thing. if you drink a lot of something with subtle flavors, it should make sense
that said, i like my coffee dense
I like the floral and fruity light roasts - I find darker roasts to have too many overpowering flavors for my taste. It’s unfortunate that light roast also tends to be more caffeinated because I have high caffeine sensitivity, so sometimes I grab a decaf light roast, but espresso pulls a little different when it’s decaf which can be tricky.
decafs are weird because i feel like they have fewer soluble compounds. Where with normal espresso the pressure usually drops and the flow increases as stuff gets washed out of the puck, with decaf pressure and flow always remains fairly constant throughout all of the extraction. But also, it has less CO2 bound so there isn’t much pressure buildup in the first place. So decaf extraction always starts out faster but does not accelerate.
Overall i find it doesn’t really matter. I’ll do the mostly the same as with other espresso, the extraction will behave wildly different but it’s still gonna be delicious. I might grind finer or go for a soup shot sometimes though
It’s the combination of acidity and grassy floral flavors. It feels refreshing. It’s an additional element of mental pickup alongside caffeine itself.
On that note I feel like the overlap between light roast enjoyers and IPA enjoyers is basically a circle. Some of us like those kinds of tastes.
On that note I feel like the overlap between light roast enjoyers and IPA enjoyers is basically a circle.
That’s interesting. Why do you think that to be the case?
I admit it doesn’t square with my own experience, but I wouldn’t want to just write it off.
It’s my feeling they fall into the same category of tastes. Acidic bitter grass and fruit with a lot variation and complexity.
Yes we usually call light roast not bitter but that’s only in comparison with the dark roast, which lacks other mentioned flavors.
the overlap between light roast enjoyers and IPA enjoyers is basically a circle.
Oh hey it’s me
Yeah, light roasts generally have brighter and more complex flavours, which is what I’ve come to enjoy most out of a good coffee
I can still enjoy a dark coffee the same way I can still enjoy a Guinness, but if I’m choosing, I’ll be picking the more complex drink with a greater gamut of variation between different ones
Haha, this threat is somewhat dejecting. I hate IPAs
For now
I believe light roasts have more caffeine.
It has more caffeine for one and I also feel like I can taste the distinct notes easier with light roast. Not an expert by any means, if I’m mistaken, apologies.
The thing about caffeine is that as it just increases we just increase tolerance, right?
The caffeine difference due to roast levels is mostly disproven afaik. Roasting destroys caffeine but light roasts are more heavy so if you brew by weight, that equals out. Also, caffeine content tends to vary a lot by variety and type. Robusta beans have a lot more caffeine than arabica. So if you drink a traditional italian dark roast espresso, that still can have more espresso than a light roast specialty espresso. James hoffman made a video once about that where he ordered different espressos at different coffee shops, both specialty and traditional chains, and tested the caffeine levels and they were all over the place
huh! I’ve been perpetuating that idea. I found James on youtube but can’t find that specific video. Could I trouble you for a link?
in the meantime this other one from him seems relevant enough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etnMr8oUSDo
I like the fruity acidity paired with the light sweetness of light roasted coffees. It makes them very interesting to drink. I like my coffee to have a more complex flavor instead of something “strong”.
I think you have the best chance of experiencing this either with the aeropress or a pour-over. Fast espresso shots also captures these flavors
Light roasts have a higher caffeine content due to caffeine breaking down with prolonged heat exposure. which if you’re ADD or ADHD the extra stimulant could be more relaxing.
I’m a medium roast enjoyer. I’ve tried dark roasts and light roasts. Neither do the job. Right now my daily driver coffee is maxwell house breakfast blend that I buy in bulk in the big tins. On special occasions like holidays I will buy some pouch coffee. I like to get Volcanica brand from Amazon they make some really good coffee. I think I tried their Peruvian coffee and it was nice.
I’ve tried blue horse kona and I just don’t like kona. I know a lot of other people think kona is great coffee but it’s not for me.
Sumatran coffee is okay. I went through a phase were I drank a lot of that. But it’s considered a premium coffee sold in pouches here in the USA and I needed to buy cheap coffee to feed my addiction and I gravitated to a medium roast breakfast blend.
The benefits of a light roast all depend on the qualities of the bean. Poor tasting beans become their best with darker roasts. Its the best way to make crap coffee drinkable. It does this by mostly by the maillaird reaction and the carmelization of sugars. Makes the cup sweeter and pleasing. The problem is you lose a lot of the more delicate flavours with the heat.
Light roasts let a lot of the delicate floral, fruity flavours shine through without getting destroyed by the heat. If you want to taste jasmine, peach, blueberry, cocoa and others, a light roast shows you what the coffee is capable of.
Most beans aren’t worthy of light roasts. Medium and dark brings out their unimpressive best and its the default for commodity grocery store coffee.
Great beans have more potential, and only light roasts let it shine through. Ethiopian, some kenyan and Burundi etc & Jamaican blue mountain are some of the most consistently rewarding for light roasts. Brasilian coffee is one of the most consistent for medium roasts, IMHO, and everything else is less common amd goes to medium dark roasts. That is not to say every region can’t produce special cups, but that comes out in the cupping and grading process.
One last quick comment about processing. Growers can dry their beans using a variety of methods. Dry, washed and fermented and others are being invented all the time. They too will impact the potential for flavours. It all comes out in the cuppings.
Very interesting, I think me and my girlfriend would enjoy trying out some quality beans. We’re both city roast enjoyers so we’d have fun with a different project.
That’s really the best way to get grounded. Until you find what you love, buy smaller bags of different origins and roasts until you you discover what you love most.
Good roasters should limit their light roasts to beans that deserve it, but that a guideline not a rule.
I like both. With milk.
Light roast is especially good as espresso. My usual coffee is Cuban style, either from the cafe up the street, cafe con leche with espresso from the big machine or at home moka pot and milk - in both cases made with this dark roast:
https://navieracoffee.com/collections/frontpage/products/cafe-naviera-cafeteria-blend-2-lb
But even the Starbucks latte is good if they do the “blonde” one and you get 2x the espresso.
Make it strong and you will probably get it. Or not, and you will still learn something.
Light roast with milk sounds like some kind of exquisite blasphemy
I just like coffee. I drink it black, light, dark, medium, don’t care. Different flavors, different tastes.
I’d say it’s like comparing Granny Smith to gala to… Other types of apples. If you don’t enjoy a light roast, don’t worry.
Coffees good
Simple as .
As someone who’s just starting to get into light roasts, I love how interesting coffees can taste when they’re that light. Once a coffee gets roasted medium to dark, it loses a lot of what makes it unique. I’m currently drinking a really lightly roasted single origin high altitude Ethiopian coffee and it’s so unique and interesting to drink. It tastes like strawberry and is juicy and vibrant. It’s fascinating that coffee can taste like that.
It sounds really interesting, but I guess i’m probably kind of in it for that “hit” that darker coffee gives. Do you get that hit as well with light, or do you simply taste these interesting notes and find it sort of sophisticatedly stimulating?
I’m not entirely sure what you mean, but I will say I definitely find very light roasts to be more of a sophisticated drinking experience. That doesn’t mean you need to be a snob to enjoy it, though. And I do still enjoy medium roasts too, as a matter of fact I’m currently sipping a medium roast while writing this out, but that’s why I’ve been enjoying light roast so much lately.
What hit? Drink robusta if you want a caffeine hit and more bitter flavors. If you want a flavor profile you cannot go past 400 degrees or so, else it all converges.
Ooh, you’ve just convinced me to try some good light roasts.
I hope you find something you enjoy!
I hate you for changing my mind!
I will corrupt everyone eventually.
What’s the name of that coffee because it sounds amazing?
I wrote about it here.
