Coffee roasts guide

The degree to which coffee beans are roasted is one of the most important factors that determine the taste of the coffee in the cup.

Before roasting, green coffee beans are soft, with a fresh smell and little or no taste. The coffee roasting process transforms these raw beans into the distinctively aromatic, flavorful, crunchy beans that we recognize as coffee.

Other factors of course enter into the complex equation that determines your coffee’s taste. Two coffee varieties, from different countries of origin or grown in different environments, are likely to taste quite different even when roasted to the same level (especially at light to medium roast levels). The age of the coffee, the processing method, the grind, and the brewing method will also affect the taste. But the roast level provides a baseline, a rough guide to the taste you can expect.

The most common way to describe coffee roast levels is by the color of the roasted beans, ranging from light to dark (or extra dark). As coffee beans absorb heat in the roasting process, their color becomes darker. Oils appear on the surface of the beans at higher temperatures. Because coffee beans vary, color is not an especially accurate way of judging a roast. But combined with the typical roasting temperature that yields a particular shade of brown, color is a convenient way to categorize roasting levels.

Dark roasts offer more body and texture to the cup of coffee                     

This is one of the reasons why dark roasts have a place on the market. They offer more body, and a more definite ‘mouthfeel’ to the cup of coffee.                    Lighter roasts tend to taste a bit watery or weak, aside from all the flavour they offer. This is mostly because light roasts don’t have the oil sheen on the outside, and they don’t start to dry out as a dark roast. The coffee oils offer even more depth to dark roasts, which again makes the coffee taste stronger, or more defined. 

Lighter roasts can only be brewed in certain ways

Since light roasts are so delicate, their notes won’t always be obvious in just any kind of coffee brewing method. For instance, an espresso or Moka pot won’t be able to do a light roast any justice. This is because they use water that’s too hot, and doesn’t stay in contact with the coffee grounds long enough. This results in only the top notes of the coffee being extracted, since there isn’t enough time.  And even those top notes won’t taste as great as they could with other brewing methods. For example, the French press is the best candidate for a light roast, since you’re completely in control of how hot the water is, and how long you let it steep. A dark roast however has lost much of its specific flavour, and doesn’t really need to be brewed in a certain way, this means that any brewing method, be it espresso, drip filter, Turkish, Moka, or anything in between will all work just as well.

Dark roasts are usually Robusta beans, and light are mostly Arabica 

Most of the time, you’ll find that dark roasts are made with Robusta beans. This is mostly due to the fact that Robusta tastes pretty different for most people. A darker roast is pretty much the way to go with Robusta, since it can handle it pretty well and it also makes the general flavour of the bean better. A lighter roast is most often an Arabica bean, which should come as no surprise given how flavourful those beans usually are. This is mostly because Arabica has twice the fat and sugar content of Robusta beans, but half the caffeine. This makes it the perfect candidate for a light roast.

The Aussie’s wrong beliefs about fresh coffee and local roasters

When the he bean is roasted, it increases in volume and becomes more porous and more hygroscopic. Therefore, it’s more penetrable by air and moisture than the green bean. Fat, such as oil or butter, in contact with the air becomes rancid and oxidizes, and this process is accelerated by the presence of moisture and heat. This is why coffee dislikes air, water and light. For any coffees prepared as an espresso, is recommended waiting at least 7 days after the roast date before using. The immense heat of roasting breaks down sugars and amino acids into carbon dioxide. In the first few days, the build-up of CO₂ can significantly affect brewing, making it much harder to get a tasty cup. The coffee has to rest and degas before it becomes easy to brew. In terms of coffee, considering that the best time to consume your beans is about 7-14 days after roasting, we can clearly notice we have a very limited time frame before the product starts to deteriorate. With the passage of time, those compounds undergo physical and chemical changes that alter the aroma and taste of the finished product. Carbs go stale, lipids go rancid, volatile organic compounds evaporate, and other components change with exposure to oxygen (oxidation) or water. Even small changes can have a significant impact on the taste of your coffee.  Is your small local roaster the one has done the up-to-date technological investments to make a high-quality final product? Have they got the right tools to guarantee you a fresh product with not loss of aromatics or devoid of carbon dioxide?  Do you really know the product you are consuming or you are just following the mass choosing the ones who rig up coffee roasters Well you really should check it.

How long does coffee last?

Like any food product, coffee has its “expiration date” but mainly that refers to its aroma.

Coffee, in fact, cannot perish because it’s a dry product. When the package is closed, coffee keeps its quality for several months. Roasted coffee therefore has no expiration date (“to be consumed within” related to food safety) but a minimum storage period (labeled as “best before”) of 24 months related to evaluations related to the food quality. Basically, after that date the coffee is still edible and consuming it will not cause any risk of a stomach ache. In any case, after opening the bag, it’s always advisable to consume coffee shortly thereafter. Only once the coffee pack has been opened, the inevitable oxygen flow causes a process of daily aroma loss.

Packaging for a long shelf life

The last stage of the roasted coffee production process is the packaging, during which is important to preserve the aromatic and organoleptic characteristics of the product, as well as facilitating its transportation. To make sure about the preservation of our roasted coffee beens and to ensure a guaranteed top product to our costumers, Top Italian Taste chose to work with brands such as Borbone or Bonini, who use the most widespread packaging method with one-way valve. The unidirectional valve is also called “aroma-saving” because it allows the natural degasification and gas leakage process avoiding the air and oxygen intake. Coffee has a major enemy when it comes to freshness: it is the oxygen. The rich taste of coffee is thanks to the roasted beans aromatic oils, which also create the intense scent of the beverage. But just like other oils, the oils in coffee can oxidize when they are exposed to oxygen. That can cause the oil to lose its flavour, or worse, turn rancid. Without proper storage, coffee beans can become contaminated with molds and bacteria, and like other natural products, oxygen and water vapor eventually cause coffee to spoil. But there’s good news for our coffee lovers… our experts use a special tool to keep coffee fresh and preserve its signature aroma. The innovation is nitrogen. In the past, manufacturers and coffee sellers were forced to package coffee beans surrounded by regular air, which contains oxygen and water vapor. But today, they use a process known as inertion to fill each package with nitrogen before it is sealed (same principle used for the chips we buy at the supermarket). Nitrogen pushes out the oxygen and  without it  cannot be water vapor in the package, which extends coffee’s shelf life and guarantees that it won’t turn rancid or start to mold. Without altering the flavours of beans nitrogen guarantees the initial  freshness with no alterations.