Roasting the coffee bean helps transform the physical and chemical properties contained in the green bean by infusing discerning characteristics like color, flavor, taste, smell and density into it. Even though the unroasted beans contain all of the same compounds – acids, proteins, oils, caffeine – as the roasted version, roasting (heating) produces the chemical reactions required to transform the coffee into what we know and love.
The roasting process is essentially a function of the duration and intensity of heat applied to coffee beans, and is often classified in levels known as:
- Medium Dark Roast
- Dark Roast
This roasting process produces a product that is light brown in color – almost the shade of cinnamon. As a result, the product has a toasted grainy flavor with higher acidity, while retaining much of its original taste.
Light Roast is also popularly called Light, Light City, Half City Roast, New England Roast and Cinnamon Roast.
At this level of roasting the coffee beans take on the color of cocoa or milk chocolate. Since the heat treatment is at a medium level, the oils in the beans do not surface leaving the beans dry. This process produces a product that has a balance of aroma, acidity and flavor.
Medium Roasted coffee is also known by other popular names, including City Roast, Medium, Regular Roast, Breakfast Roast and American Roast. Jade Luwak Coffee is produced based on this process.
Medium Dark Roasted coffee usually appears to have an oily sheen to it, and visually look like the color of dark chocolate. They produce a coffee with a heavier body than lighter roasted coffee, and offer a more pronounced flavor that’s closer to the original flavor of the beans.
Medium-Dark Roasted coffee is also popularly known as Full City, After Dinner Roast, Vienna Roast.
Dark Roasted coffee acquires a dark brown and sometimes a blackish color to them. They are shiny in appearance, and may even feel oily to the touch because the process causes droplets of oil to surface. They are characterized by a smoky and slightly bitter taste. Their dark roasting produces a thinner bodied coffee with the lowest caffeine content.
Dark Roasted coffee is also known by several names, including French Roast, Spanish Roast, Italian Roast, New Orleans Roast , Continental Roast, and Espresso Roast.
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