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Medium Roast Coffees
Medium roasted beans are characterized by brown and darker color than the light roasted coffee. It is also richer in flavor though not as rich as the dark roast coffee. It is actually symbolizes a flavor balance between a light and dark roast. This means it has mild floral, fruity and sweet juicy flavors with mild acidity at the same time with some hints of nutty and dark chocolate. The coffee can also have some notable oils in it.
The body and acidity of a medium roasted bean is well balanced. With roasting of the coffee beans being longer, natural coffee qualities becomes weaker while the roast properties, aromas and flavors start developing stronger.
How coffee is roasted as medium
In the event the first crack of the coffee bean is heard or witnessed, the beans expand in size while realizing CO2 and vapor pressure with a pop sound. This is the stage in which the beans start building the flavors in line with brown aromatic sugar. This is the taste of vanilla, butter and nutty.
The medium roast allows well developed flavors without destroying the coffee bean intrinsic flavors and acidity. The major outstanding characteristics of the medium roast is a fully body while retaining the coffee sweetness. It’s roasting extents slightly for loner period than the light roast.
Features of a medium roasted coffee
- The color of such beans is more brown darker shades as compared to the light roast but not as darker as the dark roast.
- The medium roast coffee beans are also denser but not as light roasts. They are slightly brittle and not easier to crutch using the finger.
- The beans are smoother (relatively little) than the light roast and reflect light a bit also.
- They do not appear much shiny on direct right.
- They are not oily to the touch.
Flavor profile
- The coffee is characterized by mild acid lower than that in the light roast. Acid is lost with increase in the roasting period making the darker roasts even the lowest in acidity.
- The delicate nuance flavors are still present in the beans though not as strong as in the light roasts.
- If brewed as fresh as possible, the beans with have an intense aroma.
- They the beans are characterized by less bitterness; it is much than that of the light roasts.
- Medium roast beans have fuller body which is significant than the lighter roasts. This is one of the characteristic that makes it common in the UK where coffee is mostly milk based especially to highlight the great body.
- When the coffee is well roasted and also brewed, is basically sweet in flavor though not as prominent like in the lighter roasts.
- The coffee tends more to the traditional flavor of coffee commonly with chocolate, caramel, nutty, fruity and pleasant flavor hints. It is richer than being complex flavored.
Some pros of the medium roast
- The coffee roasted using this level are very common especially in the coffee Arabica specialty coffee since they are most available and also capability for use with majority of the popular methods for coffee brewing at the same time maintaining the coffee properties and flavor.
- The rich flavor profile of the coffee sits well with most of the with most coffee choices which include the delicate flavor, lower acid which make them easier to drink plus also offer the consumer a balanced coffee flavored drink.
- Another thing is that the medium roasted coffee will offer commercial coffee makers as well as the consumers a good variety type of coffee for milk based brewed coffees. This as attributed by the well balanced and full body. The coffee will give a sweet coffee dink even with very little milk due to the lower acid levels, and slightly lower body
Since the UK prefer the milky brewed coffee, most medium roasted coffee brands will come from the roasters based there.
Some cons of the medium roasted coffee
There is no consistency in medium roasting from one roast to the other thus quality control and storage is not well managed.
With a medium roast you will not achieve the intense strong and darker flavor. If not roasted properly, a medium roast may still ted to flat tasting and not fully developed flavors.
Some time to access the short coming of roasting degree of coffee whether medium, dark or light will depend on the drinker.
Beans to roast using this type of method
Medium and light roasted are usually preserved for the high end, rich and pleasantly flavored Arabica specialty coffee beans ad so with this degree of roasting you can always have the best.
However, some roaster may use this method for inferior coffee resulting to unpleasant tasting coffee. The low grade coffee will outline its defect more strongly when roasted using this method.
Medium roast unlike the light roast will also sit well with the denser specialty coffee beans which grow in very high altitudes and harsh conditions making them bolder and harder. This beans will require more heat to extract the flavors and some of them will give a medium roast like flavor when dark roasted and the medium roast will taste similar to light roast.
Best quality coffees for medium roasting
Indonesian coffee beans
Indonesia produces coffee beans in both quantity and quality. Most of the high quality beans come from Sumatra and also java and Sulawesi. The coffee is very deep in body and low in acidity. With a medium roast you can have these flavors fully developed and richer which are also earthy at some lever.
Brazil
Besides producing most coffee in the world, Brazil also offer a wide variety of good coffee which you would want to taste the original flavors. The common flavor aspect of the Brazilian coffee is heavy body with a peanut tone.
Kenyan Arabica coffee beans
Kenya coffee beans are grown in high altitudes and without any shading unlike most Arabica producing countries. The bean have a great flavor which you don’t want masked in dark brewing though may not full develop in the light brewing since they are denser. The flavor profile is mostly black currant, winy, fruitier, sweet and savory with some times having tomato hints. The acid is mostly citrus and got a great fuller body.
Jamaican blue mountain coffee
This is a popular certified coffee which is very rare, expensive and very good quality. Since the coffee grows in high altitudes with harsher conditions the coffee is denser and will require high temperatures to extract the flavors fully. For this reason, the coffee will favor a medium roast to light roast. Dark roast may damage some of the sweet, fruity and floral flavors if you prefer them than the dark flavors.
Ethiopian coffee beans
Yirgacheffe coffee from Ethiopia is most popular in the world not to mention that the country is the ancient home of coffee. The country coffee is mostly wild growing and organic. The coffee flavor is tea like with strong floral, fruity and wine like taste coupled with a heavy and fuller body.
Colombia, panama specialty coffee (geisha), Guatemala is also some of the countries with rich flavored coffee which you would like in your cup of coffee with a medium roast.
Peaberry coffee variety for instance the Tanzanian peaberry can also produce great coffee with medium roasting. Since peaberry bean is one coffee bean per cherry, it got rich flavor fit for two beans than the other coffees. It also roast uniformly and this easier to extract the different flavors. For this reason you can be sure to have an exceptional cup of medium roast coffee with peaberry beans and more so from good best crops.
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