Roasting coffee beans bring out the coffee’s amazing flavor and aroma that is locked up inside. The beans are stored as a green state, in which they can be kept without loss of taste or quality. A green bean has none of the characteristics of a roasted bean – it is spongy and soft and smells like grass.
Roasting causes chemical changes in the green bean when bought to a high-temperature range. Once they reach the perfect roast level, they are then cooled immediately. The resulting beans have the familiar aroma of coffee and weigh much less because all the moisture has been roasted out. These beans are ready to be brewed or ground and have a very crunchy texture.
It should be remembered that after the roasting is done, the beans need to be used as soon as possible since the flavor of the fresh roast starts to diminish quickly.
Roasting stages
The different stages of roasting are as follows:
- Cinnamon roast
This roast has earned its name due to its color, not the taste. It is also known as the pale or New England roast. Mildly-flavored beans are used and roasted to this level to protect the delicate flavor.
- Light roast
This roast is also known as the American roast. The beans are roasted till they reach a light to medium brown color. This is the most common type of roast that produces a sweeter and richer flavor of coffee that is preferred by many.
- City roast
Also known as the medium roast, coffee beans are roasted till they reach a medium brown color with a slightly oily texture. It is another type of common roast where the original flavor characteristics of the coffee bean are still retained.
- Full City roast
This is a medium roast where the color of the coffee bean has a medium-dark brown color and fished with an oily texture. Acidity and sweetness wane, this roast produces a brew that is more chocolaty and heartier in character.
- Vienna roast
This type of roast is considered as the first of the dark roast. The coffee beans have a dark and shiny brown color and an oily texture. This type of roast can be seen commonly in espresso coffee. You will taste the flavor or the roasting method instead of the original flavor character.
- French roast
This roast is considered as the heart of dark roasts. The coffee beans have a very dark brown color. The coffee that is brewed will be very low on acidity and have a burnt and smoky flavor profile. This is one of the most popular roasts for espresso lovers.
- Italian roast
This type of roast produces coffee beans that are almost black in color. The texture of the finished bean is a bit on the brittle side. Since very little character of the original bean remains, this type of roast is capable of masking low-quality and inferior coffee beans.
- Spanish roast
Also known as the Neapolitan or Dark French, this type of roast produces beans that are extremely black in color and has a very shiny and oily appearance. It has a very strong flavor and aroma profile, thereby making it an acquired taste.
The above are the different types of coffee roasts that you can try. From the lightest roast to the darkest one, each of them has their distinct properties, thereby making them quite unique to coffee lovers.
