The Best Roast For Black Coffee
The Best Roast For Black Coffee is Not What You Think
You’re probably here looking for a very general answer. Well while we are here to give you an answer, it’s not general. So if you were looking for something similar to any of these:
“The BEST Roast for any coffee is a dark roast.”
“The absolute most bestest coffee ever is awesomest when it's roasted the lightest.”
“You want your coffee to be roasted for 5 minutes and 27 seconds.”
Then unfortunately you’re in the wrong place. But, fortunately for you, you’re going to get an even better answer. And not just any answer, but the actual truth about roast types that you’ve been lied to about your whole life.
Yeah, pretty heavy hitting and we know what brought you here probably wasn’t getting the actual truth you were just looking for a little “hit and run” answer. But now you’re in for the whole process. No police or insurance companies will be involved, but we are going to get to the bottom of this wreck and see what can be done about fixing all the damages.
Alright it’s not that serious BUT what we can promise is that after reading this article you will definitely know what the best roast for black coffee is. Let’s get into it!
The Truth About Coffee Roast
The most common misconception about coffee roast is the whole “light, medium, or dark” thing. Categorizing coffee in this way completely steps on and smashes its origins which is such a big factor in the flavor profile (I know I just used some big words, but track with me here). There is no such thing as “light, medium, or dark roast”. A coffee bean goes through a full development when it’s being roasted, so your coffee will either be “underdeveloped, developed, or burnt”.
This categorization was created during the 2nd wave of coffee coming into the United States. This wave focused a bit more on the specialty side of things and - at the very least - categorized coffee into these “roast profiles” - if you can even call them that - instead of just burning them, throwing them in a can, and selling them by the gagillions.
To give you an idea, in short, the 3 waves of coffee can be described like this:
1st Wave: High Production, Low Quality
2nd Wave: High Production, Mid Quality
3rd Wave: Low Production, High Quality (This is also known as craft or specialty coffee)
Now there’s definitely no hard feelings towards anyone who has been under this marketing spell. How are you supposed to know any different if nobody tells you? Especially if the biggest companies in the world or the “experts” should be the ones who know what they’re talking about.
The best roast for black coffee depends entirely on the origin of the individual bean. A coffee should come from a single origin and have a story from being planted to being picked. From being picked to being processed. From being processed to being shipped to your local roaster who then takes the very best care through trials and tests to see what would pull the absolute most flavor from this coffee.
What You Should Be Looking For
Phew, that was heavy hitting. A lot of pent up emotions were put into that last section so let’s relax the rest of the time we’re together here shall we?
Our coffee bags display everything listed plus more! Click the picture above
When you’re picking a bag of coffee, as far as roast is concerned, what you’re looking for is a bag that has flavors listed as “notes”. If it has a roast type listed then put it back on the shelf. Also, a note on the notes (pun intended), if the only things listed on the bag are something like “rich” or “bold” then those aren’t flavor notes.
Along with the roast type, what you’re looking for on the bag is what’s known as a single origin. Typically it will say a Country followed by a region or farm. For example, Brazil Mogiana is listed as country/region instead of just a general “Brazil”.
Lastly, when it comes to roast, look for the roast date or the day that the coffee was roasted. After about 4 weeks the flavors of the coffee begin to decline and the coffee starts to go “stale”. You would never know if your coffee was stale or not if you didn’t know when the coffee was roasted so this is a very important step.
Now You Know - Recap
Coffee roasts are often misunderstood or misleading. While terms like "light," "medium," and "dark" are commonly used, they don't always accurately reflect the quality or flavor of a coffee. Actually, they never do.
Everything that goes on pre-roast, such as origin, variety, and processing, play the most important role in a coffee's potential flavors. The goal of roasting is to enhance these existing characteristics without over or under doing it. A well-roasted coffee, whether it’s lighter, medium, or darker, will have a balanced and enjoyable flavor profile.
Generally speaking though, to give those of you who hate change and/or non-specifics an answer, stick with medium or light roasts if you have to. Typically these are going to give you the best flavor profiles because anything more than that will just give a charcoal or smokey taste. A coffee slightly underdeveloped is better than a coffee slightly over-developed because it gives more flavors a chance to shine whereas a dark roast will burn those flavors to a crisp.
We hope you learned exactly (or, not so exactly) what the best roast for black coffee is! Now go make a great cup of coffee.
Also, we do have a secret. Please don’t tell anyone. We have a roast that we profile as dark for those who just can’t get away from the “blackened” flavor of a darker roasted coffee. It’s our Freightline blend. It’s our take on a traditional Diner coffee, meant to be enjoyed with cream and a bit of sugar.
If you have any questions, concerns, or just wanna chat about some coffee come into one of our two locations or contact us. Until next time! Cheers.