/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>8642817
>dark roast coffee tastes good to many
because of brainwashing especially in the espresso or expresso coffee circles.
Dark roast has a heavy bitter taste.
As espresso usually is served pretty strong, people expect the bitter taste.
Most bars serve 70/30 or 80/20 (natural/dark roast) blends. If the roast is made of the cheaper robusta bean, the coffee shop can save money.
But, you can make an excellent espresso from 100% natural roast arabica beans.
People will notice the difference, even though they're not conscious what it is.

When I talk about a light roast, I'm thinking of what is called a City roast in roaster's terminology.
This is the lightest you can roast a bean to keep maximum origin flavor (you taste more of the bean's taste & less of the flavors from roasting).
Any lighter, and the coffee mostly tastes grassy and sour. Sour flavors diminish as beans roast.

In my mind, a dark roast (for me) is what is called Full City in roaster talk.
There are darker roasts above Full City but before the beans ignite in the roaster (French and Vienna).
To me, these don't exist. I find them acrid, bitter, and lacking any of the interesting flavors I source good coffee beans to experience.

French Roast:
At French Roast level sugars are heavily caramelized (burned) and degraded. This occurs roughly around 460-470 degrees F.
At this stage, the woody bean structure is carbonizing as the seed continues to expand and loose mass.
The body of the resulting cup will be thinner and lighter as the aromatic compounds,
oils, and soluble solids are burned out of the coffee and rise up to fill your house with smoke. Second crack is well finished at this point.

Burnt:
By this point, roughly 470-480 degrees F, it’s too late. You’ve roasted the coffee too dark and will only end up with a bitter cup of charcoal water.
Heat being applied for too long has obliterated all of the volatile compounds that might have added flavor and sweetness.