If you are an inexperienced coffee drinker, you may feel out of your league at times. For example, it can be intimidating when your barista asks you if you prefer a light roast or a dark roast. In your mind, you wonder what the difference is.
Thankfully, you don’t have to be a coffee snob to appreciate the subtle differences between a light roast and a dark roast.
After reading this guide, you can defend your coffee preference confidently. Plus, you’ll have the knowledge to share with other coffee drinkers to boot!
How Do You Define Light Roast?
When coffee beans get picked from the tree, they are green. Roasting takes green coffee beans and turns them into brown beans. The simplest way to differentiate between different roasts is by looking at the color of the beans. The color of the beans reveals everything you need to know about a roast.
A light roast bean will have a light brown color and a matte surface. Since the roast is light, the coffee beans do not lose their unique characteristics. They do have a roasted flavor, but it’s subtle.
When you drink a light roast, you will notice the acidity of the bean. How it tastes all depends on the elevation where the bean grew. Beans that come from a higher elevation taste better. Plus, they’re better quality than beans grown at a lower elevation. You have to pay more for these unique beans, but many feel it’s worth it.
You know it’s excellent tasting coffee when you enjoy its mellow and vibrant flavor.
Light Roast Is Not Your Grandfather’s Coffee
Don’t be surprised if your grandparents don’t instantly take to light roast coffee. Light roast coffee is relatively new, and not everyone likes it at first.
For most of coffee’s history, coffee beans were roasted dark. People didn’t mind drinking coffee that had a thick, bitter, and burnt flavor. Coffee, up until recent years, has been an inexpensive drink. Dark roasting could hide the taste of lower-quality coffees brewed in low elevations.
You may not mind the taste of dark coffee. It may be what you’re used to, so you’re okay sticking to drinking what you’ve grown accustomed to. However, you may be missing out!
Technology and Science Influence Coffee
Technology and science have influenced how coffee gets brewed in the last few decades. As a result, boutique coffee shops and international coffee chains have changed. They now sell what people expect to receive when they purchase a cup of coffee. Customers don’t always want dark coffee. Instead, they want a rich and tasty coffee.
Coffee drinkers yearn to try different flavors and experience coffee in a new way. And light roast is a favorite due to its unique and fruity taste.
Coffee farming is being treated as a science. Farmers have responded by selectively growing unique coffee species. Now, they zero in on achieving healthy plants with unique flavor characteristics.
Now, more than ever, farmers focus on:
- Monitoring their crops
- Making adjustments to their plants
- Being selective when they harvest
- Farming in the right elevation
- Highlighting sought-after flavor characteristics
Gone are the days of throwing coffee beans in a primitive roaster and then sending them out. Now, farmers use computers to monitor and control temperature fluctuation. The goal is to produce specific and reproducible results.
Getting the perfect light roast is a mixture of science and art. Coffee roasters tweak their coffee until they hit that sweet spot. Their goal is to pull out the flavor potential of the bean. All the while, they also introduce a lightly roasted flavor that tastes phenomenal.
What Does a Light Roast Coffee Taste Like?
For many people, a light roast coffee’s taste is surprising. It is not uncommon for someone drinking it for the first time to believe that it doesn’t taste like coffee. Most coffee drinkers get accustomed to their favorite coffee. So, it’s a pleasant surprise when they get hit with a light roast’s fruity and floral taste.
Are you curious why a light roast tastes so differently? A bean’s natural flavors get retained because the roasting process is gentler.
People forget that coffee beans are fruit and come in different varieties. Some beans will have honey, vanilla, or sugarcane flavor. Some will have a fruity taste, ranging from berry to citrus. Others will have floral overtones, including rose, jasmine, and chamomile.
Brewing Light Roast Coffee
If you are accustomed to drinking dark coffee, a lighter roast might taste like tea in comparison. So it’s exciting to give light roast coffee a try. That being said, it does take extra effort to brew it to get the most out of the flavor.
The extent to which you grind the beans depends on your brewing method. You can brew your coffee using a French press, make a cold brew, or use a traditional coffee maker.
Another element to keep in mind is the temperature you brew your beans. Because the flavor of the light roast is dynamic, brewing temperature affects the results. Likewise, the length of time you brew the beans changes the amount of flavor extracted. And, of course, the fresher the coffee, the better.
How to Drink Light Roast Coffee
For a unique experience, pair a light roast with breakfast. As mentioned, light roast has a floral or fruit flavor, mild body, and notable acidity. So, it pairs well with avocado toast, buttery croissants, or lunch sandwiches.
Do you like your breakfast with a little bit more zest? Then think about eating fruit pies or toast with a sweet jam while sipping on your coffee.
You can enjoy a light roast hot or iced. It makes a sweet cold brew. Try brewing it at double strength. You’ll likely still enjoy its bold flavor! Many enjoy drinking a light roast as an espresso. But it also works fantastic in a drip coffee machine.
For more tips on drinking light roast coffee, Taylor Lane offers some pointers. Experiment to see which techniques you like the best until you achieve the perfect light roast coffee.
Discover the Delicious World of Light Roast Coffee
In closing, the next time your barista asks you if you want a dark or light roast, roll the dice and give a light roast a try. You’ll no doubt enjoy coffee with flavors that most people have no idea existed!