All Things Coffee

[The_President]

Bringing over a few posts from the other thread to respond to.

@Mathman

There is zero consistency in how this gets labeled.

The other related thing I’ve noticed is what people label ‘espresso’ beans varies widely, as tastes have changed. Historically it would be a very dark roast, but modern espresso beans are lighter, so YMMV buying ‘espresso’ beans.

100%. I have in my mind that an espresso should be dark, but stops short of the burnt flavors that come with a French roast. Also, Starbucks seems to be 2-3 steps (of ~10) darker than their labeling suggests. Their blonde roast seems like a solid medium roast. In general, I see Starbucks and think “no thanks”.

@ArthurItas

It’s also a personal preference thing beyond the brewing temp. Would you like your coffee more toward floral and fruity, or more towards the chocolaty, smoky, and nutty? No wrong answers. I used to make exclusively dark roasts, but mix it up a little. I still generally prefer dark roasts or medium dark roasts. My current beans were labeled “medium-dark” roast which I generally like but I think might have been mislabeled. Seems light-medium to me, so I cranked up the temp and steep time.

One of my favorite coffees I can remember making at home was from the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe region by a local roaster. This was 15 years ago, and I have not found one similar since then. It was a very light roast, and had a very nice fruity berry flavor. I drank it black as any amount of milk or cream would cover up the flavors. This is probably the coffee that really sparked an appreciation of regions and roasts. Prior to that, i throught dark was better and my parents folgers was crap.