If you're used to buying beans from the grocery store, you won't believe how much flavor specialty-grade, freshly roasted coffee can have at every roast level. We choose to serve highly rated, specialty grade coffee at #theCabin. We brew our usual coffee options: House, Dark Roast as well as many flavored versions available in every season.
Roasting is a heat process that brings out the aroma and flavor locked inside the naturally green coffee beans. The roast “level” is determined by a combination of the bean type, the amount of heat the beans are exposed to, and the length of time they’re in the roaster. Sometimes people think that the terms light, medium, and dark are related to caffeine level, but the label actually refers to how long the beans have been roasted for.
If you have a few minutes, watch this mesmerizing roasting video we came across. It’s done phenomenally and will give a glimpse into why we aren’t a roaster on our own, but we found an outstanding company for us to partner with for the last 20 + years instead. Roasting coffee beans is truly an art form much like us hand-crafting your favorite espresso drink at the cabin. Check this video out:
Caffeine content
A question we get asked many times over is, “which one has more caffeine??” Some people may think that the darker the roast, the more caffeine coffee has. However, that's not the case.
The difference between roasts is taste not the caffeine content.
Ultimately, the amount of difference in the caffeine content between light and dark roasts is pretty minimal and nearly impossible for the average roaster or the average coffee drinker to accurately know about any given coffee. If you feel that the caffeine in a dark roast coffee affects your body more, consider drinking a medium roast instead, but remember there’s no guarantee that your reaction will be different, unless you choose our Decaf coffee.
The simple rule of thumb we’ve found is this:
It ain't the shade of bean; just add more coffee to get more caffeine.
Light Roast
Lightly roasted coffee beans have a light brown color and don't have oils on their surface because they are not roasted long enough for the oils to reach the surface.
Lighter roasts are light-bodied with delicate fruit and floral flavors and high acidity.
They often display delicately fruity and floral flavors but can also taste like cereal or lightly toasted nuts, honey, or freshly baked bread.
More antioxidants
Color is lighter
Taste is mild
Less bitter
Medium Roast
Medium roast coffees are medium brown, with little oil on the beans surface. Medium roast coffee is considered to be sweeter than the light roast, with more body and balanced acidity. This combination gives a smooth flavor.
Medium roasts are full-bodied with balanced flavor and a subtle sweetness, and dark roasts are robust, with cocoa and caramel flavor notes and very low acidity. Because of the caramelization that continues to happen in the bean between the light and medium roast levels, you’ll often taste more gently “cooked” flavors in these roasts. Caramel is common, as well as toasted nuts and milk chocolate.
Medium roast is the ‘just right’ roast between light and dark.
Rich, dark color
More balanced roast: aroma, acidity + flavor
Dark Roast
Dark roast coffee has a shiny black color with an oily face. Unlike the other roast types, it has a bittersweet taste. Dark roasts usually have a substantial bitterness to their taste.
Dark roast beans will taste as much like the roasting process as they will the inherent characteristics of the coffee. You may taste more bittersweet chocolate notes and drier nut flavors like walnut or pecan, and often there will be less fruity or floral flavors present.
Less acidic
Slightly dark to charred
More bitter
We hope this helps you choose your favorite drip coffee when you stop in our coffeeshops. We also hope this maybe help you to think about purchasing specialty roasted coffee beans for your home brewed coffee over the grocery store isle version. We know you’ll find a difference in taste. Not only does roasting make a difference, but freshness and flavors change the taste as well.
We are currently brew our our “House” coffee and a “Dark Roast” as daily brewed coffee options.. Our “House” coffee is a medium-dark roast and our “Dark” is just that, dark roast. We’ve been talking amongst ourselves and the baristas about having a “Light Roast” coffee available, but we can’t add another coffee option without taking one away… don’t worry, the “House” is here to stay.
Do we have any customers that really would like a “Light Roast” option? Do we take away our “Dark Roast” because our “House” is medium-dark and there really isn’t a huge difference between the two? Weigh in for us if you would drink light roast or if you’d just like to keep that Dark Roast on the menu.
Have you tasted the difference between our House and Dark Roast?
Sometimes we like to try new things to make sure we are doing the VERY best we can to serve the best cup of coffee around with the choices our customers are looking for. We also understand things like our choice of House coffee is here to stay as long as our doors are open. We are always here. Talk to us.
Educating one coffee drinker at a time,
Alyssa and the Cabin Fever Crew
