It's All Coffee To Me....

What is Coffee?

- Coffee is the dark caffeinated drink that comes from Ethiopia that made the goats dance. Coffee is the drink that gets us up in the morning. Coffee is the drink that fuels first responders, moms, dads, college kids trying to make it, and really makes the world turn.

Why is it that when you go to your favorite coffee shop or cafe and they ask "light or dark roast"? In your head you're thinking 'it's just coffee, right?'. You're right, it is. Like in everything there are techniques, styles, and preferences. Coffee is no different than wine, whiskey, or tea.

Let's break coffee down to something simpler: roast profiles. Some of you are probably familiar to some of these terms because they are on the bags of coffee that you buy at the store or that you have heard your favorite barista talk about them. So we are going to break them down for you, so the next time you hear or see them you will know what is being said.

What does it mean when you roast coffee?

Roasting the green coffee bean brings out the flavors and the aromatics of that particular coffee bean. Roasting changes the chemical properties as the beans are subjective to the increasing heat in the roaster. Once the beans get to the point where the roaster thinks they are at its best, then they are cooled rapidly to stop the "cooking" process.

Coffee roasts are separated into four categories: light, medium, medium-dark, and dark. Urban legend says that the darker the coffee the more caffeine it has, but is actually the opposite. The lighter the roast has the most caffeine.

Dark Roasts, aka French, Italian, Viennese, and Espresso and others. These are the most common.

These beans are almost black looking with a sheen of oil on them. They are less acidic than the lighter roasts. Also has a pronounced bitterness to it.

Don't be fooled by the espresso roast name. Back in the day, espresso was always made with a dark roasted coffee. Now days espresso is made with light and medium coffee roasts. Like I said earlier, its all about preference.

Medium-Dark Roasts, aka Full City.

It is a coffee that is rich and dark, has little less oil on the beans than the dark roasts. It also has a bittersweet after taste.

Medium Roasts, aka City, American, Breakfast, and Medium.

The coffee beans have a medium brown with no oil on the beans. This is the majority favorite across America. These beans tend to have more various flavor changes because their terroir or its surroundings (we will being going in to more detail about this in the near future). The tasting notes in general for this roast profile is smooth, nutty, sweetness, slightly tart (just slightly).

Light Roasts.

These are a light brown color with no oil because they have not been roasted so much that the oil has not broken through the surface. These coffees tend to have tasting notes of citrus, black tea, and can have an acidic note.

Here at 25 30 Espresso we have coffees in the medium-dark and the medium roast profiles. We like letting the coffee speak for its self.

If you have any questions about our coffee, the style of our coffee, or just want to learn more...hit us up in the shop, on instagram @2530_espresso, or on our Facebook... we love to talk about coffee with you.

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