How to Choose Your Roast

The “roast level” of a coffee is just one of many factors that determine how your coffee will taste in the cup. Other elements include the coffee varietal, country of origin, green processing method (wet or dry), roasting method or roast profile, freshness of the roasted coffee, grind and brewing method. However, the roast level will give you a good overall sense of what sort of taste profile to expect from a particular coffee and is often a good place to start when choosing your beans. 

In order to help you select the best GCR coffee for your personal taste preferences, we offer this primer on coffee roast levels along with an explanation of how to select Gold Country Roasters’ coffees. We have developed our own rating system to help you readily identify the relative roast level of each of our coffees. Keep reading to learn more about the flavor characteristics of these different roast levels, and recommendations for GCR coffees in each category.

LIGHT ROASTS
Light roasted coffees are typically light brown in color, with no visible oils on the surface of the beans. These coffees typically have a crisp acidity, a mellow body, and bright, fruity or floral flavors and aromas. Lighter roasts preserve and highlight the origin flavors of the coffee beans. Such coffees are commonly referred to as Light, Cinnamon or Blonde roasts.

MEDIUM ROASTS
Medium roasted coffees are medium brown in color and rarely have an oily surface. These coffees generally have a medium acidity and body, as well as a well-rounded, balanced flavor profile. Roasting to this level typically preserves many of the unique flavors of the coffee’s origin, while bringing out the coffee’s deep caramel sweetness. These coffees are commonly referred to as Medium, American or City Roast.

DARK ROASTS
Dark roasted coffee can be dark brown to nearly black in color and often have an oily surface. These coffees have a low acidity, heavy body, and tend to reveal deeper, darker flavors. Coffees roasted to this level tend to not have many of their origin characteristics left. Some coffees lend themselves very well to a deep roast highlighting their chocolatey, nutty, and/or caramel flavors. At this roast level, the flavors and aromas of the roasting process become more pronounced, and the taste of the coffee may be somewhat smoky. Dark roasted coffees are commonly referred to as Full-City, Vienna, French Roast or Italian Roast.