# Which 3 currently-available pre-roasted coffees would you choose to exemplify light, medium, and dark roasts?



## JJarvis (Dec 20, 2019)

Hi, there,

I'm new to the forums, and to the coffee world. I'm looking to create my own taster pack/session to work out my preferences, and am wondering if there are certain reliable specialty coffees (in this current season) which serve as good examples of roasting archetypes?

I'm happy for any suggestions, but I have a few specific questions:



Is a light-roasted Yirgacheffe a good example for the light side?


And Sumatran for the dark side?


Would a blend be more typical/available for the dark roast filter experience?


I've seen Monsoon Malabar shown as a consistent dark roasted/tasting coffee - but is the process too unusual for the tastes to carry over to other dark roasts?


Is there such a thing as True Medium, or do all 'medium' roasts lean one way or the other?


These would all be brewed in an Aeropress, with a lot of experimentation in brewing and serving for each type. If they are all available on one site, that'd be great - but it's no problem if not. Whole bean is fine.

Thanks!


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

Roast level and origin are two different things. You can have light or dark roasted coffee from any origin. If you want to try a few different coffees, I can recommend maybe trying something from Has Bean, because, 1.) they have a very large section 2.) they mention the roast level on the description so you can have some guidance there. I don't think you should focus on roast level though, but tasting from different origins. Here's some I've picked that should be quite distinct from each other:

* https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/africa-kenya/products/kenya-karagoto-aa-w -> a washed Kenyan, these usually have some very distinct flavours.
* https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/africa/products/ethiopia-ana-sora-n - a Natural Ethiopian, which should be really different than the Kenya
* https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/america-el-salvador/products/el-salvador-finca-san-jose-w-red-bourbon - this is a darker roast, and sounds like a quite typical central American coffee

and something quite wild:

* https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/america/products/nicaragua-finca-limoncillo-funky - If you want to try something that's quite different, and rather funky.


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## JJarvis (Dec 20, 2019)

Thanks for the links and for pointing out the distinction. I figured that if a certain origin was almost-always roasted one way by forum-popular roasters (e.g. Sumatran, Yirgacheffe), the profile might be distinct enough to serve as a broad example for the roast level. I've been lurking and reading a lot of old posts on the forums, and it seemed like people were more likely to refer to their hard preferences by roast level than by origin, like with DSOL and LSOL, and when they were giving feedback on roasters/subscriptions.

Origin does look like the better way to look at it, though; the coffees you linked seem to have far more distinction between them at the same/similar roast level than I expected from just reading discussions. I see that on top of the African and American ones you linked, Has Bean have a category for Asian origins which includes 2 Thai coffees. Do you know if these are distinct enough to justify a slightly higher price, or is it too fledgling to really care about yet? Additionally, is adding a honey-processed one a good idea this early into finding tastes, or is the fermentation aspect already covered by natural and washed?

The funky one also is pretty intriguing - I'm not sure what "gloopy" really means in the context of coffee, but I'm excited to find out!


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Gloopy will probably mean thick, rich mouth feel, probably lots of sweetness and they say also sharp acidity...

Light, dark, medium roasts don't mean as much as you think. It's possible to have a very sour, thin, empty tasting light roast and a rich, sweet, balanced light roast of the same bean, just as it's possible to have an ashy, burned, dark roast and a fruity, rich dark roast of the same bean. Flavours of course can be altered by brewing parameters but roast profiles make a massive difference. It's best to find a roaster that you trust to deliver good roasts that are developed properly.

I tend to prefer natural processed coffees and generally look at those first when buying but obviously it's all about the flavour notes.



JJarvis said:


> I figured that if a certain origin was almost-always roasted one way by forum-popular roasters (e.g. Sumatran, Yirgacheffe), the profile might be distinct enough to serve as a broad example for the roast level. I've been lurking and reading a lot of old posts on the forums, and it seemed like people were more likely to refer to their hard preferences by roast level than by origin, like with DSOL and LSOL, and when they were giving feedback on roasters/subscriptions.


 No that's not really how it works. There's a certain point a roast will be so light it will be very difficult to extract or flavours will be undeveloped regardless of roast profile and so dark you know you're going to get "roasty" ashy burned flavours and very little else.

I've been impressed with Round Hill having a lighter roast and a darker roast from them recently. They are roasting this to an espresso and filter profile so you can get two different roasts of the same bean https://roundhillroastery.com/collections/featured-coffees/products/hunkute-2?variant=30743579721763


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

One of the main problem with light, medium & dark roast is that roasters seem to have a different level for the same name.
For example, a dark roast from Rave is similar in colour to a medium roast from Coffee Compass.
To get a true idea of comparrison, it may be worth contacting some roasters & seeing if they'd be willing to roast the same bean light, medium & dark.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

ashcroc said:


> One of the main problem with light, medium & dark roast is that roasters seem to have a different level for the same name.
> For example, a dark roast from Rave is similar in colour to a medium roast from Coffee Compass.
> To get a true idea of comparrison, it may be worth contacting some roasters & seeing if they'd be willing to roast the same bean light, medium & dark.


This is very country specific, as well. A typical Italian light roast would be a dark profile in Sweden.

Furthermore, surface colour does not necessarily indicate how far a roast has been taken.
There are beans that darken quicker/more intensely. Also, when roasted at a high pace, centre of a bean might be lighter than its surface.
As far as I'm concerned, colour metrics have to be assessed relative to a sample of the very same bean. Absolute values are rubbish IMHO 

Some roasters state what they mean by light/medium/dark somewhere on their website. Also you can pop them a mail and ask directly. They will tell you something along the lines of, 'our light roasts are typically ended when first crack starts to fade off' or whatever a roastmaster finds best for a specific bean.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

While I like the idea of going nuts with an Aeropress to kick start a coffee journey, I'd encourage OP to try doing a standard cupping routine at the beginning.

It may seem odd, as cupping is a tool usually used by professionals. However, it will create a more comparable picture across the bean selection through eliminating variables - even though Aeeopress coffee may unlock different characteristics in individual roasts. But it costs you less than 10g of coffee per sample and you can then move on getting to grips with all the options an Aeropress offers.


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Should really correct myself here. I didn't buy from round hill, it was craft house, don't know how I got confused. I've had Round hill in the past in a cafe and was very impressed though.


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