Module 3.

3 Roasting Process(Light, Medium and Dark)

The process of coffee roasting involves the very careful and precise application of heat to green
coffee. The goal is to bring out the specific desired qualities contained within each seed or bean
by roasting them until the colour of the bean changes from green to a light, medium or dark
brown and sometimes even black. Deciding on the correct darkness of the roast can be a
sophisticated process and is beyond the scope of this course.

But once the decision has been made on how dark the batch should be, the green beans are
put into the roaster where high heat is applied. During the roasting process, the sugars in the
bean start to caramelize, other reactions are produced within other elements of the bean, like
acids and proteins, and the bean will start to turn from green to brown. If the roaster is skillful,
he or she will bring out key flavour characteristics in that bean. To do this, in the exact moment
when the desired temperature and colour of the coffee bean is achieved, the beans are dumped
out of the roaster and rapidly cooled to instantly stop the beans from cooking any further.
Depending on the individual origin or batch, it is often a delicate balance between under-
roasting, over-roasting and an ideal roast. To bring out the best profile in a particular origin or
batch, some beans will be at their peak as a light roast. For some coffees, they may display
their best features as a darker roast.

In many respects, coffee is like wine. Production of wine uses much of the same terminology as
coffee. Varietals, peak, flavour profiles and tasting notes, acidity, astringency, blends, etc.

And wine, like coffee, is all about using the right combination of experience in growing, sourcing,
preparing, and combining, to achieve the ultimate balance. It is an art and a science which is
needed to ensure the right amount of this without too much of that.

Also, it is worth noting that, while choosing a light to dark roast coffee is mostly about taste, it is
also about caffeine levels which differ between light and dark roasted coffee. Often a customer
will say to a barista, “I would like your strongest coffee?” This can be tricky and the barista
should qualify the question by asking, “Do you mean stronger in flavour or stronger in caffeine
content?” Many people think that because a dark coffee tastes stronger that it is higher in
caffeine. But the opposite is true. The longer the bean is roasted, the more caffeine is lost. So,
if you are drinking coffee to stay awake, the lighter the roast the stronger the caffeine content.
Flavour Profile
But back to flavour. There is a graph that coffee professionals will use to measure and
demonstrate taste profiles of a specific coffee bean or blend. This graph is known as a ‘Spider
Coffee Graph’. Here is an example of a coffee spider graph displaying the stronger and weaker
notes of a measured coffee. As you can see it measures many variables, and the goal, for the
roaster, is to achieve the same pattern on the graph, with their coffee blend, year over year.

So as you can see from this module and the prior modules, there is a lot that goes into making
great coffee before reaching your hopper, grinder and portafilter. Your responsibility, as a
barista, is to make sure their efforts have not been wasted by acquiring and improving your
skills as a barista. This orchestration of steps from farm to portafilter has made coffee an
amazing product that has literally brightened the lives of coffee drinkers around the world.