Dark Coffee Stronger?

[fireground_piper]

If you enjoy the charred flavors, by all means have at it. There's just a lot more opportunity for varietal flavors in the light/medium spectrum when maintaining those growing characteristics. Different origins will definitely give you different characteristics if there's something you don't like...acidic, floral, etc.

Also a light roasted bean doesn't necessarily have to mean a lightly brewed coffee. It's good to play with your ratios for your brewing method. For me, I've landed on 1:18 for what I like most of the time though it fluctuates with how I'm brewing it. For a long time I had a tendency to have a less than desirable ratio and it caused me to stay away from lighter roasted beans.

 

[BROBS]

If you enjoy the charred flavors, by all means have at it. There's just a lot more opportunity for varietal flavors in the light/medium spectrum when maintaining those growing characteristics. Different origins will definitely give you different characteristics if there's something you don't like...acidic, floral, etc.

Also a light roasted bean doesn't necessarily have to mean a lightly brewed coffee. It's good to play with your ratios for your brewing method. For me, I've landed on 1:18 for what I like most of the time though it fluctuates with how I'm brewing it. For a long time I had a tendency to have a less than desirable ratio and it caused me to stay away from lighter roasted beans.

do people think you run a cat rescue?

 

[fireground_piper]

do people think you run a cat rescue?

My wife hates the smell of the green beans and the process of roasting them in the house. They don't have the greatest aromas until they've hit a certain point!

 

[briarbuck]

Higher caffeine is also dependent on how you brew. The longer that H2O is kept on the bean the higher the caffeine. That's why a French Press or a Percolator tend to be the highest, because the grind soaks in the water. Espresso is quite light at only 25mg per serving because the water goes through quickly. Drips are 75-100mg. French press and percs can be 125+.

 

[musicman]

dark roast coffee typically has less caffeine content as it has been 'roasted out' but will have a strong flavor

In general - dark coffee has stronger flavor but less caffeine.

Dark coffee has less caffeine

Lots of good thoughts and info in this thread but first to dispel a myth. A quick internet search reveals that this isn't true, at least not in a technical sense. When measured by weight, the darkness of the roast doesn't matter when it comes to caffeine, although there's some level of variability across varietals. However, most people measure their coffee out by volume, and a darker roast is less dense so therefore has less mass per particle, so 2 tablespoons of a light roast will have more caffeine than 2 tablespoons of dark roast, simply because there is more coffee in those 2 tablespoons.

As for me, I like a good dark roast if it's roasted well but one trend over the past couple of decades has been to over roast dark roasts to the point that the beans burn, and that ruins the coffee. Perhaps the most prodigious culprit in this trend is a certain multi-national beverage company with a green logo.

I prefer a medium roast overall, but I'm not that picky in this regard. The most important part of the coffee equation is the method of preparation. It is possible to make terrible coffee from the highest quality beans and pretty good coffee from inferior ones, and anything that subjects the coffee to much heat after being brewed (hot plates on drip coffee makers, or percolators, for example) is going to degrade the quality of the end product considerably. I prefer a pour-over, or a French press.

Another thought about light vs dark: Any time I've been able to sample some of the legendary "best" coffees of the world, it seems to me that the beans are prepared with a light roast. This has been true for Kona, Jamaican Blue Mountain, etc. (Haven't tried the cat shit coffee yet). So it would appear to me that any time a producer really wants the flavors of the beans to shine through, they go with a lighter roast. Just an observation.

 

[Servant King]

Does it smell like coyote spray?

No, more like those wild dogs who hunt gazelle on the Serengeti.

 

[BROBS]

Lots of good thoughts and info in this thread but first to dispel a myth. A quick internet search reveals that this isn't true, at least not in a technical sense. When measured by weight, the darkness of the roast doesn't matter when it comes to caffeine, although there's some level of variability across varietals. However, most people measure their coffee out by volume, and a darker roast is less dense so therefore has less mass per particle, so 2 tablespoons of a light roast will have more caffeine than 2 tablespoons of dark roast, simply because there is more coffee in those 2 tablespoons.

As for me, I like a good dark roast if it's roasted well but one trend over the past couple of decades has been to over roast dark roasts to the point that the beans burn, and that ruins the coffee. Perhaps the most prodigious culprit in this trend is a certain multi-national beverage company with a green logo.

I prefer a medium roast overall, but I'm not that picky in this regard. The most important part of the coffee equation is the method of preparation. It is possible to make terrible coffee from the highest quality beans and pretty good coffee from inferior ones, and anything that subjects the coffee to much heat after being brewed (hot plates on drip coffee makers, or percolators, for example) is going to degrade the quality of the end product considerably. I prefer a pour-over, or a French press.

Another thought about light vs dark: Any time I've been able to sample some of the legendary "best" coffees of the world, it seems to me that the beans are prepared with a light roast. This has been true for Kona, Jamaican Blue Mountain, etc. (Haven't tried the cat shit coffee yet). So it would appear to me that any time a producer really wants the flavors of the beans to shine through, they go with a lighter roast. Just an observation.

Good point on the hot plate of a drip brewer. I always shut off the pot as soon as it’s done brewing.

the warmer makes the coffee taste like hot ass.

 

[musicman]

Good point on the hot plate of a drip brewer. I always shut off the pot as soon as it’s done brewing.

the warmer makes the coffee taste like hot ass.

Yep. Burns the crap out of it. If you need to keep your coffee hot for a while, put it in an insulated carafe.

 

[BROBS]

Yep. Burns the crap out of it. If you need to keep your coffee hot for a while, put it in an insulated carafe.

I use “SAMBA” brand.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I use dark roast as I drink nothing but espresso and cappuccino.
The light roast folks are choosing their own path. For pour over I might use a medium roast of a very expensive select bean that has passed through seven virgins and roasted in an oxygen free oven. But I can afford this only every few years.

Statements like this: "I know I sound like a complete snob when I say this, but I have no choice. Dark roasted coffee is not coffee. It is a different beverage entirely, and an inferior one at that."

Has a poor ring to it. For the poster, he prefers a different roast and bean, but there's no need to bash other's tastes and druthers. And of course he had a choice!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Yep. Burns the crap out of it. If you need to keep your coffee hot for a while, put it in an insulated carafe.

And I believe that's why microwave boxes were made.....

 

[BROBS]

And I believe that's why microwave boxes were made.....

Microwaving the coffee seems to change it. I can’t drink microwaved coffee.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

but there's no need to bash other's tastes and druthers.

But, not bashing other people's taste is like Communism, censorship, and herpes, all rolled up into one tidy package and forced into everyone's colon. Yeh, of course there is no "NEED" for it, but there is a strong thundering desire for it, and by doing this, it bring about camaraderie and community kumbaya. This was how America was built. We spat that tea right into the harbor and drank coffee, and made fun of people who drink tea and kiss Saint George's ass for killing dragons. Heck, if we don't make fun of people, we could lose democracy, Nascar, and corporate identities. Ohhhh say can you see???

 

[Casual]

I prefer low acid coffee, so I buy Sumatran green beans. I tried several different roasts and preferred a Full City to Full City +. That’s pretty much all of it.

I also put some cream in my coffee, some water in my whisky, and wash my pipes with water, so I already know I’m going to roast forever in Bad Taste Hell.

 

[LOREN]

I want my coffee to have so much caffeine in it, I could thread a sewing machine running full blast.

Agree with your caffeine statement ? I like the dark roast flavor. I was told by a coffee aficionado that I like burnt taste and not coffee taste ? I'm not a coffee connoisseur, but I did have some coffee years ago in San Francisco in a tiny little no name coffee shop that had an Amazing cup of coffee.

 

[kg.legat0]

Interesting to learn that volume is the actual culprit behind the pereceived reduction in caffeine! I worked in shops for years, even made coffee for a sitting President's entourage once...never knew (or really cared enough to look into it) ...that said, I love coffee too much -from boutique beans to microwaved, day old Cafe Bustello.

...drink it if ya got it, I say

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Interesting to learn that volume is the actual culprit behind the pereceived reduction in caffeine!

I don't know... I've heard this repeatedly by people who actually work in the industry for years now. Like the last place I heard it was Test Kitchens. Just look at the bags it comes in. It will say breakfast blend, lighter roast, and the little scales will show that it has more caffeine. The darker roast blends always show the little scales as being less caffeine. Would all of the roasters lie to us?

If you have to use more weight of the grounds to equal the caffeine from lighter roasts, that tells me that there is significantly less caffeine in darker roasts, and you have to make up for it by using a lot more grounds.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Agree with your caffeine statement ? I like the dark roast flavor. I was told by a coffee aficionado that I like burnt taste and not coffee taste ? I'm not a coffee connoisseur, but I did have some coffee years ago in San Francisco in a tiny little no name coffee shop that had an Amazing cup of coffee.

Cafe Trieste?

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

I'm not a coffee connoisseur either since usually prefer teas but when I drink coffee I do prefer espressos or other French /Cuban style roasts, traditionally up here in Scandinavian countries they do prefer light roasted coffees of 100% arabica sort of bean, but what about Instant coffees, does it have high caffeine content,? someone told me traditionally,an average Englishmen did prefer using instant coffees,wonder if that is true nowadays anymore?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

someone told me traditionally,an average Englishmen did prefer using instant coffees,wonder if that is true nowadays anymore?

When visiting Costa Rico many decades ago, the people working in the fields surrounded by fresh coffee all the time drank the hell out of instant coffee.