How does the coffee association of america define roast levels?

The Specialty Coffee Association of America worked with Agtron to create a unified color value scale, giving roasters a shared language for light, medium, and dark roasts. An infrared caramelization device reads the surface color of beans and sorts them into eight levels, each with a standard color plate for reference.

Before that standard, countries and regions judged roast depth differently, so labels such as Cinnamon Roast, City Roast, and French Roast were hard to compare. The article walks through drop timing and flavor trends for eight stages, with roast curves and brewing plans for Yirgacheffe Gedeb and PWN Golden Mandheling beans.

The roasting degree of coffee beans directly affects the final flavor performance, but how exactly are the boundaries between light, medium, and dark roasts defined? Different countries and regions once had their own standards, until the Specialty Coffee Association of America joined forces with Agtron to launch a unified color value system, giving roasting communication a common language. This article starts from Front Street Coffee's roasting practice and systematically sorts out the Agtron color values, drop timing, and flavor trends of eight roasting stages. At the same time, Front Street Coffee will also share the specific roasting curves and brewing plans for the Yirgacheffe Gedeb Cooperative coffee beans and PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans, helping coffee enthusiasts more intuitively understand the relationship between roast level and acidity, body.

The final flavor of coffee beans depends to a large extent on the depth of roasting. When purchasing single-origin coffee beans, the packaging label usually indicates the roast level, such as light roast, medium roast, or dark roast. Some labels also include names like Cinnamon Roast, City Roast, French Roast, etc., which can be confusing for people just getting into coffee. In this article, Front Street will help everyone understand how coffee bean roast levels are actually distinguished.

Did coffee roasting have no unified standard in the early days?

Coffee trees grow in producing regions between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, while roasting usually takes place after green beans arrive in the consuming region. Different countries and regions understand light, medium, and dark roasts differently, and they lack comparability with one another. To solve this problem, the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), one of the authoritative institutions in the coffee industry, cooperated with Agtron to use the coffee Agtron value as a unified scale, allowing roasters around the world to exchange experience under the same language system.

SCAA roasting standards

SCAA uses an infrared caramelization measuring device (Agtron) to detect the surface color of coffee beans and thereby determine the roast level. This standard divides color from light to dark into eight levels and produces eight standard color plates for the coffee industry to use as roasting references. The coffee beans currently roasted by Front Street Coffee basically fall between Cinnamon Roast and Medium Roast. Front Street's medium-light roasted coffee beans continue caramelizing for about 1 to 3 minutes after first crack ends, according to the bean's characteristics, to enhance overall layering. As caramelization progresses, acidity gradually decreases while body increases accordingly. Front Street's medium-dark roast is actually a medium roast, and the beans are released near second crack.

Agtron color value #95: Light Roast

Drop time: as the dense first crack is about to end

Agtron color value #85: Cinnamon Roast

Drop time: around the end of first crack

Agtron color value #75: Medium Roast

Drop time: after first crack ends

Agtron color value #65: High Roast

Drop time: the quiet period between first crack and second crack

Agtron color value #55: City Roast

Drop time: the start of second crack

Agtron color value #45: Full City Roast

Drop time: before second crack dense

Agtron color value #35: French Roast

Drop time: during second crack dense

Agtron color value #25: Italian Roast

Drop time: oils begin to seep onto the bean surface

Flavor performance of coffee at different roast levels

The eight levels listed above may be hard for beginners to digest, so Front Street summarizes them here into four major categories, giving everyone a clear grasp of the flavor direction of coffee beans at different roast levels after brewing.

So how exactly does Front Street roast the Cinnamon Roast Yirgacheffe Gedeb Cooperative coffee beans and the Medium Roast Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans?

Front Street Coffee—— Yirgacheffe Gedeb Cooperative coffee beans

Region: Yirgacheffe Gedeo Zone producing area

Altitude: 1900-2300m

Variety: Heirloom

Processing method: Washed

Grade: G1

For beans like Yirgacheffe, Front Street's roasters usually choose a light roast to showcase its floral and fruity character. For this washed Gedeb coffee bean, Front Street's roaster uses a low-heat method to extend the bean's dehydration time.

When the drum temperature rises to 175°C, charge the beans, set the damper to 3, and heat to 120; the turning point is 1'32", and when the drum temperature reaches 140°C, keep the heat unchanged and adjust the damper to 4; at this point the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely dissipates, and the dehydration stage begins. At 166°C, reduce the heat to 100, and at 176°C reduce it again to 80, keeping the damper unchanged. At 8'28", wrinkles and dark spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly shifts to coffee aroma, which can be regarded as the prelude to first crack; at this time it is necessary to carefully catch the cracking sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'38", adjust the damper to 5 (be very cautious when adjusting the heat; do not reduce it so much that the cracking sound cannot be heard), develop for 1'30" after first crack, and drop at 193.5°C.

How does Front Street Coffee brew Yirgacheffe Gedeb Cooperative coffee beans?

In order to better present this bean's rich floral and fruity aroma and layering, Front Street chooses a V60 dripper for brewing. The spiral rib design of the V60 dripper not only extends the contact time between coffee grounds and water, but also allows the water flow to gather toward the center of the dripper along the spiral grooves, squeezing the coffee grounds through the gravity of the falling water, thereby bringing a richer layered expression.

Water temperature: 91-92°C

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: medium-fine grind (80% passing through a No. 20 sieve)

This time a staged brewing method is used: first pour 30g of water and bloom for 30 seconds, at which point the coffee grounds expand into a "hamburger" shape. For the second stage, pour 125g of water in small circles from the center, with a pouring height of 4cm, gently, minimizing disturbance of the coffee bed, and control the flow rate at 4g per second. When the water level drops to half of the coffee bed, begin the third stage of pouring, also gently circling from the center outward, until the total water volume reaches 225g, then stop. After all the coffee liquid in the dripper has dripped through, end extraction; the time is 2'01". After extraction is complete, gently swirl, and once the coffee liquid is uniform, it is ready to taste.

Brewed flavor of Yirgacheffe Gedeb Cooperative coffee beans: Citrus and black tea on the entry, with cream, caramel, and almond aftertaste emerging as the temperature changes; the sweetness returns clearly and the mouthfeel is clean and sweet.

Front Street Coffee—— Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans

Region: Sumatra, Aceh, Mount Gayo

Altitude: 1100-1600m

Variety: Ateng

Processing method: Wet-hulled

Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans use sun-dried processing, with moisture content between 12% and 15%, making them green beans with relatively high moisture. There is a large deviation in moisture compared with sun-dried beans, so the dehydration stage requires extra attention. Green beans with high moisture content can have the damper closed immediately after charging, then opened to 3 after 30 seconds of steaming, until the green bean color turns light green or white; then open the damper to 4, and after first crack open it to 5 (maximum).

When the drum temperature rises to 200°C, charge the beans, set the damper to 3, and after 1 minute adjust the heat to 160°C, keeping the damper unchanged. Roast until 5'40", at 148°C, when the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and dehydration is complete; adjust the heat to 140°C and change the damper to 4; at 9'40", wrinkles and dark spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack; at this time, listen clearly for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'54", reduce the heat to 60°C, open the damper fully (be very careful when adjusting the heat; do not reduce it so much that there is no cracking sound), and drop at 204.5°C.

How does Front Street Coffee brew Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans?

In order to highlight the mellow, clean, and aromatic characteristics of Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling, Front Street uses the KONO Meimon dripper for brewing. The "ribs" of the KONO Meimon dripper extend to the bottom of the hole where the coffee liquid flows out. Because the ribs are located at the bottom and are shorter, they fit closely with the filter paper, and the flow rate is slower than the V60, making it suitable for brewing coffee that needs to express body.

Water temperature: 86-88°C

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: medium-coarse grind (65% passing through a No. 20 sieve)

After rinsing the filter paper, pour in the ground coffee powder, gently level the coffee bed, with a dose of 15 grams. For the first stage, pour 30 grams of 89°C hot water and bloom for 30 seconds. After blooming, pour the second stage until the total water volume reaches 125 grams, using a gentle circling pour to avoid collapsing the coffee bed; after pouring, let the water slowly filter and extract on its own. When the liquid level drops to one-third, pour the final stage until the total water volume reaches 225 grams; pouring is completed at about 1 minute 32 seconds, and extraction ends at about 2 minutes, then remove the dripper.

Brewed flavor of Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling: Sweet herbs, cinnamon-like spices, and orange-grapefruit peel notes; mellow, rich sweetness, creamy walnut chocolate. The fruit acidity is restrained and soft, and the aroma carries a strong melon sweetness; as the temperature drops, the herbal aroma gradually emerges, with a mellow hint of spices and herbs, accompanied by a rich sweetness.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee: kaixinguoguo0925

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.