What Roast Level Standards Did the Coffee Association of America Set?

The Specialty Coffee Association of America, working with the Agtron company, built a common roast standard using an infrared caramelization measuring device that reads the surface color of beans. The scale runs from light to dark in eight equal steps, giving roasters and buyers a shared reference instead of the loose labels like cinnamon roast that vary by country.

Because early roasting traditions differed from place to place, light, medium, and dark meant different things in different markets and were hard to compare. The Agtron color plates fixed that. Roast level then shapes everything downstream: espresso beans usually lean darker for body, while pour-over single origins often call for a lighter roast, a coarser grind, and lower water temperature.

The roast level of coffee beans directly influences the final flavor direction, but the labeling methods on the market are all over the place, from light roast to cinnamon roast, often leaving beginners scratching their heads. This article starts from Front Street's perspective, systematically sorting out the definition standards and flavor characteristics of coffee roast levels. Using SCAA's Agtron color value system, it divides light roast to dark roast into eight levels, and explains the drop timing and flavor performance of each stage one by one. At the same time, the article also shares how to infer the roast level from flavor descriptions, the bean selection logic for espresso, and the hand-brew grind size and water temperature parameters corresponding to different roast levels, helping you accurately judge and brew a good cup of coffee even when labeling is missing.

The roast level of coffee beans actually determines the basic tone of the final flavor in the cup. When many coffee shops sell beans, the packaging will print words like light roast, medium roast, or cinnamon roast, and friends who are new to coffee often look at them with complete confusion. Today Front Street will talk with everyone about the relationship between roast level and flavor direction, and when no roast label can be found on the packaging, how to judge which roast level the beans in your hands belong to, and what grind and water temperature to pair with them to brew a good-tasting cup.

Who actually decides the roast level?

In the early days, each country had its own habits and schools for roasting coffee beans, and there was no universal standard. Different places did not even understand light roast, medium roast, and dark roast on the same wavelength, making horizontal comparison very difficult. Later, the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), together with the Agtron company, tried to establish a unified roast level standard based on coffee Agtron values, and this method gradually became one of the common means of detecting roast level.

Coffee roast level standards set by SCAA

SCAA uses an infrared caramelization measuring device (Agtron) to measure the surface color of coffee beans, thereby judging the roast level, and divides the color from light to dark into eight equal parts, making eight standard color plates for the industry to use as a reference basis for roast level.

(Note: The caramelization measuring device Agtron is an optical instrument that uses infrared wavelengths to determine roast level. It can judge the degree of caramelization of sugars inside the bean and present it as a value. The range shown on this table from light roast to heavy roast is 25 to 100, but according to the SCAA Technical Standards Committee, the identifiable range of coffee flavor is actually between 30 and 90.)

/Light roast (prominent fruit acidity, rich floral and fruity aromas) Recommended Front Street. Gedingding, Front Street. Huakui Agtron color value #95: Light Roast: Drop time: The dense phase of first crack is about to end

Agtron color value #85: Cinnamon Roast: Drop time: Around the end of first crack / Medium roast (obvious sweetness, balanced flavor) Recommended Front Street. Strawberry Candy, Front Street. Mozart

Agtron color value #75: Medium Roast: Drop time: After the end of first crack

Agtron color value #65: High Roast: Drop time: The quiet period between first crack and second crack

/Medium-dark roast (mellow and sweet) Recommended Front Street. Brazil Queen Estate, Front Street. Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1

Agtron color value #55: City Roast: Drop time: The start of second crack

Agtron color value #45: Full City Roast: Drop time: Before the dense phase of second crack

/Dark roast (mellow and intense) Recommended Front Street. Golden Mandheling

Agtron color value #35: French Roast: Drop time: During the dense phase of second crack

Agtron color value #25: Italian Roast: Drop time: Oils begin to seep onto the bean surface Inferring coffee bean roast level from flavor descriptions

The reason Front Street's coffee bean packaging does not indicate roast level is that most of Front Street's roasting falls within the medium-light to medium-dark range. However, everyone can absolutely identify the roast level of the beans through flavor descriptions.

For example, if aromas such as citrus, berries, and floral notes appear in the description, it can basically be classified as medium-light roast (for example, beans from African regions such as Ethiopia and Kenya, such as Front Street. Yirgacheffe Coffee Beans, Front Street. Little Tomato Coffee Beans, or Panama's Front Street. Geisha Coffee Beans);

If nutty aromas appear in the description, it can be classified as medium roast (for example, Front Street. Huilan Coffee Beans and Front Street. Tarrazu from Central and South American regions such as Colombia and Costa Rica); if the description contains nuts and cocoa with relatively low acidity, it can be classified as medium-dark roast (for example, Front Street. Brazil Red Bourbon, Front Street. Indonesia Mandheling, Front Street. Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Beans, etc.).

What roast level of beans should be chosen for espresso?

Unlike other normal-pressure extraction methods, espresso machines require fine grinding combined with high temperature and high pressure, and the concentrated liquid all flows out in just a few dozen seconds. Therefore, coffee beans must not only be of excellent quality and full of aroma, but also be able to quickly release flavor substances after contact with hot water in an extremely short time. The darker the roast, the more fully the beans expand, the better the water absorption effect, and the higher the extraction efficiency. But note that roasting too dark can easily wipe out most of the aroma, leaving only burnt bitterness and smoky flavor, so if you want stable output, it is recommended to prioritize medium-dark roasted beans.

Front Street. Front Street Classic Blend Coffee Beans, as a preferred product that has steadily ranked on the list for many years, was created precisely to restore this kind of espresso flavor tone. On the basis of the classic "Mamba" recipe, it adds Vietnamese Robusta, making the crema richer. At the same time, in order to make the mouthfeel smoother and the aromas of dark chocolate and butter hazelnut more prominent, it uses a medium-dark roast to reduce the appearance of burnt bitterness.

Brewing suggestions for coffee beans of different roast levels

Taking Front Street's coffee beans as an example, when brewing medium-light to medium roast beans, Front Street uses a medium-fine grind size (passing rate of about 75% to 80% on the Chinese standard No. 20 sieve), with water temperature controlled at 90 to 92°C. This combination of grind and water temperature can fully extract sweet and sour substances while still retaining a mellow body.

For medium-dark roasted coffee beans, a medium grind is used (passing rate of about 65% to 70% on the Chinese standard No. 20 sieve), with a brewing water temperature of 87 to 89°C. Under this grind size and water temperature, the coffee can present a rich and solid mouthfeel while not easily producing bitterness.

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