As everyone knows, Front Street mainly sells beans and has shops on both Taobao and Tmall, so friends who can't make it to the physical store often place orders online. Some friends then noticed that Front Street's bean labels don't indicate the roast level of the coffee beans, and they reported that after receiving them, they didn't know how to identify the roast level of the coffee beans.But in fact, Front Street does indicate the roast level—for example, on the product detail page, or via the QR code on the label, the coffee bean roasting information is recorded in detail.And besides the text labeling, we can also deduce the roast level of a coffee bean through many other means. So today Front Street is going to share with everyone some content related to coffee bean roast levels, to help everyone quickly identify the roast level of coffee beans even when there are no text labels~Currently, within the industry, there is a relatively scientific way of defining coffee bean roast levels, namely using "Agtron color value(caramelization analysis value)" to evaluate the roast level of coffee beans.We all know that the color of coffee beans changes with the degree of roasting. The darker the roast, the darker its color, and vice versa. This is also one of the standards by which we assess the roast level of coffee beans in daily life. This system quantifies that color into a value: the larger the value, the lighter the roast, and vice versa. The image below isSCAA's Agtron color value table, and as you can see, it divides the roast level of coffee beans into 8 parts.A simple understanding is enough, because in daily life we almost never use terms like cinnamon roast or city roast to communicate. First, because with the naked eye alone, it is very difficult for us to judge exactly which roast level or color value a bean has reached. Second, because the mainstream of coffee bean roasting has changed; today's coffee beans are no longer roasted as dark as before, so consumers are not necessarily able to encounter all the roast levels on the table.Furthermore, if this industry classification standard were passed on to consumers unchanged, it would undoubtedly place a great learning burden on them. For coffee enthusiasts and consumers, this can hardly be considered a good thing. "What, dark roast isn't actually the darkest?" "I just want to drink coffee that isn't sour—you're talking about French roast, Italian roast, and I don't understand any of it"... Confusions like these are bound to keep emerging.But if we don't distinguish according to this system, and instead understand what dark roast and light roast mean according to each shop's own roast levels, then it still can't be unified either. Because every shop has different understandings and definitions of roast levels. So Front Street recommends that everyone define the roast level of coffee beans through other means, for example, through the taste of the coffee.Front Street believes that the simplest way to distinguish roast levels is by the intensity of the coffee's sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and other tastes, so that consumers can also better find the coffee beans they need. Front Street classifies coffees dominated by acidity as medium-light roast, and coffees dominated by bitterness as medium-dark roast. In this way, combined with the flavor notes on the coffee bean label, we can determine its specific roast level~What does that mean? For example, if the flavor notes include relatively fresh or rather sour fruits such as "lemon," "citrus," or "berries," we can preliminarily judge that this is a coffee bean on the lighter side of medium-light roast. For example, on Front Street's bean list, Front Street Yirgacheffe·Washed Gudingding, Front Street Ethiopia·Alto(Alto);And if the flavor description includes relatively sweet fruits such as "grape," "honeydew," or "blueberry," then it may be a coffee bean at the middle roast level within medium-light roast. For example, on Front Street's bean list, Front Street Finca La Divisa·Sidra, Front Street Finca La Divisa·Big Belly;The same applies to dark-roasted coffee beans! If the flavor description includes flavors with relatively obvious sweetness such as "sucrose," "maple syrup," "cream," or "chocolate," then it can be preliminarily judged as a coffee bean at the middle roast level within medium-dark roast. For example, on Front Street's bean list, Front Street Papua New Guinea·Bird of Paradise, Front Street Yunnan 2013;And if the flavor includes rich, roasty aromas such as "roasted nuts," "caramel," or "dark chocolate," then it may be a coffee bean at a relatively dark roast level within medium-dark roast. For example, on Front Street's bean list there are Front Street Brazil·Queen's Estate and Front Street Sumatra·Golden Mandheling.When it comes to brewing, everyone can brew according to the corresponding parameters recommended by Front Street based on the bean's roast level:Brewing water temperature: medium-light roast 90~93°C, medium-dark roast 86~89°CGrind size: 75%~80% pass-through rate on a No. 20 sieveBrewing time: 2 minutes (15g coffee grounds)Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15The lighter the roast, the higher the water temperature and the finer the grind within the range. And if the roast is darker, use the lower water temperature and coarser grind within the range. The other parameters remain the same, except that the brewing time and grind size may need to change according to increases or decreases in the amount of coffee grounds.Of course, we can also judge its roast level based on the appearance of the coffee beans. As Front Street mentioned earlier, beans that are a bit darker in color, or that are oily, can be preliminarily judged as medium-dark roasted coffee beans; beans that are lighter in color and drier can be preliminarily judged as medium-light roasted coffee beans. But it is worth mentioning that Front Street does not recommend using the shade of the coffee beans' exterior color entirely as the standard for measuring the roast level of coffee beans.
Although this method is the fastest way to determine the roast level of coffee beans, there are sometimes exceptions. For example, Front Street Finca La Divisa·Big Belly on Front Street's bean list—although it looks on the outside like a dark-roasted bean, when brewed it actually has sweet fruity flavors such as blueberry, grape, and berries, and is a medium-light roast leaning toward medium. If we mistakenly think it is a dark-roasted coffee bean because of its appearance, and then brew it according to dark roast parameters, it will easily result in under-extraction.But such examples are extremely rare. Conventionally processed coffee beans can still use the color of the bean surface as the standard for measuring roast level. Compared with taste, observing the appearance will get you results faster. In short, each has its own advantages and both can be used—just choose the standard for judgment according to the actual situation~ The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
