As we all know, green coffee beans cannot be directly ground, extracted, or drunk; they need to undergo another process—roasting—before they can be brewed and tasted.

Roasting is an endothermic process for coffee beans. Before roasting, many flavor compounds in green coffee beans cannot be revealed; whether smelled or drunk, they have only a faint grassy and grainy scent. During roasting, as heat is absorbed, the components inside the green coffee beans begin to change, continuously undergoing caramelization and Maillard reactions, and more and more aromas are gradually released.

Currently, coffee bean roast levels can be divided into seven categories, but the following three are the most common on the market:

Light roast: Roasted after the end of first crack, the coffee color is light. The rich acidity gives the coffee a very refreshing fruity taste, with sweetness and bitterness not very pronounced, and a relatively low body. It is suitable for pour-over, Clever Cup, drip bags, and other methods. Recommended: Front Street Rwanda Red Bourbon, Front Street Kenya Little Tomato, Front Street Flower Kui, allowing you to clearly experience the characteristics of light-roasted coffee.

Dark roast: After dark roasting, the bean surface is smooth and oily, with an obvious dark coffee color. The lower fruit acid content makes its acidity very unnoticeable, and it smells distinctly of scorch and smoke, with a high body. It is suitable for pour-over and espresso/moka pot. For those who want to try it, it is recommended to buy Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling and Front Street Brazil Queen's Estate.

Medium roast: Removed from the roaster a little longer after the end of first crack, the bean surface has an obvious coffee color and less oil. The fruit acid content is medium, with good sweetness and slight bitterness. Compared with dark roast, medium-roast coffee has a lower body, but a softer mouthfeel, and is suitable for most entry-level coffee beginners. It can be used for pour-over, French press, moka pot, Clever Cup, espresso machine, American coffee machine, and many other coffee devices. Recommended medium-roast coffees are as follows:

1. Front Street Costa Rica Blackberry—Flavor: grape, berry, floral, slight fermentation

This coffee uses black honey processing. Compared with other honey processes, black honey coffee hardly removes any pectin and takes the longest to dry, generally requiring more than 14 days of sun drying. During drying, in order to avoid the sugar conversion being insufficient because drying is too fast, farmers use covers to appropriately shade the sunlight, allowing the substances more time for transformation and ensuring that the sugar can be better absorbed by the beans. Because of this, black honey processed coffee has very rich flavors and therefore abundant sweetness.

2. Front Street Colombia Sidra—Flavor: grape, passion fruit, citrus, apricot, dried fruit

A Front Street Sidra coffee bean from Finca La Divisa in the Huila region, grown at 1,700 m altitude, using a double anaerobic natural process. Because Front Street Sidra coffee shows mouthfuls of rich passion fruit and grape, along with the clean sweetness of dried fruit and citrus-like acidity, and leaves an almond-like aftertaste in the mouth after swallowing, it has successfully attracted many fans to repurchase.

3. Front Street Costa Rica Mozart—Flavor: osmanthus, red grape, pineapple, raisin, fruit wine

Front Street Mozart coffee is one of the famous Musician Series. When brewed, it has the fermented aroma of berries and fruit wine; on the palate are flavors of raisin, sweet orange, and pineapple. As the temperature changes, the fermented wine aroma and osmanthus aroma become more pronounced.

4. Front Street PNG Paradise Bird—Flavor: toast, nuts, sugarcane, cream, chocolate

Papua New Guinea mainly grows Typica. Typica has an elegant flavor, but the plant is weak, has low disease resistance, and is prone to coffee leaf rust. Front Street Coffee believes that the biggest characteristic of the Typica coffee tree is its bronze-colored terminal leaves, which some also call "red-top coffee." Typica beans are relatively large, forming a pointed cone-round or slender-pointed shape, different from the round beans of the Bourbon variety. Front Street believes that Typica coffee has its own uniquely quiet and clean flavor, as well as balanced characteristics, with a high level of clarity in the cup.

5. Front Street 2013 Yunnan Typica—Flavor: chocolate, dried apricot, brown sugar, tea-like

Yunnan Lincang is influenced by the warm, humid airflow from the Indian Ocean and the southwest monsoon. The distinction between the four seasons is not obvious, but the dry and rainy seasons are clearly divided. There is relatively more rain, long sunshine hours, and a short frost period. Some areas have no frost all year round, and the vertical climate is obvious, making it very suitable for Arabica coffee cultivation. Typica has an elegant and pure flavor. Front Street believes that the coffee flavor produced by Yunnan's terroir belongs to a neutral and balanced tone, so it is very suitable for medium roasting, highlighting the roasted aromas of chocolate and nuts and a rounded sweetness, while retaining slight acidity.

6. Front Street Honduras Washed Catuai—Flavor: chocolate, nuts, cocoa

Most Honduran coffee uses the washed process, so the resulting coffee beans are generally cleaner and the quality is relatively stable. From a roasting perspective, medium roasting is usually recommended. The coffee often shows aromas of dark chocolate and nuts as well as moderate sweetness, with a long finish.

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