Welcome to the captivating world of Light Roast Coffee — an exploration into the complexity and detail of flavors within coffee. We’ll talk about the components of light roasted specialty coffee and provide real life examples that help you visualize the balance of flavor in various ways. Ultimately, we’ll tip our cups to specialty coffee roasters everywhere for the artistry and craftsmanship of roasting coffee; noting the importance of intricate details and consistency of quality in each roast.
What is a Light Roast Coffee?
Long story short, light roast coffees are shorter roasts where the roasting process stops at a lower temperature. This results in a lighter roast profile where you can experience the full spectrum of a coffee’s flavor and characteristics. Light roasts tend to be on the brighter, sweeter side. A great light roasted coffee is one where the vibrant and juicy notes are balanced in perfect harmony with a lighter body and minimal bitter flavors. High-grown Arabica coffees tend to work best for light roasts, in particular coffee from origins like Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, and Costa Rica.
The roast profile for lighter coffees means the coffee has just reached or finished “first crack”, which is a stage in the roasting process where the moisture and CO2 inside the beans expand through the outer wall creating a crack…think popcorn popping! Dark roasts, however, can roast longer and end at a higher temperature, creating a completely different spectrum of flavor.
It’s also important to note that all coffee is grown, processed, and roasted differently which will produce a wide variety of unique flavors and vibrant aromas. Experiencing this is the mission of specialty coffee roasters. Furthermore, coffee beans can undergo roasting at various levels (light, medium, dark, or in between), highlighting the skill and artistry in the coffee roasting process.
If you’re wondering if light roasted coffees are for you - or if you’re looking to be adventurous, here’s a few things you can expect:
Bright Acidity
If reading the word acidity gave you the tingling feeling near your jaw line, you’ve got it right. The lively characteristics that create those sensations are often described as zesty, tangy, crisp, and vibrant to name a few. You might have experienced sensations like this if you’ve drank orange juice (freshly squeezed), eaten an underripe berry, or watched a sweet baby try a lemon for the first time.
Misconceptions about acidity:
As stated in The Craft and Science of Coffee, “A good cup of coffee is characterized by a balanced acidity to bitterness ratio”. Different acids in coffee (and there are quite a few) range in flavor from sweet citrus to sour; these flavors add balance, sweetness, and liveliness to the profile that we experience in lighter roasted coffee. Acidity in coffee is not about pH; rather, it's a perceived sensation on the palate that makes a coffee more complex and interesting.
Bitterness; however, adds depth and complexity in what we are tasting, providing a contrast to sweetness and enhancing the overall taste experience. You shouldn’t find too much bitterness in light roasted coffees as these flavors develop later on in the roasting process. Bitter flavors are those you taste in over-roasted coffee, kale, and caramelization on a steak.
Explore each sip: what are you tasting and smelling?
Putting it all together:
Take a moment and think about your favorite pasta sauce: tomatoes, garlic, onions, other spices, salt & pepper, maybe a red wine. Now, if any of those ingredients overpowered the others, then the flavor balance would be off. Specifically, the acidity from the tomatoes can cause the flavor to be unbalanced if you don't add other ingredients to the sauce like onions, garlic, and herbs. Now, think about the well-balanced pasta sauce and compare it to the complexity of flavor in roasted coffee.
The acidity we taste adds to the sweetness we enjoy from the delicate compounds cooked/roasted at the right temperature for the right time. If the cooking process were to have too much heat or not enough, for too much or too little time…the sweetness and/or flavor notes we’d hoped for in the pasta sauce would be long gone because the controlled variables, temperature and time, were missed. Translate this to coffee and bam…you can begin to understand how acidity, body, even bitterness work together to create a well-balanced cup of coffee.
Sugars & Camelization:
The flavor profile of light roast coffee becomes distinctly different when coffee is roasted for a shorter time. Stopping the roast early halts the chemical and browning reactions, the coffee will have higher density and retain more moisture than a dark roast. As the roasting process heats up, sucrose within coffee beans begin to break down and caramelize. As this caramelization occurs, the bitter and complex flavor increases until a point of carbonization. This may sound tasty, but caramelization actually has a very bitter flavor, and this bitter flavor will increase with the degree and length of roast.
Think about the bottom of a cookie where it is a little charred; if you taste just this caramelized part, it's actually bitter. Try this experiment to test the difference between bitterness and acidity!
Light Body
In this case, light doesn't necessarily mean low in calories or color. Rather, we mean a lighter (less heavy) mouthfeel. One that may resemble the feel of a warm tea or crisp note that allows different flavor notes to shine through. A sensory journey that will be appreciated for its refreshing senses and gentle notes throughout.
Intricate Flavors
Taste preferences are subjective and can change for various reasons. In a light roast of coffee, you’ll find notes of fresh fruits, tropical liveliness, and florals.These more detailed flavors may take time to learn and really taste in a ‘different’ form such as in coffee. To name a few you may pick out: jasmine, lavender, chamomile, honeysuckle, sweetness that reminds you of berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapefruits), honey, & stone fruit (peach, plum, cherry). There are many more that you may find, so enjoy the exploration of each sip.
Roasting Variations
Light roast coffees are roasted for a shorter time and dropped at a lower temperature (this is when coffee exits the roaster to stop the roasting process). Done well, this preserves the coffees’ intrinsic natural flavor. Each roaster may have their own approach to a light roast profile. Some may introduce more heat at the beginning in order to speed up the roast, but this must be done carefully to avoid charring the outside of the bean or creating an uneven roast- where the inner portion of the bean is less roasted than the outer surfaces. Alternatively, some roasters may take a smoother approach and start at a lower temperature and work their way up. With this method, the roaster must be mindful not to “bake” the coffee and lose the intricate and complex flavor potential of the coffee.
What you’ll see in the bag is a more dry and wrinkly appearance, smaller beans, and the absence of surface oils. You’ll taste bright acidity, profound floral or fruity notes, and a clean and light-bodied cup. Light roast profiles highlight the unique characteristics of coffee beans, making them popular in the third wave coffee movement and among specialty coffee enthusiasts.
There is much more to roasting great coffee than what we can get into here, but tasting coffee from different roasters in order to find one that fits your taste preferences is the best way to find what you love!
Light Roast at Pinup Coffee Co.
Although a lighter coffee might not be your everyday drinker (or it might) the process from coffee plant to cup is worth appreciating and acknowledging to all coffee lovers and learners alike. Here at Pinup Coffee Co. we prioritize consistency and commitment in our approachable blends, while bringing in single origin coffees from all over the world to explore seasonal variations, educational opportunities, and artistry of each country. We encourage you to explore and dive deeper into flavor profiles you enjoy, and to give each roast level a chance for exactly what it is.
For us, lighter roasts are all about experiencing the coffee's innate characteristics, and roasting to showcase the best of what each lot has to offer. You don’t need to be an expert coffee cupper to enjoy coffee! As a fun experiment for training your palette, feel free to go to your local grocer, pick up various ingredients (like some listed here - kale, dark chocolate, citrus fruits), and have a taste test to see if you can depict those same notes in your coffee. But as always, the best coffees are the ones you love most.
Cheers to great coffee, Pinup Crew!
