THE ART OF ROASTING

Coffee roasting from light to black, is an art form in itself. Green beans have none of the flavour we are all accustomed to. Coffee roasting brings out the vibrant flavour from the coffee bean. It is true that before roasting, the 'green' bean contains the same complex acids, protein and caffeine; however, the yucky green-like taste doesn't resemble that of roasted coffee.

It is the heat from the roasting process that causes the coffee beans' carbohydrates and fats to turn into aromatic oils. During coffee roasting, moisture and carbon dioxide are burnt away, thus breaking down and enhancing the acids and providing the wonderful coffee flavour.

While coffee roasting provides the flavour, understanding your roast is important too.

Coffee roasting is part of the equation to reach perfection. A true connoisseur will also consider the blend to really reach perfection. It is difficult -if not impossible- to describe the taste of a particular roast due to the many variants, coffee bean types and roasting times. However, we present an approximate guide, which will certainly help you get a better understanding of the coffee roasting basics:

Light Coffee Roasting includes Cinnamon, New England and American roast. Set your roaster to about seven minutes during which the coffee beans will grow to almost double their size and your light roast will be ready. This kind of coffee is very easy to buy from mass market coffee roasters. The bean is dry to touch and it offers a light bodied flavour that is rather sour to the taste.

Medium Coffee Roasting includes Breakfast, City, Full City and Regular roast. To obtain this level of roasting you will need to set your roaster anywhere from nine to eleven minutes. While not as abundant as light roast in the stores, it is not difficult to find. The flavour is sweeter than that of light roast, and offers a cup with a fuller body and a deeper aroma.

Dark Coffee Roasting includes French and Continental roast. In order to obtain a nice dark roast, the coffee must be roasted around thirteen minutes. The beans will start to hiss as the oils reach their hot surface. Dark roast coffee provides a nice deep taste, somewhat spicy and rather sweet.

Black Coffee Roasting this is about as dark as it gets before the quality of the beans start to deteriorate. It is also known as espresso or Italian roast. Depending on the coffee roaster fourteen to fifteen minutes will be enough to provide a nice Italian style roast. As with dark roasting, the beans will hiss (remember the oils?) and then start to smoke. The natural sugar content of the beans will start to carbonize and caramelize. The results will be a smoky full flavour.