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Submitted by Erik on Mon, 03.29.2010 | 21:47
I've noticed selling coffee, that a lot of people are really into dark roasts... I wish it was easier to convince people that really good coffee is usually much better roasted light. Dark roasted coffee has that wonderful bold flavor, but its missing all the nuances from the particular origin the coffee came from. As the roast gets darker it tends to get more of a generic roast flavor which is great for hiding imperfections in not-so-great offerings; But if you take extra care to find the best offerings you can for your customers... It almost pains you to roast it dark for them. Even though that is what most of you want. Plus, lighter roasted coffees have a lot more caffeine in them! But hey, the customer is always right, so i try to always keep in stock a couple coffees that are good at a darker roast, like the Ugandan, Costa Rican, and Peruvian. However, the Colombian and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe are truly amazing at a medium light roast.
5 comments
I could not agree with you more. There is nothing more disheartening than ordering a highly rated Ethiopian from another roaster [e.g., Paradise Roasters, The Coffee Fool, Trader Joes] only to find that everything that makes this coffee the light of my life [really] has been burnt clean out of it. I am so glad I found you and hope that you continue to roast beans in exactly the way they beg to be roasted.
Hi Erik,
I agree with you on the whole. Eight or nine years ago I stumbled on the fact that one can roast their own coffee in a hot air popcorn popper, and so I started buying green beans from Sweet Maria's. I was working for a wine distributor at the time and I liked the idea that coffee, as well as grapes, brought with them the characteristics of where they were cultivated. I've honed my roasting technique down to 1/2 lb. at a city/city +, and 1/2 lb. at full city/full city+, just so I can get a sense of the full spectrum of the coffee's innate character. So I agree with you when it comes to drinking coffee American style: big cup, generous amount.
But I just returned from NYC yesterday, and appear to be interested in darker roasts. I spent 10 days there with my girlfriend, and we organized our days around visiting lots of different neighborhoods by their coffee houses. I had stumbled on a NY Times article about coffee in the city that listed where all the good coffee is being roasted and served. Wow! Tons of fun. I drank lots of espresso and cappucino. The double ristretto, single-origin espresso and iced coffee at Blue Bottle (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/dining/03coffee.html) in Williamsburg absolutely blew my mind. And I'm not one for hyperbole. They have a Japanese contraption that takes 12 hours to make a quart of coffee for their iced coffee. And believe me every second it takes is worth it. We had it New Orleans style -- a splash of milk and sweetner. Tres magnifique! And the dry cappuccino at cafe regular du nord in Park Slope was killer. Of course, the darker roasts I'm interested in are specifically for making the above, and not for using in my pour-over, but I must say I have new found admiration for dark roasts and European style coffee. I bought an aeropress while there and just this morning had a nice French roast espresso. Perhaps that's the reason for this long, rambling comment.
I've been buying your coffee at City Market for a month or so and love the roasts. Keep up the good work.
Brian
Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you like our coffee. We think its really great as well, but it means so much more coming from our customers. :)
Blue Bottle - Haven't had a chance to try their coffee yet, but i definitely read the article when it came out and my sister, who lives in Brooklyn, had a really good experience there as well. I'm pretty sure she got the NO style cold brewed. Although i haven't tried there Japanese style slow drip cold brew.... We have made a cold brewed iced coffee (12hr) in the summertime to serve out of our espresso van, and it is amazingly complex and bursting with rich robust coffee flavor. Another big benefit to cold brewed coffee is that it is extremely low in acid.
Aeropress - One of my favorites... I use it all the time. Great for traveling too.
Take care and thanks for the comments. They are very important to us.
Educate them, and keep roasting light -- that's why we buy your beans!
thanks I'm glad you posted this, and I will... I really do enjoy a good dark roast from time to time, but i just wish people weren't so quick to turn down a good lightly roasted coffee, just cause they have it in their head that they like dark roasts... Most people like dark roasts because they feel it has a bolder, stronger flavor, some even think its stronger in caffeine. But the fact of the matter is that, it has less caffeine than a light roast. Also, in my experience, you can get a nice bold flavor from a lighter roasted coffee, it just takes slightly more beans per cup.