Dark Roast
28 07 2009Posted by Robert @ 10:00 am
Dark roast means that the coffee bean has been roasted to a higher temperature and typically for a longer period of time. This causes all of the flavour molecules stored within the oils of the coffee beans to be roasted away. Darker roasts tend to have a larger body and a strong taste, many of the acidic and varietal qualities have been roasted away. This leaves the roast with less depth in the roast but wider body and ashy flavour.
Author’s note:
You can hide the imperfections of a bean in a darker roast as a lot of the original flavour has been replaced in the roasting process.
I have no idea what high roast, continental, or Vienna roast is. It may be used by some chain cafes for marketing terms but as a commonly referenced term in Vancouver it is rarely used and not part of the normal lexicon of independent cafes in my opinion.
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Make no mistake about it: dark roast is simply burned coffee. For more on the roasting process Sweetmarias has a great guide: http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.php
Wow Alistar that is a great guide! I will add this page to our resources list.