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HOT TAKES. episode II: light or dark roast?

Hot Takes is a lighthearted, conversational discussion exploring the topics that make people in the world of coffee very, very worked up. We look at the arguments for and against both sides, instigate discussion, and overall try and map out why it is people feel so strongly about these issues. If you like a bit of drama, enjoy a good debate, or are simply curious about the inner workings of this weird world, read on.

We started with the age old question of where does coffee come from?
Let’s move on now to something slightly more current.

Should coffee be roasted light or dark?

Let me start by asking how old you are?

I’m just kidding, sort of. You see, I only ask because the preference to roasting intensity can to some degree be a generational thing. Let’s break it down with a brief history of coffee roasting.

• It’s no surprise that coffee roasting started more as a crude practice than the artform it is today. Now we have huge machines and sensors and all sorts of gizmos to ensure every bean is roasted to perfection (‘perfection’). But when it was first starting out the roasters had nothing more than a simple pan. And the beans weren’t necessarily the best either so these roasts were dark – very dark – to make the beans more palatable.
• We slowly got better, developing drums that rotated to allow a more even roast (essentially the same thing we use today though somewhat less high-tech). These machines still roasted the beans very, very dark though as the beans were still pretty tough little things and the drums were still quite crude.
• … and that’s sort of it until you get to very recent years. Yes, we got better and different drums and machines were patented. But until quite recently the technology didn’t exist – nor you could argue did the demand – for delving into the science of flavour of the coffee bean.
• Of course, alongside these developments, the overall coffee culture boomed. Cafes started popping up. People started going out for coffee. I know! What a novelty. And then Italy happened.

Italy?

Well, yes. Italy. The invention of the espresso accelerated our love of coffee as a social beverage. But again, these machines were crude and the forcing of water through the fine grains of the bean meant that actually darker roasts were favoured. They were harder to get wrong, for starters. Darker roasts welcomed the aggression of the espresso because they were less likely to pick out the displeasing acidity and tanginess of the lighter roasts. When done wrong, a lightly roasted bean can have a lot of negative flavours. When a dark roast is done wrong it just tastes like a badly made coffee. Which, incidentally, is something we’ve all had and are all surprisingly forgiving about.

So that was Italy. The espresso machine was invented in 1884. Then roughly a hundred years later Australia happened.

Australia?

Well, yes. Australia. You play a little game of chicken and egg arguing over who did what first and how but essentially Australia saw the espresso and went: ‘hold my Fosters.’

Australia gave us the flat white, the first espresso-based drink that was meant to be drunk with a lighter roast. Around the same time as this, experimentation was taking place with roasters brewing for home machines. French Presses, V60s, they’re all far more forgiving to the lighter roasts and can even enhance the flavour of these delicately roasted coffees.

Side note: I should point out that there were lots of factors involved in the development of roasting and I am somewhat simplifying things. Another factor in why we have until recently drunk dark coffee is due to the big coffee chains. Coffee tastes different depending on where it is from. But you know what doesn’t taste different? Burnt coffee. So in order for a global chain to ensure their coffee tastes the same all around the world, the coffee has to be roasted very dark. But hey ho.

Moving on.

Yes, in the last two decades or so, coffee culture in the UK has exploded and roasters are popping up left and right exploring new ways to roast their beans. And thanks to a combination of equipment, nerdiness, and obsession, roasters can really lean into the light roasts. Which is why I started by asking you how old you are. At the risk of making a sweeping generalisation, taste preferences among the older generations tend towards the darker roasts while the younger generation leans more in to the lighter roasts. You can imagine it a little like the IPA phenomenon a few years back.

Ok but now let’s answer the question.

Should I ask once more how old you are? Because there really isn’t a either/or answer here. Preference plays a huge roll. For most people, the flavour preference of coffee is dictated to a greater extent by how they expect it to taste than by anything else. If you’re used to a darker roast, the acidity of a light roast might shock you. And vice versa. And so, if you grew up before the cultural change in coffee then a dark roast is probably more your speed. So too it probably is if you frequent bigger chains. However, if you grew up after this change or have found yourself familiar with the smaller, more artisan coffee shops, then you might be more partial to a lighter roast.

The thing you should know is that if you do want to move away from what you usually drink, the gist of things is this: Lighter roasts bring out the flavour of the bean itself, which tend towards fruity and floral and can differ quite drastically between bean varieties (sort of like apples). Dark roasts tend towards flavours of chocolate and caramel that come more from how the sugars in the bean interact with the roasting process than the actual unique flavours of the bean itself.

And that, dear friends, is the vastly oversimplified answer to the question of light or dark. Tune in next time for another Hot Take.