Coffee Myth Busting!
Coffee is a product much loved, and much misunderstood!
Note down your answers “yes” or “no” on the following questions, and see how you do:
- Dark roast coffee is stronger than light coffee?
True or False 1: “Dark roasts are stronger”
Myth!
This is probably the most popular misconception in the world of coffee. But, it is not accurate that a dark roast necessarily is stronger.
Roast type has to do with flavor notes, not strength: darker roasts are more nutty, chocolatey and rounded. Lighter roasts are brighter and more vibrant, and with more intense notes. Yes, you read that right: A light roast is more intense in the notes. That’s because the lighter roast leaves more of the beans’ original characteristics intact.
A medium roast is the happy compromise: rounded and balanced, but still with very noticeable flavor notes. Therefore, a light roast can perfectly well be extremely strong, just like a dark roast can be weak and watery.
So what makes a coffee strong? “Coffee strength” is mainly a function of coffee/water ratio, i.e. how much coffee you use per unit of water. Your grind size also matters: the finer the grind, the stronger the coffee, as the water gets exposed to more surface of the grounds. Lastly, your brew time also has an impact: The more time the water spends with the coffee, the more it extracts. Over-extraction and under-extraction are both to be avoided; the former leaves the coffee bitter; the latter can leave the coffee sour.
It should be added that many conventional coffee brands roast their beans very dark, i.e. at higher temperatures and for longer time, to the point where they taste burned and bitter. These notes can be very dominating on the palate. The very dark roasts often hide the intrinsic qualities of a bean, so it allows some producers to use a mediocre bean. With time, consumers will have their palates accustomed to this flavor profile and associate it with words like ‘strong’ or ‘bold’.
Like different grapes make different wines, coffee beans are also intrinsically different. Any coffee bean can be brewed “strong” or “weak”, it is entirely dependent on the individual making the coffee. The long story short is that when we change beans for our coffee cup, we also need to adjust the brewing parameters, to bring out the best in the bean – and enjoy it the way you like it.
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True or False 2: “Dark roast coffee has more caffeine”
Myth!
A coffee’s caffeine content is not (mainly) related to how strong your coffee is. Rather, caffeine content is related to bean species, variety, and roast. Robusta species, used often in instant coffee, have more caffeine than arabica beans. And, amongst arabica beans, there are differences in caffeine content across the different varietals. A Mundo Novo arabica varietal from Central America, for example, tends to have a higher caffeine content than a Mokka varietal from Hawaii.
Roast level also impacts a bean’s caffeine content, as caffeine is burned off during the roasting process.
For this reason, most so-called ‘breakfast blends’ are usually light or medium roasts. They are better at waking you up! On the other hand, if you like a cup of coffee in the afternoon or evening, but without too much caffeine, a darker roast will suit you better (or decaf!).
When telling people that dark roasts have less caffeine, we have heard reactions like “We have been lied to our entire lives!”. Now, that’s a very funny comment, but also telling for how pervasive this perception is.
In conclusion, it is perfectly possible to have a ‘bold’ or ‘strong’ coffee with little caffeine.
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True or False 3: “Bold” coffee means dark and strong?
Myth! (but it’s complicated)
The word “bold” is a contested one in the world of coffee. There is no universal understanding of the word, and roasters would rather typically describe a coffee using flavor notes, much like in the world of wine. Flavor notes are associations, such as ‘nutty’, ‘red fruits’ or ‘raisins’.
With that said, there is a general understanding among roasters, that a bold coffee means the cup has a defined, intense profile, with a dominating base and clear upper notes. Bold coffees tend to be brighter and more vibrant – usually characteristics associated with a lighter roast, rather than a darker roast. They create a rich, almost tingling sensation on your palate.
While most roasters could agree to this description of “bold”, for many regular consumers it is often confused with strength. Strength, as we have seen, is a function of brew parameters. In the same way, bold is a characteristic of the bean and roast type. A coffee can perfectly well be strong and ‘bland’ or ‘flat’ (i.e. opposite bold), or it can just as easily be weak and bold.
Strong, dark, bold, and high in caffeine… These are often thought of as synonyms in the general coffee vocabulary, but whether they really are the same depends on factors as coffee type, roast level, and coffee-to-water ratio when brewing. Coffee can be bold and light roasted (and often is). It can be dark and mellow (and often is), or dark and weak. Coffee can be strong and low in caffeine, or weak and high in caffeine.
So how do roasters describe coffee?
Lots and lots of practice. It’s a great idea to in general just taste lots of foods and beverages. And do so consciously. What flavors do you sense? Close your eyes, let it rest on the tongue and the mind fly.
If it’s hard to identify, try to associate places or situations. For example: “This coffee reminds me of my grandmothers house”. Ok great! So what was your grandmothers house like? “It smelled lovely, like bakery”. Sounds good! What kind of bakery? “Well, she always made shortbread cookies!”. That’s it: you identified or associated a flavor note.
Wrapping up the myths…
That’s it! We hope we have provided some interesting insights into the myths of coffee. More importantly, we hope to have been able to make you think a bit about how you prefer your coffee, and how to describe it. There is no arguing with how you enjoy and prefer your coffee, but using the right words and associations can help you dial in exactly how you want it. Much like we describe a wine or a steak. Your taste buds will thank you! All there is left to say is… happy brewing to you from Fabula Coffee!
Tempted to try samples of different coffee roasts and regions? Check out the Fabula sampler packs here!
Light, Medium, Dark, 3 x 12oz
$75.99
A Fabula Greatest Hits mix of Light, Medium and Dark roasts, a little bit of everything. Great for sampling and comparing regions!… read more
