Which coffee-bean roast-level should I use for my favourite Good Coffee at Home-style?

 


Apart from HOW you make your coffee (espresso, pour-over etc.), a lot of the ultimate flavour in your coffee cup will depend on the roast level of the coffee beans you use.

Roast levels  run from very light (Cinnamon) to very dark (Full City Roast or Italian Style), and everything in between.
As a rule, the lighter the roast level, the brighter the coffee will be: poetically speaking you could say that the coffee has “citrus” notes; to most un-educated palates the coffee will be rather sour.

Some coffee-beans lend themselves fantastically for a lighter  roast level; in that case a gentle brew (as a "low heat" treatment)
 
preserves all the subtler flavour components which "high heat", such as deeper roasts or an espresso extraction, would burn off.
Gentle brewing mehods like French Press, Filter, Syphon, Clover and such allow the delicate fruity and floral perfumes to remain in the coffee. 

Apart from burning-off the more subtle flavour components, deep and longer roast levels force the coffee oils to the surface of the coffee beans, so they are often spotted or even glistening with oil.
Because of that, they do not keep as long as the medium roasted beans: the oils can get rancid quickly .
These darker roast levels (Italian Style and Full City Roast) produce a strong,
robustly flavoured cup, which for some people is an acquired taste.
This is why a lot of café espresso-style coffees get taken with milk: Latte, Machiato, Cappucino etc.

However, a perfectly poured shot of Espresso, made from freshly roasted beans is an experience: its dark-golden or sometimes almost deep-red crema, honey-like flow and depth of flavour makes a mockery of many of the short blacks being served all over the world.
The roast-levels between Cinnamon and Full City can produce anything from a “mild cup of comfort” to a brightly acidic “wake-up shot" or a "stand the spoon in the cup" Italian espresso.

Without tasting every roast-variation there is no way you can determine which one you like best, but IF you have to make a choice based on names alone, start with a Medium Roast.
Most of these Medium Roasts have a by-line, which says that they are suitable for French Press, Filter as well as Espresso.

These roasts have the ability to give you a roundly flavoured cup, no matter what equipment you use, as long as you follow some basic coffee-making steps, such as the 9 Rules …. Oh, and as long as the beans are freshly roasted, ofcourse!

Once you have experimented with your first few bags of that Medium Roast coffee, you can decide to go either darker towards City Roast or lighter towards Mild Roasts.