Before 2000, the mainstream roasting of coffee was still dark roasting, so many friends who started to get into coffee at that time probably had the same first impression of coffee as bitter. When it comes to non-bitter coffee, the only options at that time were milk and sugar or Nestlé’s two-in-one coffee.
With the popularity of specialty coffee, people are now beginning to respect light-roasted coffee with rich floral and fruity notes. This kind of coffee has also attracted many friends who have never been exposed to coffee. For this "new generation" of coffee lovers who have not had much exposure to dark roast coffee, they are very curious about one point: "Why do people still like dark roast coffee when it is so bitter?"
But in fact, if you ask these friends who like dark roast coffee why, you will find that the advantages of dark roast coffee explained by them are actually more than you think.
Rich coffee aroma
The alluring aroma of coffee originally referred to the aroma of strong, bitter, dark roasted coffee. This is also the coffee smell that we can smell in most coffee shops today.
These aromas are different from the floral and fruity aroma of light roasting. They are the attractive roasted aroma transformed from coffee beans through long-term high-temperature roasting and various effects such as Maillard reaction and caramelization reaction. The complex aromas of chocolate, caramel, nuts, cream, etc. are calm and healing, and you will be deeply fascinated by the smell. The best-selling coffee beans include Front Street Classic Blend, Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend, Front Street Commercial Blend, and Front Street Boutique Blend.
The aroma of dark roasted coffee is not uniform. They vary depending on the variety, place of origin, and degree of roasting. For example, the Front Street Indonesian Golden Mandheling in the Front Street Bean List has a flavor of spices and smoke in addition to the roasting aroma; or the Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee, in addition to the roasting aroma, also has an indescribable but very unique elegant fragrance, which is soft and pleasant; or the Front Street Brazilian Queen's Manor, which has a richer hazelnut flavor...
By analogy, we can know that just like light roasted coffee, the aroma of dark roasted coffee can also be "black and colorful."
Mellow taste
I don’t know if my friends have noticed that even if the amount of powder is the same, the dark roast coffee brewed will always be much more mellow than the light roast coffee. This is not an illusion. In comparison, dark roasted coffee with the same amount of powder will indeed have a more mellow taste.
There are many reasons for this difference. For example, dark roasting will cause the coffee beans to have a higher expansion rate and a looser structure, which makes it easier to extract the substances in the coffee beans. Also, dark roasting will increase the water loss rate and reduce the weight of the beans. Therefore, although the same 15g of powder is used, the number of dark roasted beans will be more than that of light roasting. Under the same parameters, the concentration of dark roasted beans will be higher;
Not only that, dark roasting will also bring substances to the coffee that can increase the taste and body, and then activate the bitter characteristics of caffeine and trigonelline, which can bring a certain improvement to the body of the coffee.
Because of this, the dark roast coffee we brew always has a mellow taste that light roast coffee cannot match. The reason why many friends are addicted to dark roasted coffee is because dark roasted coffee has excellent body and volume, which can greatly satisfy our oral taste.
High sweetness and sweetness
Finally, there is the unique sweetness of dark roasted coffee! Yes, even dark roasted coffee has a unique sweetness, which is bitter yet sweet. Front Street has shared before that we usually cannot taste the full flavor of dark roasted coffee in the first sip, because the sudden attack of bitter coffee is more irritating to the senses. Therefore, when we take the first sip, our attention is often focused on the more pungent bitter flavors.
But when we take the first sip of coffee, and then take the second sip, you will find that coffee becomes much easier to accept. Not only is it not as bitter as the first sip, but we can also taste many delicate flavors, such as the sweetness in the coffee.
Here we still take the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee from the former street bean list as an example. Many people can only taste roasted aromas such as chocolate and nuts when taking the first sip, but starting from the second sip and tasting carefully, you can feel the sweetness similar to caramel and maltose, which is very pleasant.
In addition, after swallowing the coffee, the bitterness dissipates immediately, and we can quickly taste a strong and contrasting sweetness. This is the sweetness that Front Street just shared some time ago, and it is also one of the important factors why many friends focus on bitter coffee. It is also a characteristic of light roasted coffee that is difficult to replicate.
The rich aroma, mellow taste, high sweetness and sweetness are the main reasons why dark roasted coffee still attracts countless fans. Of course, there are also some friends who choose dark roasted coffee because they don’t like the sour taste and want the refreshing effect of coffee. But no matter which reason it is, we can know that dark roasted coffee has its own unique charm, and it is by no means just the same bitterness. As Front Street said, bitterness can also be colorful.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
