Gourmet Coffee Corner

True coffee connoisseurs may endeavor to roast their own coffee, but most of us are content to let the coffee shop or manufacturer do that for us. But just as there are several varieties of coffee beans, there are also myriad ways to have them roasted. Here is a quick guide to the most common roasts you’ll come across:

~Light: Lightly roasted coffees have a high caffeine content and are quite acidic, giving them a distinctly bitter taste. The beans are cinnamon in color.

~Medium: One of the most common roasts, it is generally used for drip coffee and in cheap dehydrated coffees.

~Dark: The darker roasts will have a sweeter, less acidic flavor; they also contain less caffeine.

~French: Darker than the dark roast, French beans are very brown and have an oily appearance.

~Espresso: The darkest roast and, as you can probably ascertain, the recommended beans for use in your espresso machine.