Expert Explained: What Is Coffee Roasting and What It Does
Coffee is made from ground beans that are roasted beforehand. This process affects the taste and quality of the future drink.
Types of roasting coffee beans and their features
Dried beans are sold to coffee producers. They carry out an equally important process: roasting. It is during it that the almost tasteless, green grain acquires a flavoring bouquet and a characteristic color.
To begin with, the product is placed in special roasters. In them, the grains are heated, detached from the husk. After a while they swell and crack.
There are different degrees of roasting: from the lightest to the darkest. Three main components of coffee taste depend on it: sweetness, acidity and bitterness.
Light roasts are more acidic, dark roasts are more bitter, and medium roasts are balanced. The sweetness comes from the caramelization process. In addition, the grain becomes bitter and dark if the sugars are burned.
The degree of roasting is chosen based on the method of preparation: light grains have a dense structure, which takes more time to cook, while dark ones, on the contrary, are more porous, which is suitable for quick brewing.
Scandinavians prefer less roasted coffee as they brew it with filters. Italy, France use dark roast as they drink espresso. We prefer the average, balanced.
