This might come as a surprise to you, but coffee beans aren't really beans at all. The coffee tree is a fruit tree, and coffee "beans" are really the seeds of the coffee fruit. Except, there's really very little fruit. Like all fruit trees, each harvest begins with beautiful fragrant blossoms. When the petals fall away, little green berries slowly grow in the Hawaiian sun and then ripen to a bright cherry red.
When the coffee fruit is ripe, that's when the "beans" are optimal for picking. Inside each little coffee cherry are two little seeds, face to face. The very beginning of the coffee you know and love.
Then it's time to dry and roast them, which is where the real magic happens. The secret to a delicious and aromatic cup of coffee is partly the quality of the bean and partly the roasting process. Roasting coffee perfectly every time is a real art.
Medium Roast Coffee
When green coffee beans go in the roaster, they absorb heat, lose moisture and begin to turn a rich brown color. Around 395°F to 405°F., they make a popping sound like popcorn. The sound you hear is called the "first crack." Soon after this, the coffee beans are roasted to make a perfect Medium roast.
Medium Roast coffee is incredibly popular in America, often being referred to as a favorite. called American Roast.
Dark Roast Coffee
If the beans stay in the roaster, they darken around 420°F. They make a soft snapping sound, like pouring milk on Rice Krispies. We call that sound "second crack."
This is when we roast coffee beans to a perfect Vienna roast, as found in our Grande Domaine 100% Kona Coffee. Some people call Vienna roasts a Medium-Dark roast. Mere moments later, someone will roast the coffee beans to a perfectly rich and decadent dark roast.
Dark roast has some amazing characteristics you might not be aware of. The longer coffee beans roast, the more the sugars caramelize, so dark roast is sweeter than light roast. Plus, the added heating time brings out a slight chocolatey flavor that lighter roasts seldom have. Dark roast coffee is also less acidic and lower in caffeine compared to a lighter roast, which makes it a perfect after dinner coffee.
The most exciting part is that light roast coffee shows the bean's natural flavor. In contrast, dark roasted beans focus more on the taste of the roast than the bean's own flavor. Consequently, many coffee roasters opt for lower-grade beans for dark roasts.
Yet, when you dark roast a premium coffee bean such as 100% Kona, the result is a delightful flavor. High-quality beans, when roasted meticulously, reveal a sweet, chocolatey taste in a rich, full-bodied cup. If you enjoy a good dark roast coffee, we invite you to try one of ours.