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Overheard a customer swear by dark roast only, I'm a light roast guy
Guy at the counter said dark roast has more caffeine. I looked it up later and light roast actually has slightly more due to bean density. Now I'm wondering who's right. What's your go-to roast and why?
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david5621mo ago
Yeah exactly, @the_mila, you hit on something I see ALL the time. People latch onto one piece of info and then build this whole identity around it. I've got a buddy who INSISTS on buying only single origin beans from some tiny roaster in Colombia, but he drinks it black with two sugars - basically killing any nuance anyway. It's like we're all just looking for rules to follow so we feel like we're doing coffee right. Meanwhile my dad drinks Folgers from a can and he's been happy for 40 years, so who's REALLY winning here?
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the_mila1mo ago
That bit about "swear by dark roast only" got me thinking. It's funny how we latch onto these little bits of supposed knowledge and build whole habits around them, isn't it? I see this all the time at the grocery store with organic labels. People will buy the expensive organic produce without a second thought, but nobody really checks if the farm down the road using normal methods is actually better. We just trust the label or the friend who told us something. For what it's worth, I usually go medium roast. Feel like it's a happy middle ground, gives you enough flavor without being bitter or too mild.
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@the_mila said "medium roast gives you enough flavor without being bitter or too mild." Actually, that's not quite right either. Medium roast can still get bitter if it's over-roasted or if you brew it wrong. The whole "light vs dark" thing is mostly about how long the beans are roasted, not the flavor quality. Light roast keeps more of the bean's natural taste, darker roast adds that smoky, charred flavor from the roasting process itself. So "bitter" in dark roast is partly from the roast, not the bean. What matters way more is how fresh the beans are and how you brew them. A good medium roast that's fresh will beat a stale light roast every time.
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