Light, Medium, or Dark Roast?

Have you ever wondered which coffee roast is the right one for you? Or which roast has the most caffeine? There are so many myths and legends when it comes to the coffee roast levels. The amount of caffeine in each roast is known to be the same depending on how the beans are weighed. Since light roast beans are denser than the medium or dark roast beans they are considered to be heavier. With the light roast beans being heavier each individual bean has slightly more caffeine than dark roast beans meaning that dark roast beans are lighter and have slightly less caffeine.

Light Roast

Light roast coffee is roasted between 350 degrees and 400 degrees. Since the light roast is roasted at the lowest temperature, the bean is a lighter color. Coffee beans start out green and then once they are roasted they turn a light brown color. This light brown coloring also does not show any oil on the surface. Light roasted coffee customarily has a more unique flavor than the medium or dark roasted beans. This distinctive flavor has a hint of sweetness to it, for instance our Schoolhouse blend has a sweet chocolate and caramelized sugar flavor with a hint of dark cherry. Our newer blend, Never Forget, also has a sweeter hint to it with a caramelized sugar and sweet chocolate flavoring.

Medium Roast

Medium roast coffee is roasted between 400 degrees and 430 degrees. The medium roast coffee is a slightly darker color than the light roast because of the temperature it is roasted in. With a balanced flavor and acidity, medium roast is known as the smoothest coffee that there is. At HERO, we have six medium roast blends with different flavoring to each. The Whiskey blend is a very unique flavored coffee, with buttery milk chocolate up front followed by a slight whiskey finish. Our Farmer blend is another original flavoring with semi-sweet chocolate and pear flavor with a hint of grapes and prunes.

Dark Roast

Dark roast coffee is roasted at the highest temperature, between 430 degrees and 450 degrees. With the shiny black color, dark roast beans are darker than light and medium beans. The dark roast has a richer, charred, almost bitter taste to the coffee. Since the beans are roasted at a higher temperature there is less mass in them, causing them to weigh less than light roasted beans. Many people think that dark roast beans have the most caffeine in them, however, that is not the case. Our legend blend is one of our popular dark blends, it has subtle notes of chocolate and tobacco, this blend is bittersweet yet smooth. Another popular blend at HERO, is our Emergency blend with notes of deep dark cherry and mild black pepper. The Emergency blend is known as a more intense and smokey tasting coffee.