Brewing Tips

Ultimate Dictionary for Roasting Coffee

A big part of the way your cuppa tastes is how it has been roasted. Understanding this process broadens your appreciation for the art of coffee, and helps you pick the right roast for your brewing methods too. Allow us to introduce some of the main concepts you’ll come across in your roasting journey.   Baked: A taste or smell that gives coffee a flat taste. Might happen when the coffee is roasted at a very low temperature for long periods.   Chaff (Silverskin): Papery flakes of the coffee bean’s skin that remains attached after the processing.   Charge: Process of pre-heating roasting equipment before placing the beans.   City Roast/City+/Full City: As the beans continue to roast, their profile changes. In broad terms, city roast is lighter while Full City is a medium roast.   Cooling stage: The final stage of roasting process where beans are dumped into a cooling tray where they are spun and cold air runs through them.   Dark: The beans will have surpassed the second crack. They have greater body, less acidity.   Degassing (Resting): A natural process where freshly roasted beans release carbon dioxide quickly. This usually takes about 24 hours.   Drum roaster: The large spinning container in which the beans are stirred, so the heat is distributed for an even roast.   First Crack (Cinnamon Roast): The real roasting begins at this stage, when the sugars inside begin to caramelise and a cracking sound is heard, like the sound of a popcorn popping.   Green: The beans retain their original green essence as they start to heat.   Light: A lightly roasted coffee that probably isn’t roasted for a long time after the first crack.   Medium: The beans are closer to the second crack.   Roast profiling: The process of recording temperatures, time, and other variables during roasting to document patterns, tests and results.   Second crack: The second cracking sound that is heard during the roasting process. The beans become more intensely packed with flavour.   Steam: The third stage, where steam rises from the beans as the beans continue to roast. This is the water inside the beans evaporating.   Stovetop roaster: A pot of used for home roasting that is used directly on top of the stove.   Yellow: When the beans start to become a little yellowish, early on in the roasting process. They may emit a grassy smell at this point.