A Guide to our coffee roasts.

Coffee beans are the seeds of the coffee cherry. Once the cherry has been harvested, pulped and dried you have your coffee bean! An unroasted coffee bean is green in colour, and extremely hard, you cannot grind or process raw coffee beans. These green coffee beans also do not smell or taste of coffee, the coffee aroma and flavour is developed upon roasting.  

Before roasting the green coffee beans will have flavour characteristics depending on the varietal, the soil and climate where it grew and how the cherry was processed but the roast of the coffee also greatly affects the flavour profile and characteristics too. The same green beans can be fruity and sweet, chocolatey and nutty, acidic or mellow…all depending on the roast.  

Lighter, or medium roasted beans tend to be brighter, they have more acidity and show their fruit notes. Darker roasts bring out chocolate, caramel, and nut flavours and the acidity tends to balance out with a more bitter body coming through.  

During roasting the beans are heated to varying degrees of heat and for specific durations of time and the beans go from green to a light brown colour, to medium brown, dark brown then black.  

Here is our guide to the roasts we have and their characteristics to help you choose which may be for you. 

Medium Roast 

Medium roasted beans are light brown in colour.  As they are not roasted for too long and not subjected to as much heat as darker roasts, they retain lots of their natural complexities and characteristics. They have a higher acidity and lighter body.  

Best suited to filters, french press, Turkish and Cold Brew.  

Full Roast  

A little darker brown in colour than medium roasts. Sometimes a little sweeter, still with acidity and low bitterness. Still showing some complexities and original characteristics, perhaps a little more developed. A full roast coffee may have a little less acidity, with a touch more sweetness. More moderate in body. Balanced.   

Best suited to filter, french press, turkish coffee. Can be used in moka pot or espresso but may not be strong enough to carry through milk based drinks (latte/cappuccino) 

Espresso Roast 

These beans are a rich chocolate brown colour. The natural oils are just beginning to burst through. As these beans have been roasted for longer the sugars within the beans will have begun to caramelise bringing some sweetness and nuances. A good balance of bitterness and body.  

Great for Moka Pot and espresso, filter and french press.  

High Roast  

We have always liked to roast some of our coffees quite dark. This is quite unusual and not often found in other roasteries. If you are looking for a dark coffee and have not tried our high roasts before, perhaps try an espresso roast first or some of our house blends where we blend a high roast with some medium. It is often incorrectly thought that these beans are burnt, they are not, but they are intense.   

These beans are very dark brown/black in colour and the beans are often oily. The high roasts are considered more bitter.  They have a fuller body with no acidity, but wonderful intensity. Less sweetness, more chocolate notes. Possible liquorice or savoury notes. Heavy body and powerful aftertaste.  

A dark roast was often used to mask lower-grade coffee beans - that is not the case here! And while many may not agree with roasting so dark, the high roasts are our bestsellers!  

Darker roasted coffees do not contain more caffeine than lighter roasts. 

Great for Moka Pots, French Press, Filter.