Good Morning Coffee Lovers,
with today's post we are going deeper and deeper into the wonderful and vast world of coffee: we are talking about roasting. This mini guide is neither a treaty nor a technical manual but simply an indication of a general nature, aimed at choosing from the point of view of the end customer and their expectations regarding our beloved drink, to understand what to expect in sensory terms by choosing coffee with different types of roasting. Do you remember that in the previous post we talked about raw coffee, Arabica & Robusta, Lavati & Naturali coffee? Well, if you are ready, then let's go ... Roasting is the process that serves to transform green coffee beans and their chemical-physical properties by means of heat, into roasted or roasted beans, if you prefer, so that they can be subjected to extraction procedures in order to obtain the drink we all love. The two variables that determine this transformation are time and temperature, thanks to which we can have different degrees or levels of roasting and consequently different results in the cup.
You have often heard me mention at the bar the terms medium roasting or also called "monk's tunic" or dark roasting or also called "Neapolitan"; but what is it about? We can say that the medium Italian roasting results in an intense brown grain with a tendency to dark (just like the color of the cassocks of the friars) which, if combined with a good blend, will obtain a result with a full-bodied taste with notes of bitterness. typical of almonds and a distant sweet / fruity aftertaste. The dark roasting instead features a very dark brown grain and a marked bitterness with almost zero acidity. To these are added many others, also called clear, characterized by grains that start from the cinnamon color up to a medium brown. In the latter, among which we find for example the Cinnamon toasting, the City + and the Full City +, notes and hints characteristic of the acidity of fruit and flowers will stand out with an almost completely zero bitterness or in any case lower than those previously treated. It is important to say that these different types of roasting have a geography that allows them to be placed in certain areas: the light roasting is typical of the Nordic and English-speaking countries, the medium roasting is typical of our northern areas, while the dark one is preferred in our regions. southerners. Having said that we can get closer to the world of Specialty Coffee, which we have already mentioned in the first post: this type of special coffee, with unique characteristics dictated above all by the botanical species, by the country of origin and by the method of extraction of the beans from the drupes (remember washed, natural and we also add honey or semi-washed ...) undergo the best transformation and give their best result with light roasts like City + and it is fantastic to recognize the various scents and aromas according to the altitude of cultivation and the geographical region of origin.
Obviously the subject of roasting is very broad and should be addressed by going into more detail with great detail and describing in detail all the various phases that make up this delicate and difficult procedure; however, it seemed nice to start by tackling it lightly to allow those who are fasting to these issues to take a look even just to spark a little curiosity. I don't rule out that in the next few times we could dive deeper ...
So, the next time we see each other, I invite you to differentiate the choice between our blends at the counter also according to the type of roasting or even with a specialty filter extracted, in order to go deeper and deeper into my world, in order to to make the Coffee Culture yours!
See you soon Coffee Lovers, the journey continues ...
MD