WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEDIUM ROAST AND LIGHT ROAST COFFEE?

What Is the Difference Between Medium-Roasted and Light-Roasted Coffee? Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world. Its intense flavor and aroma fascinate us, creating a legion of addicts. But not all coffees are created equal.

In Spain, in addition to natural roasted coffee, we can buy roasted coffee and a so-called blend. In many establishments across the country, it is common to serve one of the latter two. Would you be surprised to know that roasting is banned in many countries and it could be considered sacrilege to serve it in almost all of them? Let’s find out in the following lines what the differences are between natural roasted, roasted, or blended coffee.

What is naturally roasted coffee? unwashed coffee?

Natural coffee is understood as that which has been roasted without adding anything. In other words, the only manipulation that has been done to the coffee bean is to provide it with a source of heat for a few minutes. Only a roasting machine intervenes here, providing the beans with constant heat for a few minutes.

The roaster must also move and rotate the beans to obtain an even toast. Beans of different origins (called “blends”) can be added to the machine, or beans of different origins can be roasted separately and then mixed. But in short, naturally roasted coffee contains no more ingredients than the coffee itself. Moreover, roasting gives the coffee all that distinguishes it: its dark color, its aroma, and its flavor.

It is a more authentic, intense, and milder coffee than roasted or blended coffee. Keep all its properties intact. And this is the coffee that any expert will recommend.

What is roasted coffee?

Roast coffee is roasted coffee mixed with sugar (sucrose or glucose syrup). It is created in this process by a layer that caramelizes and wraps the grain. Its origin seems to be in Cuba, where the grains were covered with sugar, considering that this process preserved the coffee and its organoleptic properties longer. Keep in mind that at that time, conservation techniques were less advanced.

Coffee roasting theory The businessman José Gómez-Tejedor, a Spanish industrialist, was the first to invent and patent this roast after his trips to Cuba. He obtained the patent in Spain at the beginning of the 20th century for Cafés la Estrella, a company he had founded decades before.

When the Civil War came, he lost the patent, since he was only allowed to enjoy it for 20 years. Then, in the post-war period, roasted coffee became popular again, mainly because it was cheaper. This way of roasting gives the coffee a more powerful bitterness and a more intense color, but less flavor and less aroma.

What is a coffee blend? What’s the best coffee blend?

The best coffee blend? “Mixed coffee” or “mixed coffee” is the one that combines natural coffee and roasted coffee. coffee beans blend The most common ratio in these packages is usually 50/50, but it can also be found with 70% natural and 30% roasted coffee, or even 80% natural and 20% roasted coffee.

coffee blend vs single origin It became popular in Spain during the post-war years as it was also cheaper than natural. unique coffee blends. Both continue to be very popular with consumers as a result. It is frequently served in bars and restaurants throughout the national geography. You can also find it in supermarkets; some industrial brands still sell it.

There ARE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NATURALLY ROASTED, ROASTED, AND BLENDED COFFEE.

The main difference between them is the way the beans are roasted. This roasting process transforms the aroma and flavor of the coffee. In addition, not all of them have the same effects on our health. Let’s go through all the differences between natural roasted coffee, roasted coffee, and blended coffee one by one.

ROASTING, WITH OR WITHOUT SUGAR? Existing types of roasting

Is coffee roasted with sugar? The coffee tree is a shrub whose fruits are red when ripe; they are then called cherries. The two most common types of coffee in the world are Arabica and Robusta. The coffee bean is inside each of these coffee berries, or cherries. This grain is green in color and has a central indentation, which makes it very distinctive. “Green?”, some of you would say to me, “but they are brown”. Yes, the unroasted coffee bean is green.

How to make coffee with sugar? The coffee beans are exported without roasting, as this process must be carried out at the place of destination. Roasting is a procedure on which the quality of the coffee will partly depend. This seemingly simple technique is what gives the grain its dark color and its color, aroma, and flavor characteristics.

DARK ROAST VS. MEDIUM ROAST COFE

Which coffee is stronger: light or dark roast? Natural coffee is roasted, as the name suggests, in a natural way, with nothing added other than the appropriate amount of heat (by hot air), coffee roasting temperature, and time, which is usually between 200 and 240 degrees. Torrefacto is roasted coffee with sugar. light vs. dark roast coffee This process wraps the grain in a caramelized layer that literally burns it.

Why is dark-roasted coffee bad? For this reason, roasted coffee is darker coffee. The blend, as we have already mentioned, combines natural roasted coffee with roasted coffee roasted with sugar, so that it is not roasted itself, but rather acquires the roasting characteristics of both types of coffee used to create it.

DARK ROAST VS MEDIUM ROAST COFFEINE

There are basically three types of roast: light, medium, and heavy. The degree of roasting of a coffee influences its degree of acidity and caffeine, as well as the intensity of its color.

• • The light or light roast, also called cinnamon, maintains the original properties of the bean to the maximum, brings more caffeine and acidity to the coffee, and the final flavor has fruity and herbaceous notes.

• • The medium roast gives the coffee a darker color and a more bitter flavor than light coffee and gives off notes of caramel.

• • The dark, deep roast It is a coffee with less caffeine, but stronger and with notes of dark chocolate.

For a high-quality coffee bean, a light roast is preferred because, in this case, it is intended to preserve all the properties of the bean. The more the bean is roasted, the more complexity disappears in the coffee. The question of which type of roast is best can be subjective, as medium and dark roasts provide different notes, aromas, and colors. But if the question is which is best for preserving bean complexity, the answer is clearly a light roast.

Natural flavor and aroma are the great advantages of natural coffee.

DARK ROAST VS MEDIUM ROAST TASTE At this point, you will have guessed another key difference between natural roasted coffee, roasted coffee, and blended coffee from the roasting process: flavor and aroma. Natural coffee retains all its organoleptic properties, that is, those perceived by the senses: its flavor is sweet and its aroma intense.

Roasted coffee is coffee with burnt beans, so its flavor is more bitter and, in turn, it has lost some of the intensity of its original aroma. It seems stronger, but that’s precisely because the grain has been burnt. All this results in a coffee that is difficult to drink without sugar, which is paradoxical because, in fact, it is caramelized. The blended coffee, having natural coffee in a variable proportion, is a little less strong than the roasted coffee, but it is still not the most recommended if we are looking for authentic coffee.

DARK ROAST VS MEDIUM ROAST COFFEE HEALTH BENEFITS? Which is healthier: properties or benefits?

And this is where we look at the last but not the least difference: which is the healthiest of the three? Natural coffee is a product considered healthy when consumed in moderation. Unless you have certain conditions or illnesses, consuming coffee in moderation has many benefits for your health.

The enumeration of its multiple properties would be the subject of another article. Just remember that natural coffee is considered a powerful antioxidant. Different studies have indicated for years that drinking 2 or 3 cups a day is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even certain types of cancer. A study presented by WHO experts five years ago concluded that regular coffee consumption reduced premature mortality.

However, all of these benefits are overshadowed in the roasted and blended case. If a roasted coffee contains 15% sugar and more must be added to be able to drink it, imagine the amount of sugar you drink per day if you consume a few cups.

This sugar, with which the torrefacto is roasted, is a big problem, of course, but it is not the only one. The most common variety for roasting is Robusta, which is of lower quality than Arabica. So in roasting, we have, yes or yes, a less healthy coffee than the natural one. The mixture, containing a percentage of nature, is perhaps less harmful, but that does not mean that it is good.

What is the best coffee?

Good coffee will always be a natural roasted coffee, of good quality at the origin, and whose processes have been pampered to the maximum. The best is specialty coffee, but you can get industrial coffee of more than acceptable quality. We can roast it at home with no problem.

Roasted coffee beans benefit from a high degree of preservation. Grinding it is another matter, because after grinding the coffee, it begins to lose its aroma and flavor characteristics. Therefore, it is best to always grind it at home.

After everything you’ve read so far, do you want a little trick to know in a second if you’ve been served a good coffee? The less sugar you need, the better.

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