I was wrong about light roast coffee for 3 years straight

I always thought light roast was just sour and weak, nothing like a good dark roast. But my buddy John at the local shop in Portland kept pushing a Kenyan light roast on me. After a month of trying it with a slightly finer grind and letting it rest 2 weeks from roast date, I finally tasted the fruit notes he kept talking about. It was like switching from a muted TV to vivid mode - completely changed how I brew now. Anyone else have a roast type they wrote off too early?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella_lee9d ago

Three weeks ago I went to a cupping at this place in Oakland and they had a natural processed Ethiopian from a farm called Worka Sakaro. The tasting notes said blueberry and lemon but I figured that was just marketing fluff. First sip was like someone dropped a handful of fresh blueberries in my mouth and it was not sour at all, just bright and sweet. I had been grinding too fine and brewing too hot for light roasts for years, treating them like dark roasts and wondering why they tasted like battery acid. Now I keep a bag of something from Kenya or Ethiopia on hand at all times and my dark roast days are mostly over unless I need a heavy morning kick.

oliver2429d ago

I remember reading a while back that the blueberry thing in some Ethiopians is actually from a specific yeast strain that develops during the natural process. Makes me wonder how much of what we taste is the bean versus the fermentation. Your mileage may vary of course but that Worka Sakaro sounds like a real standout.