Coffeetalk: Blinded By The Light... Roast!

Over the past 15 months, I have immersed myself in learning everything I can about all aspects of coffee: how its grown, washed, roasted, blended, extracted, and served. The result of this hard work was launching my own coffee company in November 2017. 

4th Line Grind is a Calgary based coffee company intent on bringing YOU the fresh coffee drinking experience you deserve!

Why should you care and continue reading? 

Well, the funny thing about growing older, even at 27, is that chiseling away at menial health problems seemingly just becomes part of everyday life. Yet if you don’t take care of them, they can spiral out of control. Take for example, heartburn and acid reflux, many people resort to crushing antacids like they’re going out of style. Or let’s take headaches or sleeplessness, some will cut out coffee completely in an effort to be in a better headspace.

As it turns out, there is the possibility that some of the innocuous health problems you may experience day to day, heartburn, acid reflux, headaches, sleeplessness, could be the result of how the coffee you’re drinking is roasted, not necessarily just its perceived quality or quantity you're consuming.

While the rise of independent coffee bars is booming (which is awesome - entrepreneurism is alive and well!), what some of these shops are not necessarily telling you in the marketing of their single origin coffees is that they tend to be very lightly roasted or in some instances, under-roasted. Sounds harmless, no? 

Thing is, when you roast a coffee bean, many chemical reactions take place, namely the Maillard reaction. I won’t get into that but what you need to know is this: the lighter the roast, the more acid that's left in the bean. You can usually taste this acid very quickly in the form of a sweetness or sourness on your tongue or teeth. 

With all of the floral and citrus notes of a light roast comes a great deal of acid. Acid doesn’t magically disappear, it has to be digested and you don’t need a PhD in chemistry to know that this is a recipe for heartburn and acid reflux. Furthermore, the lighter the roast, the more caffeine that’s left in the bean. Sounds great but again, it can be too much for some folks and can leave you with a zinger of a headache in a matter of minutes.

So if on a daily basis, you find yourself struggling with these issues, you may be able to connect the dots back to your seemingly innocent everyday coffee order(s).

There is more than anecdotal evidence supporting this possible connection. Take for example, this study published by coffeeresearch.org, where they measured the total acid levels present in different roast levels of coffee. Below are their findings in brief:

- Total Acid Content in Light Roast = 1.58%

- Total Acid Content in Medium Roast = 0.99%

- Total Acid Content in Dark Roast = 0.71% 

Speaking of dark roasts, if you’ve noticed in recent years that the larger coffee players have started to push darker roasts on consumers, you would be correct. Done correctly, these can taste great, have a savory, rich flavor profile and are the preference of many coffee drinkers. Nothing wrong with a good dark roast! 

However, in conjunction with this trend, some consumers are noticing that the quality of their coffee is going down in the form of bitterness and smokiness. If you’ve noticed this, you would be correct in your assumption, as over-roasting a coffee bean leaves you with a bitter, smoky, taste. That’s because the coffee bean is literally burnt.

Now, why on earth would companies intentionally do this? 

Simply put, it allows these companies, some of whom are publicly traded and need to keep pace with quarterly growth projections, get away with buying cheaper green coffee beans, over roast many of the flavor notes out of them because they know the majority of their customers are auto-tuned to adding in cream, sugar, flavored syrups, etc. It’s simple economics to keep costs down while being in continuous expansion mode. These companies have essentially trained society-at-large to believe that coffee requires additives to make it taste good when in reality, fresh and properly roasted coffee requires none of the above! The creation of certain company slogans about how to order your coffee was not a fluke, it was very much by design to make you overlook whether their coffee actually tastes good or not.

It is also important to note that unwanted acid levels can also occur with darkly roasted coffee, namely quinic acid. This type of acid is produced as other acids degrade and namely found in darker roasted coffee, stale coffee, and coffee that was brewed many hours ago but left on a heat source.

So where does this leave us? What “taste profile" should we be going after in a cup of coffee?

Let’s start here...

Taste is objective, what you prefer is subjective. Some coffee aficionados and baristas nowadays don’t understand this simple concept.

Some people enjoy the effect of acidity in their brew and the wilder floral and citrus notes it brings out. Others prefer a more full-bodied, nutty, golden malt type brew. Some even darker notes of vanilla and tobacco. No one is wrong for what they enjoy. 

Do you tell the brew master his beer is burnt because he made a great stout? No.

Do you tell the baker his bread is burnt because its meant to have a crispy crust? No.

Do you tell your friend they’re wrong because they prefer their steak medium rare rather than blue rare? No.

If you really want to dig into this concept, I’ll let Malcolm Gladwell explain it better using the psychology of pasta sauce and why there is no universally acclaimed “best” pasta sauce. 

The point of my writing is to share some learnings with you so you’re better equipped to order a cup of coffee that you’ll enjoy next time you’re out for coffee. I think the everyday Canadian deserves to know what they’re drinking, why they’re being offered it, and how to choose the right cup of coffee.

However, what seems to be happening right now at coffee shops with light roasts is akin to a friend of yours helping you to acquire the taste for scotch. Would it be reasonable for he or she to start the process by handing you a 20-year, double barrelled scotch neat? No ice. No bitters. No mix.

No rational person would do this.

Nor would they say, “you better like this.. It’s one of the best scotches in the world!” and frown when you muscle it down and cough at the sheer strength of the taste. 

That glass of scotch whisky handed to you very well might be one of the best scotches in the world but if your palate is not groomed for it, it’s not a reasonable expectation for you to enjoy it right off the bat. Instead, what you might do is start off with a flavored whisky. Add ice. Maybe some mix or something to dilute the harshness of whisky. Then, as you gradually season your palate and acquire the taste for whisky, remove the diluents, move to an aged scotch and opt for its stronger tasting notes. 

Yet some coffee shops nowadays have skipped all these steps together and flat out told us, “we don’t carry anything more than a light roast”. Anything more is burnt and "coffee blends", those are a thing of the past.

In my humble opinion, the sign of a great roaster is being able to find different flavor profiles that suit all parts of the tasting spectrum. However, some roasters have neglected trying to find that sweet spot between too light and too dark. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with light and dark roasts but in recent years, seemingly the middle part of the market has been abandoned in favor of cost, pursuit of extreme tastes, the marketability of direct trade relationships, and trendiness. It’s simply left consumers with too much acidity or bitterness.

If you’re looking for ways to find more balance in your brew, you could try a dry, naturally processed coffee instead of a washed coffee, opt for a can of cold brew coffee (future article to come on the difference between cold brew and iced coffee… it is BIG), or ask the barista if they have for a medium-to-dark roast.

Let’s take for example, my 4th Line Grind Medium Roast is a combination of four countries beans: Brazilian, Ethiopian, Sumatran (Indonesia), and Peruvian. I think it’s pretty damn cool that Rudy (my roaster) and I can take flavor profiles from vastly different parts of the globe and combine them to make a product with flavor notes that complement one another and taste great!

If you want to try a coffee that is bold but attitude free, fresh, flavorful, minimal acid and maximum crema, try starting your day with a shift on the 4th Line!

4th Line Grind is not looking to be trendy. My brand is built on quality, integrity, and a commitment to bringing my customers the best and freshest cup of coffee I can.