To my coffee drinking friends in the American East (and elsewhere): I’m curious, has third wave coffee arrived? Did it get lost in translation?
Here’s why I ask: I picked up some coffee in Boston recently, and I am shocked, shocked! I say, by the definition of light roast that seems to be in play. First, a pricey bag of venerable Gesha Village Estate by esteemed roaster George Howell. It’s sold and labelled as a light roast, right in the middle of the light range. It is clearly a solid medium in colour, flavour, and bean hardness. Who am I now, to argue with George, but, here’s the kicker, it tastes like a medium roast, that is to say, chocolatey-burnt. Not ruined exactly… well, a little bit ruined. I can see these beans being to somebody’s taste, but any delicate flavours they might have had, those are lost to the burning, and to call them “lightly roasted,” that’s just wrong.
I was ready to write this off as a miscommunication or something, but next I opened a bag of Fogbuster “Blonde Bombshell” so light, you won’t believe how light this is, but brace yourself for an explosion of flavor. I’m just reading the label, here. I have never before personally handled a bean as dark as this one. They are dark. Caliginous. Stygian. Oily dark. Toss 'em in the waste heap dark, because I don’t want to have to clean my grinder from the oleaginous coating these poor, distressed beans have had forced upon them.
More than that, these beans are even darker on the inside. Fogbuster somehow injected more dark in the innards, after making the outards dark and shiny like I don’t even want to touch. What these things must taste like; I’m not even curious.
A serious question then: what constitutes a light roast in Boston? Did I just get twice unlucky?
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That lance Hedrick video had a lot of good relevant info.
I’ll add that the definition of “light” changes as much as the definition of women’s pants sizes do. Its essentially “vanity sizing”, but for flavor. Most consumers, at the end of the day, want their coffee to taste exactly how they are used to, but they paradoxically also want to be having something “different” or “unique”. It’s why Hawaii is full of roasters selling $70 bags of coffee that taste the same as $8 grocery store bags.
Roasters have to weigh whether to give accurate info that will appeal to us nerds, or whether to aim for the general populace. There are probably many roasters who legitimately don’t know better, but I’d reckon many roasters are just making the economical choice.
Good points! Maybe I’m wondering, not what do East coast roasters consider a light roast, but what do East coast consumers expect. I assume Howell knows what he’s about.
In California there are small roasters that sell medium roast labelled light, but they are a minority in my experience. (Chain outfits are a different realm altogether of course.) I can’t judge all of New England from two roasters, much as I would like to ;) and Howell is pretty big.
Yeah it just depends roasters tend to stretch the definition of light roast. I like to look for also single origin because it’s usually more accurate in the roast level and they put more care into distinguishing each batch.
You know Lance Hendrick recently did a video on this topic and could give you some explanations as to why your beans are darker than you expect
Thanks for the reference! I also roast my own coffee. Mine usually comes out darker in colour than one might expect from the roast level, for whatever reason, but if that oily-dark-and-darker-still-inside stuff that Fogbuster made, if that is somehow light in any way… I guess I wasted a bag of coffee then. I’m feeling pretty confident though.
Minute Food also recently did a video discussing the issue of describing coffee: https://youtu.be/Fk_IT1VyCiA
TL;DW: Nothing means anything. Your best bet is the flavour description, but even then “floral” suggests light while “earthy” I think suggests dark.
Here’s James Hoffman’s take
I’m not surprised from the company that markets “air roasted coffee”, but George Howell surprises me.
Dunkin’ is based in MA and their regular stuff is on the lighter side, especially for commercially available coffee. I think you just got unlucky.
Dunkin’ coffee is light(ish)? The very idea is shocking to me. More than shocking; this would shake the pillars of my world. I have never once drunk Dunkin’ coffee, but sink me if I don’t have to try it now. I won’t be expecting much, no, but the very idea that afterthought coffee from a major donut chain might be even one notch closer to righteous than char; that’s so intriguing that I think I have to hunt down a shop soon.
James Hoffman almost picked it as the winner on a blind taste test of US grocery coffee. I think Pete’s ended up winning? Anyway it was fun to see his reaction, since it was the first of the bunch to actually taste decent.
Dunkin’ locations are inconsistent, unfortunately. Your best bet is to buy a bag of their whole bean and brew it yourself with proper ratios.