When I first started Galaxy Girl Coffee, I had been ordering beans from Coffee Bean Corral and using their bean matrix. As an uninitiated commercial coffee roaster, I didn’t fully understand that the variety of roast levels could completely change the flavor of the beans. I just knew that I liked more of a medium roast, and others liked more of a dark roast.
After gaining more experience roasting and taste testing beans at different roast levels, I’m able to explain how to utilize the flavor profile chart better than when I first started. Specialty grade coffee has characteristics that change based on the how it is roasted. This includes the temperature it is roasted to and the speed at which it is roasted. As with any food, there is a lot of science involved. The beauty is that you don’t have to understand the science to benefit from the process we use to roast so you can enjoy a great cup of coffee.
If you look at the Bali: Organic Blue Moon profile, you can see the different dominant flavors at different roasts. I say dominant because there are still hints of the various flavors at all roast levels, but the flavor that is more easily recognized at that roast level is what is highlighted in the chart.
In this example, Bali would be more fruity and flowery at a light roast (up to 415F), more spicy at a medium roast (415F-435F), and more chocolatey in a dark roast (between 445F-460F).
The attributes are on a scale of 1 to 7. Attributes are regardless of roast and give the bean the body or aroma that you are seeking. The higher the number, the more noticeable that attribute is. This means that the Bali is a sweeter coffee with a complex full body cup regardless of roast level, when brewed properly.
While this is still a lot of information, and most people have no clue where to start their coffee journey, we are always here to help any coffee drinker have a better cup. Our goal is to make bean and roast selection less intimidating and more straightforward. When we started GGC, we were just as clueless, so sit back and enjoy the fruits of our research and experience and don’t hesitate to reach out and ask questions.