Roasted Coffee Beans? Everything You Need To Know (& More)

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The fruit of the coffee plant looks a lot different than the coffee beans you’re used to seeing. The hard, brown beans that you see have been through an entire roasting process that gives them their flavor. When you grind coffee beans at home to make your coffee, you’re actually using roasted coffee beans. 

So exactly happens between picking the fruit and getting the roasted beans that end up in your coffee?

This is a long one, so I have made a little index so you can jump to your specific questions–just expand this Table of Contents…

What Are Roasted Coffee Beans?

When coffee beans are picked from the coffee plants, they look like little berries. Once the outer fruit is removed, the beans are green in color.

You don’t directly use these beans to make your favorite cup of coffee in the morning. They have to be dried and processed before they can be used for brewing. (There was a trend a few years back to take green coffee extract, but we’re talking about using beans for coffee).

Raw coffee beans do not even smell like coffee. The aroma of coffee that you know and love comes from the beans having gone through the roasting process.

Roasting process

There are three main steps when it comes to roasting beans and making them ready for brewing coffee. 

Drying

The first step in the roasting process is drying the beans, which basically involves removing the moisture content from the beans. When harvested, a coffee bean can have a moisture content of as high as 12%. Before they can be roasted, coffee needs to be dried. 

Drying can be done in different ways. While most commercial coffee is dried in large machines, there is also a natural sun-dried process of drying these beans. Machines are much faster and effective at roasting beans than using natural sunlight. 

The temperature of the drying machine has to be controlled to ensure that the beans do not have too much or too little moisture in them. Overheating might cause them to burn, ruining the final taste of the coffee. The temperature of the drying machine is usually set at 160 degrees Celsius. 

Browning 

Before the coffee beans are roasted, there is an intermediate step called the browning process. This step occurs immediately after the drying process. This is when the aroma of the coffee beans starts to come into the picture. 

Raw coffee beans have sugar and amino acids present in them. Applying heat makes them break down and react to give you the typical smell of coffee.

While drying coffee beans is a quick process, browning is carried out more slowly. The gradual browning of the coffee beans helps them develop a rich flavor profile. 

Browning further reduces the moisture content of the beans. After a while, the coffee beans start to crack and pop, leading to the next and final stage of the process. 

Roasting

Roasting is the final step of the process. The coffee beans have absorbed a lot of heat in the first two steps and they start releasing this energy in the final step. The process is further slowed down at this point to ensure that the coffee does not have a burnt flavor. 

The amount of time spent in the roasting stage depends on what the degree of the roast is. Different degrees of roasting result in different flavor profiles for coffee. Still, what are the different roasts of coffee?

Degrees of Roasting

You might have noticed different kinds of types like medium, light, and dark while browsing for coffee. These are roast degrees. Roast degrees play a very important role in determining the strength and taste of your coffee. How long should coffee beans be roasted for?

Light roast

Light roasts, as the name suggests, come in a light shade of brown. These coffee beans spend the least amount of time in the final roasting stage. They contain the highest amount of acidity and usually have a high caffeine content. 

Since light roasts are roasted for the least amount of time, they also tend to have fruity or herbal undertones. A light roast usually takes about 7 minutes in the roaster. 

Medium roast

Medium roast coffee beans are slightly darker than light roast beans and spend more time in the development stage. The darker color does not mean a stronger taste, and medium roasts usually have a more balanced taste than their lighter counterparts. Medium roasts usually take about 10 minutes in the roaster. 

Most of the coffee options that you will find in commercial coffee shops will be medium roasts. These types of coffee beans are excellent for lattes, hazelnut, and vanilla scented coffees due to their balanced taste and flavor profile. Popular coffee recipes also use medium roasts because they do not have the high acidity and caffeine content of lighter roasts. 

Medium roast is my preference for cold brew coffee.

Dark roast

For those who prefer a full-bodied cup of coffee, dark roasts are the way to go. These types of roasts are left in the development or roasting stage for a longer time until the oil starts to show up on the surface. They have the least moisture content and come with a bitter taste because of the burnt nature of the beans. 

Dark roasts are common in coffee recipes that incorporate chocolate in them. The lower acidity and caffeine content of this coffee bean makes it a good fit for people who prefer a strong, burnt taste without loading up on caffeine. Coffee beans usually take over 12 minutes to crack, leading to a dark roast. 

Learn to roast coffee yourself with these DIY methods.

The Dangers of Roasting Coffee Beans?

While generally, coffee in moderation is thought to have health benefits, there are some concerns about the hazards of roasted coffee beans.

If you consume a safe amount of caffeine every day, no. Roasted coffee beans are perfectly safe to consume. As long as you do not consume more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day, you should not face any toxicity issues. 

However, there is a compound called acrylamide that you need to look out for. Roasted coffee beans contain very small amounts of this compound. The roasting process is also known to release other chemicals like 2.3-pentanedione that can be toxic to your body. 

These chemicals will only have any noticeable effect on your body if consumed in high amounts. The content of these chemicals in roasted coffee beans is extremely low, which makes them quite safe for consumption.

The Bottom Line

Roasting coffee beans is what gives them their signature flavor, body, and acidity. The degree of roasting also plays a major part in determining what kind of coffee you end up with. 

Check out this article on the best coffee storage containers to make sure that your beans stay fresh! Coffee enthusiasts can check out our other posts to learn more about the wonderful world of brewing.