Myths About Dark Roasted Coffee

     I used to say I was a fan of dark roast coffee, but I'm not sure why.  It might have to do with some of the myths around dark-roasted coffee that I'll cover below.  The first person I met who had a hard opinion different than mine was Patrick Dunham, general manager of Fire Roasted Coffee in London, Canada.  In no uncertain terms, he made it clear to me that he did not like dark-roasted coffee.  I once saw him take a sip of a dark-roasted coffee, and then dump the rest of what was in the cup.[ad#Google Adsense - use me]In a nutshell, your roaster buys raw green coffee through an importer, and roasts it to taste.  Every origin of coffee has its own unique flavor profile, which is what gives coffee its many dimensions of taste.  Every origin also has a specific level of roast that your roaster believes brings out the most of what makes it unique.  Here are some myths about dark-roasted coffee:Myth #1: Dark coffee is "bolder"Starbucks invented the use of "bold" to describe dark-roasted coffee.  In fact, bold doesn't really mean anything except that Starbucks thinks a dark-roasted coffee will stand out in memory over a lighter-roasted coffee.  For that reason, they roasted all of their coffee very dark for many years.  Only recently did they respond to criticism and introduce "blond roasted" coffee. Myth #2: Dark coffee highlights its originThe opposite is true.  When it comes to roasting, there are two dimensions to coffee: the uniqueness of its origin, and flavor that comes from the roasting process itself.  In other words, the more you roast, the more that different coffees will taste the same stemming from the roasting process.  The less you roast, the more of the origin's uniqueness that you capture.  For that reason, many afficianados would argue with Myth #1 and say a dark-roasted coffee is less unique and therefore, less "bold".Myth #3: Dark coffee has more caffeineAgain, the opposite is true.  I used to believe this, and believed that espresso was the strongest in caffeine of all coffee.  Maybe I thought that because of how "bold" an espresso is!  The fact is that the roasting process roasts a little of the caffeine from the coffee.  The more you roast, the more caffeine is removed from the coffee.  So, a medium-roasted coffee has more caffeine that espresso.  Believe it!Patrick was the first person to make me consider medium-roasted coffees, and after experimenting with many that he suggested, I've since become partial to those over dark-roasted coffee.  However, some people love espresso, and favor dark-roasted coffee.  Try both.  Your local roaster has chosen a certain roast profile for each origin of coffee to bring out the best in it.  They will help you experiment with different roast levels as you decide which origins and roast levels you prefer.  The very broad spectrum of flavor is just one thing that makes coffee great!