More on the Subject of Coffee Roasting

According to Wikipedia, as a coffee bean is roasted, it absorbs heat, and the colour shifts to yellow and then to a light cinnamon brown, then to a dark brown. During roasting, oils appear on the surface of the bean, making it appear shiny. The roasted bean will continue to darken until it is removed from the heat source.

Many people who roast coffee themselves prefer to follow a recipe, called a roast profile, which describes the flavour characteristics they wish to highlight. A roast profile is a set of preferences a person uses to describe, which include the coffee's origin, the variety of the coffee bean, the processing method or desired flavour characteristics. Sometimes a roast profile is presented on a graph showing roasting time on one axis and the roasting temperature on the other. The roast profile can be recorded manually or using computer software which can be linked to temperature probes inside various parts of the roaster.

In lighter roasts, the coffee bean will exhibit more of its original flavour -- the flavours created by the soil the bean was grown in and the weather conditions prevalent at the time. Coffee beans from famous regions like Java, Kenya, Kona and Jamaican Blue Mountain are usually roasted lightly to that their signature characteristics dominate the flavour. As the beans darken to a deep brown, the original flavours are eclipsed by the flavours that come about as a result of the roasting process. At darker roasts, the "roast flavour" is so dominant that it can be difficult to distinguish the actual origin of the bean being used in the roast. Such roasts are sold by the degree of the roast, ranging from "Light Cinnamon Roast" through "Vienna Roast" to "French Roast" and beyond.