A Nice Cuppa

I’ve been throwing around terms like Full City and second crack in my last few posts. Those that have been roasting for a while will certainly be familiar with these terms… but it never hurts to have a refresher.

When it comes to roasting coffee, it’s important to understand that different beans respond differently to heat and reach different stages of roast at different times even on the same type of roaster (much less different roaster types which can have significantly different roasting times). One of the reasons to stay in the room while roasting, besides the fire safety issue, is so you can closely monitor what stage your coffee is in.

As your coffee starts to roast, the moisture evaporates. When this happens, the bean cracks to release the moisture and heat, and you can hear a distinct pop, similar to a popcorn kernel. This is called the first crack. It’s at this point that caramelization of the sugars in the beans begin. There will be a short period where the beans are done “cracking” and start to darken more considerably. Soon after, the beans will start to pop again. This is the second crack. Where the first crack is the bean releasing water, the second crack is a crack in the actual fibrous structure of the beans. This can vary greatly with different bean origins. You can continue roasting well into the second crack for a very dark roast… this is when you’ll start to get smoke, rather than just aroma. If you are using a machine like the Fresh Roast, you may have to move the timer back during the roast to get the beans to this degree. Beyond that, the beans start to seriously deteriorate and burn.

There are, depending on who you ask, 4 different basic roasts of coffee: City, Full City, Vienna and French, and then a lot of in-betweens, often noted with a + (such as Full City+).

City is a fairly light roast, just at the completion of the first crack. Before this point, the beans will be very light brown (sometimes called a Cinnamon, New England or Light American roast), and have a grainy and sometimes sour flavor. A City roast will be darker brown and gives a well rounded flavor that is often used for cupping. A few seconds after the first crack ends is considered City+.

The next full step is a Full City roast, which is just a few seconds before the second crack. With a Full City roast, you’ll start to see oil on the surface of the beans, and caramel or chocolate flavors will start to develop. The first audible sounds of the second crack indicate a Full City+ roast.

Vienna and French roasts are into the second crack. It may be a bit tricky to tell when the Vienna roast starts to become a French Roast, but the popping should come more quickly as it nears its end. If you are getting smoke, you are probably into a French roast. If your roaster has a thermometer, this will be from 465 to 474F. These roasts start to lose origin specific flavors, and may have subtle burned undertones, but less acidity than lighter roasts.

The roasts beyond 474F are sometimes called Italian or Spanish roasts, but most roasters will tell you that the coffee at this point is burned. It’s 25% or more ash, and won’t give you good results.

Many people think that Espresso is a roast, but any roast can be used for brewing espresso. I typically prefer a Full City or Full City+, which have a bit more fruit to them. However, a Vienna roast is often quite common for espresso.

The beans shown in the photo above are the Guatemalan Huehuetenango. I’m finding I’m starting to get better results with these than my last post on these beans, if I roast them a bit darker and grind them a bit finer. It’s starting to be quite a nice cup indeed.