Coffee Roast Profiles & Processing: A Flavor Guide

There's something truly magical about that first sip of coffee in the morning. The aroma wafting through the air, the warmth of the mug in your hands, the rich flavors dancing on your tongue. But have you ever had a great cup of coffee and not understood what elements of it you liked and why so many coffees can be similar yet so different?

The world of coffee is vast and varied, filled with endless nuances and possibilities. Light, medium, dark roasts; washed, natural, honey processes – each choice opens new realms of flavor to explore. Here are two things to keep in mind when buying a bag of coffee or a cup at your local coffee shop that might just transform your morning ritual into something even more special: how the coffee was processed and the coffee roast.

Coffee Processing

The First Steps of Flavor Before a coffee bean ever sees a roaster, its character is already being shaped through processing. This crucial step sets the stage for everything that follows.

Washed Process: Clarity in a Cup In the washed process, coffee cherries are stripped of their outer layers before the beans are dried. The result? A coffee that often has clean, low acid, clearly defined flavors.

Natural Process: Nature's Wild Child Natural processing lets the entire coffee cherry dry around the bean. This method often produces coffees with intense, fruity flavors. Drinking a naturally processed coffee can be like biting into a ripe berry – juicy, complex, and often more acidic than other processes. 

Honey Process: The Golden Mean Sitting between washed and natural methods, honey processing leaves some of the coffee cherry's mucilage on the bean during drying. The result often strikes a beautiful balance – a coffee with rounded acidity, pleasant sweetness, and a smooth body. It's the harmonious blend of a well-orchestrated symphony.

The roaster then needs to look at the bean process and define how to get the best out of the bean. 

Light Roasts / Cinnamon or City

• Flavor: Bright, acidic, with floral or fruity notes
• Body: Light and can be tea-like
• Best for: Pour-overs and single-origin appreciation

Medium Roasts / Full City

• Flavor: Balanced, with a mix of acidity and sweetness
• Body: Smooth and rounded
• Best for: Everyday drinking and pleasing a crowd

Dark Roasts / Vienna, French or Italian

• Flavor: Bold, rich, often with notes of chocolate or caramel
• Body: Full with a snap
• Best for: Traditional espresso and those who like their coffee bold

Can you roast the same bean these three different ways? Yes, and at Motif Roasters we do this with our Colombian coffee. The Dogtown dark roast, Halfmoon medium roast, and limited edtion Adventure light roast are all roasted with the same bean, though each roasting style brings out something different in each coffee.

Every coffee bean tells a story – a tale of sun-drenched hillsides, careful cultivation, and artful transformation. From the moment it's plucked as a humble cherry to its final form as a roasted bean, coffee undergoes a series of remarkable changes. Each step of this journey – from processing to roasting – leaves its mark on the final flavor in your cup.

I hope this high-level view of two major things that can impact your coffee – the processing and roast profiles – helps in your coffee adventure.

Stay curious and caffeinated!