Medium vs Dark roasted coffee, which is best?
If you’re a casual coffee drinker, you may be passingly familiar with the idea of different roast levels. You’ll see coffee advertised as medium roast and dark roast.
Most coffee drinkers drink either medium or dark roast. And you may have picked a roast to drink, but may not fully understand the difference between dark roast vs. medium roast.
The most basic difference between the two is that a dark roast is roasted longer than a medium roast. The extra roasting time causes the resulting coffee to have a bolder taste with less acidity. However, that additional roasting also removes much of the individual flavour and character of the coffee beans in question.
With a medium roast, you’ll be better able to taste the distinct characteristics of whatever type of coffee bean was used to make your coffee. With dark roast, the roasting process standardizes much of the flavour.
Dark & Medium Coffee Health Benefits
When it comes to health benefits, medium and dark roasts each have something to offer.
Medium roasts are most potent in the polyphenol chlorogenic acid (CGA), a powerful antioxidant that gives coffee its health-boosting benefits.
CGA helps with everything from reducing inflammation to repairing cell damage, lowering cholesterol and improving your complexion. This important polyphenol can even help boost energy levels and immunity by fighting pesky antibodies. Since CGAs are decreased in the roasting process, dark roasts contain far fewer.
Dark roast coffee may boost antioxidants like glutathione, which is referred to as the “master antioxidant" and can also restore red blood cells and offer a healthy boost of skin-healing vitamin E.
It is important to note that coffee quality matters. Conventional coffee brands are often ripe with mold, toxins, and pesticides which can quickly outweigh the antioxidant benefits of coffee. Choose a coffee brand that tests for the absence of these health-harming contaminants to ensure you're reaping all the benefits of your morning brew!
Does Dark, Medium, or Light Roast Have More Caffeine?
Let’s be honest, caffeine is one of the main reasons we drink that morning cup of coffee, so what’s the caffeine difference between medium roast vs. dark roast?
Technically, the roasting process does not affect the caffeine content of coffee beans so medium and dark roast beans all contain the same amount of caffeine. That being said, however, the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee depends on whether you're measuring by weight or volume.
How does this work?
If using a coffee bean scoop to measure by volume, the light roast beans will result in more beans per scoop because they are smaller and denser. On the other hand, a scoop of the dark roast beans, which are larger, will equal fewer beans per scoop and therefore less caffeine. So when measuring by volume, a cup of light roast will have a higher dose of caffeine.
If measuring coffee beans by weight using a scale, the more caffeinated brew will come from the dark roast beans. As noted, the dark roast beans weigh less, therefore it takes more dark roast beans than light roast to reach the desired weight.
Medium roast beans are a great middle-ground, resulting in a more consistent level of caffeination regardless of how you measure your beans.
Choose the one that suits your taste
The choice of dark roast vs. medium roast comes down to your expectations for the flavour of your coffee. If you prefer a more acidic, more subtle coffee that retains the character of the coffee beans, you’re better off going with medium roast.
If you prefer a less acidic, bolder coffee with the deep, rich taste often associated with traditional coffee, dark roast is your best option.
In the end, there’s no difference other than taste. You won’t get more caffeine from one or the other, and there aren’t any health factors to separate the two. It’s even possible to appreciate both for certain occasions. Many people enjoy dark roast for their daily coffee while choosing medium roast when they have access to premium coffee beans.
When you’re ready to make your next cup of Dark or Medium roasted coffee, choose from our wide selections of gourmet coffee. Our Coffee is the result of a search to find a way to develop a sustainable and profitable community based business. Through this model we can support our local communities, generate employment for those that others have forgotten, all while enjoying really great coffee!