Roast Rebels: Why Dark Roasted Coffee Deserves Respect

In this episode, I dive deep into the often misunderstood world of dark roast coffee and challenge the common misconceptions that have plagued specialty coffee culture. I share my personal journey from dismissing dark roast to discovering its incredible complexity and character, sparked by a recent vacation experience where I encountered a one-dimensional dark roast that reminded me why many people avoid it.

I explore why dark roast deserves a place in specialty coffee when done right, discussing how fruity, acidic coffees like African varieties can shine when roasted darker, creating a unique balance of sweetness, acidity, and complexity that's often overlooked. I also share insights from my own roasting line and experiences at coffee competitions, revealing how some of the best coffees I've tasted weren't the typical light roasts everyone expects, but rather medium to dark roasted varieties that showcased true character and depth.

Listeners will learn how to identify quality dark roast coffee, understand the difference between one-dimensional and complex dark roasts, and discover why pushing beyond their comfort zone in coffee exploration can lead to surprising discoveries. I provide practical advice for transitioning from light to dark roast and explain why certain brewing methods and coffee origins work particularly well with darker roasting profiles.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:30 Understanding Dark Roast Prejudice
• 4:30 The Case for Quality Dark Roast
• 7:30 The Science of Dark Roast Complexity
• 10:30 Breaking Out of Coffee Comfort Zones
• 13:30 Final Thoughts & Call to Action

Transcript

[00:00:00] We're live right now. Today is June 30th or July 1st, 2025. We're doing pretty good right now. I hope that you're doing pretty good right now, and that's all we can do because we're doing great.

[00:00:21] I hope you're doing good. Let's take a sip of this coffee because that's the topic. Mmm, tastes fine. Sometimes there's a lot of liberty in not knowing everything about your cup of coffee - not knowing the TDS, not knowing the roast color, not really knowing how it was actually harvested, even though that's what they tell you and the way it's been harvested.

[00:00:58] But in this case, we're talking about dark roast. Everybody's saying it's a detriment to the specialty coffee world, right? Well, I love dark roast. I don't know when I started to drink dark roast or when it was something that got on my radar. I think it took a long time because especially in the beginning of my journey with this whole coffee thing, I did dark roast, did the whole creamer thing, and then I started drinking a lot of light roast and then eventually medium roast. But I don't know where my love obsession came for dark roast.

[00:01:43] It was because I was drinking it with creamer and I needed something strong. But throughout the years, I just realized that dark roast was something magical. It was something that I didn't realize could be really tasty. The reason why I'm bringing up this topic in particular is because over the past week, I went with my family for a day to a pool place.

[00:02:12] We had fun, everything was cool. But they had a coffee maker. And of course, my wife and my daughter were like, "Man, just enjoy it. Just stop making coffee complicated." So I, in the morning, turned on the coffee maker and I made a cup of coffee. What they had was dark roast.

[00:02:38] So I went ahead and put the packet of dark roast in the coffee maker, brewed a cup, had about three to four sips, and then I threw it out. And then I thought about it, and I was like, this will be the perfect topic for this type of situation, right?

[00:03:03] I think it's very important that we do understand why dark roast is what it is, understand why people like it or hate it. So that's what we're going to be talking about here. I think it's very critical - the reason why I didn't really care about that dark roast was because it just tasted like typical dark roast. It tasted like a typical Brazilian, very chocolatey, one-dimensional, especially when you roast it dark like that type of coffee.

[00:03:39] I wouldn't say that it didn't have any soul, but it lacked character. And I see why a lot of times when people do drink a darker roasted coffee, they're turned off by it. I think darker roast has its place in coffee. I think it has its place in specialty. But there's so many different ways to really approach it.

[00:04:01] I think dark roast really lends well with creamer. I think it's tasty with creamer. It holds up to creamer, milk, whatever additive that you want to put in it, because it's heavier. And you feel like you're actually drinking something compared to like a medium and especially like a lighter roast.

[00:04:28] But the thing that people don't really talk about when you're drinking dark roast is that it can have character. It can have like a fruitiness to it. It can have even some type of lemony type of acidity to it, especially when it's not roasted crazy, crazy dark where the oil is on the coffee. And when you taste the coffee and drink the coffee, it's kind of like where I'm at - it's like truly the ultimate sweetness of the coffee.

[00:04:56] Yes, you get some of the bitterness initially, depending on how it's actually roasted and all that good stuff. But something about that fruitiness - I love, for instance, an African coffee, even some of these crazy, wacky Colombians and Guatemalan coffees from time to time, even Honduras coffees that are roasted darker. They really shine. And I won't say it is my default or anything, but I tend to get good characteristics out of coffee when it's darker.

[00:05:36] I can see it for what it is. I can see that it's telling me more of a story than what it comes off as when it comes to this whole game of understanding what you're actually drinking.

[00:05:54] Believe it or not, I'm sure other roasters have this too, is that I actually have a line of dark roast. I think it works pretty well for a lot of people because it gives them a different opportunity to taste what dark roast is truly about. A lot of times whenever you see like a coffee roaster or even just the industry in general, they just have one dark roast and everything else is light roast or some medium to light roast.

[00:06:23] And I like to play around with what dark roast can really do for people. So I think I have three to four dark roast coffees, and they all have their own unique characteristics and way of going about their own personality. But really, one of my favorites, as I alluded to, is like an African type of coffee called Contagious.

[00:06:55] You can use any dark roast, but I think what really works well for a darker roasted coffee is something that has some fruit to it, something that's probably highly acidic, something that's like a fruit bomb initially. Because when you roast it darker and you drink it dark, that still shines through. That's the thing that really comes through and plays a real pivotal point in your coffee drinking experience.

[00:07:31] And when you have something that has more of a characteristic than just what you usually taste in dark roast, I think that brings you out. That gives you that opportunity to see what coffee is other than just a lightly roasted acidic coffee that only has complexity in the acidity but doesn't really have that complexity in the sweetness.

[00:07:57] In this case, dark roast actually has it both ways. It has, believe it or not, sweetness. I know because roasting destroys sugar and all that, but it really does. And then depending on the coffee that you actually use, it can be very interesting how much of that acidity does come through. It's kind of like a quick hit of acidity, but it's very pleasant.

[00:08:28] I like that combination. It's probably like a combination of a little bit of bitterness to an extent, and then acidity, and then you have that sweetness in that darkness of the coffee coming through quite a bit. So I guess what I'm saying here is that you have to push yourself. You have to see what's actually out there when you're drinking your cup of coffee.

[00:08:58] I will give you the suggestion: taste dark roast - not just the chocolate type of dark roast, not just like a South American chocolatey nutty type of dark roast. Those still have their place like the one that I tasted on my quick vacation. But what I'm really saying here is that if you're able to taste dark roast that's fruity, that's acidic, that's tasty, that's just different than what you're used to, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how good it can really be.

[00:09:39] And I love doing it on high-end coffees because of the way it just speaks to you. I can just sit there and drink it all day long. But this is probably one of the first introductions that I am going to be talking about dark roast. I know people may not think it's a big deal or something that they need to delve into. But just like in coffee in general, we go through our own ways of enjoying it, right?

[00:10:08] We all don't like the same thing, which is perfectly fine. But we get into this whole routine and this whole, to an extent, rut of just drinking and doing the things that we've been doing that we don't push ourselves to try something else. And you may not like it the first couple of times, especially if you're just drinking a chocolatey nutty coffee, because to me, those don't have those really interesting flavors as fruity coffees do.

[00:10:30] But I think it'll give you a different appreciation of what it is. And if you want to drink dark roast in a corner where nobody's looking, do that. Just try to enjoy it. Try to see it for what it is, because I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how good it actually is or it can be.

[00:10:44] Find a roaster - find me, find another roaster who does a decent amount of dark roast. Ask that roaster what kind of natural flavors that coffee has, because they'll let you know what you're getting yourself into. And when you do that, I think we're going to be in a better place of actually understanding coffees a little bit more.

[00:11:20] Yes, there are situations where you just like what you like, right? You're going to drink what you like all the time. Some people are espresso people. Some people are just pour-over people. Some people are just light roast. I'm a medium to dark roast person. But I think it's perfectly fine and okay that we push ourselves to get out of our comfort zone just to see what's actually out there in the whole coffee spectrum.

[00:11:46] Because I think also it can be interesting in cold brew or iced coffee - a little bit more interesting than what you would usually get from a lighter roast. Medium to dark roast is just where you really want to be. Again, play, explore, see what's out there. And then once you do that, I think we're going to be in a better place as we get out of our rut, get out of our situation, and just see the possibilities of what dark roast can do for you.

[00:12:16] So this is, like I said, a little introduction, bringing everybody up to speed with some dark roast talk. Let me know what you think. Do you like dark roast? Do you hate it? Do you think it's something that we shouldn't ever serve again or anything like that? But yeah, that's just me talking. Let me know what you think about this.

[00:12:48] And again, I will leave you off with this: some of the best coffees that I've had at specialty coffee events were not any of the lightly roasted coffees. They all tasted the same - very acidic, had no real character to me, which is ironic, right? But when I went to the Cup of Excellence, their hand-selected coffees were the best ones that I've ever tasted.

[00:13:12] And I didn't really get a lightly roasted type of coffee. I got more medium roasted coffees. So even if you have an issue or problem getting to a darker roast, if you specifically stay with light roast, start slowly with a light to medium. Have that for a little bit. See how you like it. And then delve into a fruity type of dark roast.

[00:13:43] And I think that's going to serve you really well in understanding and drinking coffee. And I'm mainly talking about when you drink it black because I think no matter which coffee, except for a really, really light grassy type of coffee, it's going to work very well with any type of additive that you do add to it. Some people can get different characteristics out of a dark roast like my wife when it comes to drinking it with creamer.

[00:14:11] But I am specifically talking about how the coffee tastes as it is - just drinking it black. So this is me, Okey at Everyday Beans. Let me know what you think. I'll talk to you later. Let's talk about dark roast. Bye.