I Need Coffee – but not a Blonde Roast

dievca had a conversation about coffee with Cinn of Cinnamon and Sparkles and Cinn stated that she likes a good “Blonde Roast”. dievca had no idea what that meant, so she went searching.

When Starbucks® promotes the term Blonde Roast, they define it in their advertising as not related to color so much as “light bodied and flavorful – our easiest-drinking coffee” and “a true light roast”, yet when the beans are compared to a standard roast chart, they match more to a Medium Roast level.

A true definition of Blonde is when the beans are roasted to a very light level at which a phenomenon called “First Crack” is achieved, but not beyond. Because of that a Blonde Roast will always be more acidic than darker roasts of the same coffee.

Heat breaks down the acidity of a coffee bean as it roasts longer and hotter. The high acidity of Blonde Roast is generally perceived as a lemony, citrusy or sour taste. Darker roasts experience more of the “Maillard reaction”, which primarily refers to the caramelization of sugar and reactions with the beans’ amino acids that produce buttery, caramel tones, while the citrusy notes are being reduced.

A Blonde Roast would be at the beginning of this chart before a light roast (around 415 F):

Where does that leave a Blonde Roast acid-wise?

Using the pH Scale for reference, here are a few acid/base numbers from liquids we recognize:

9.0 : Tap water adjusted for high alkalinity to avoid leaching of lead and other metals from the pipes
8.0 : Seawater
7.0 : A common “neutral” reference point for distilled water, etc.
6.3 : Naturally occurring water as found in mountain streams and many springs (not hot springs)
5.9 : A common reading for ripe-bean brewed Dark Roast coffee (see picture 3 above)
5.4 : A common reading for ripe-bean brewed Medium Roast coffee (see picture 2 above)
4.7 – 4.9 : A common reading for brewed coffee from commercial coffee brands
4.4 – 4.6 : A common reading for ripe-bean brewed Blonde Roasts (see picture 1 above)
4.4 : Tomato juice
3.0 : Vinegar (ranges from 2.0 to 3.5 depending on type and concentration)
1.0 : Battery Acid

Hmmm — that might be why dievca prefers a Dark Roast, less acidic and carmelization of the sugars…

Whew! this was a lot for a Monday – Thank Goodness dievca has her:

Thank you to the website “I Need Coffee”, click the link for a more in-depth discussion about roasts.