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Roasts Every step is an important "link in the chain" in the coffee business. From the farmer selecting the seeds from a particular family of coffee plants to the climate and soil of the land the farmer uses to the techniques the farmer uses to the picking of the coffee cherries to the processing of the raw coffee, to the shipping and storage, to roasting and to the handling of the roasted coffee, they are all important steps. If there is one "weak link" in the chain, the coffee will not be good. It is the roaster's job not to ruin the coffee with poor roasting.The goal is to bring out the potential in the coffee, not to try and alter the way it tastes. If the coffee tastes really good, it's not because it was roasted really well, it's because the farmer grew really good coffee and the roaster didn't screw it up when he roasted it. Lately I've been getting my "first crack" at about 11 minutes, second crack at 15 minutes, and have been completing the roast between 17 and 20 minutes, depending on the desired roast. Here's a list of common roast names, from light to dark: American or Light - Light. I guess they called this one American because the mega-roasters of the American coffee industry became what they are today and started roasting coffee this light in the 50's using average to poor coffee beans. They created the generic typical American coffee. This is where the attitude of "it's just coffee" originates. This light of a roast rarely brings out all of the flavors. Often many flavors in the coffee are "unpalatable" at this roast. It is very aromatic though. Some coffees have a reddish look at this roast and have a very sour taste. I found that to be common in Austria with the generic coffees found in the grocery stores. With milk or cream the coffee looked kind of orange! City Roast - Medium-light. Very aromatic. I like many Latin American coffees at this roast, especially Mexican Altura and Colombian. It's a good roast to "cup" coffee at if you want to know exactly what flavors a coffee has (which are inherent to the bean, as opposed to the roast) because it brings out those flavors which the farmers worked so hard to grow into the coffee, and doesn't burn out anything or add any roasty flavors. Full City Roast - Medium. What else can I say?.. Well I guess I could say it is between this one and City Roast for my "favorite" roast if I have one. All decent South and Central American beans are great at this roast. Vienna Roast - Medium-dark. This is the "lightest of the dark roasts" according to many. By my books, almost any coffee is good at this roast. I especially prefer Africans and Indonesians at this roast. Slightly caramelized sugars, and much of the "origin flavor" is preserved. Velvet Roast - Dark. I don't know what velvet tastes like, but here the word "velvet" describes its appearance after roasted. If done right it should be dry with no "oil" on the surface of the bean (my dark roasts are almost always dry). In my opinion, this is the primo dark roast. It has the better characteristics of a dark roast, with caramelized sugars and a slightly lowered acidity and higher body as well as less of the bad characteristics of a dark roast - which would be a burnt, bitter flavor, and lack of the true essence of the bean. I would highly reccomend this roast if you like it dark, but honestly my personal favorites are above. French Roast - Very dark. When I went to France, I never had coffee this dark, but what the heck, we're Americans, what do we know?... we'll call it French. A hint of smokiness, but not overbearing. Increased body, decreased acidity, but often increased bitter flavor. Spanish Roast - Very, very dark. I call it "dark as sin" roast. It tastes carbony or smokey. You have to really like the smokey flavor to want this one. Honestly, it is painful to roast coffee this dark. I've done it on accident a time or two - but I try to avoid it. After drinking a cup of this, you will feel like you just smoked a pack of cigarettes. When you add milk, it usually has a greyish color and has some solids visibly floating around in the cup (ash). I know not everyone agrees on the names of the different roasts, and honestly, what does it matter? If you define your roasts differently, let me know, I'm curious. If you think all this coffee phraseology stuff is too complicated, you're probably right. I think it's pretty easy to go by "light", "dark", "medium-dark", etc... so you don't have to memorize the words.  
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