Are you looking for new coffee beans and encountering terms like Ultra Light Roast, Light Roast, Medium Roast, or Dark Roast? Then you're probably wondering what the difference is. Is a dark roast stronger? Is a light roast always acidic? And which roast is best suited for espresso or filter?
The short answer: no one roast is better than the other. The roast primarily determines which characteristics of the coffee come to the forefront.
The biggest surprise? Two coffees from the exact same plantation can taste completely different because they are roasted differently.
Important to know: the descriptions below are a general overview. The final taste is also determined by the country of origin, the coffee variety, the altitude at which the coffee grows, and the processing method. It is precisely these exceptions that make specialty coffee so interesting.
Why does FREKKO work with roast profiles?
At FREKKO, we believe that coffee does not have to fit into categories like espresso, filter, or omni roast. That's why we work with four clear roast profiles:
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Ultra Light Roast – maximum expression of origin, bright, fruity, and lively.
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Light Roast – fresh, sweet, and balanced. Perfect for filter and modern espresso.
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Medium Roast – more body, round flavors, and a lot of sweetness.
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Dark Roast – powerful, full-bodied, and classic, without burnt bitterness.
This way, you choose based on the flavor you're craving, not the brewing method.
What does roast actually mean?
Coffee is harvested as a green bean. At that moment, the bean has little to no flavor and is far too hard to brew coffee from. Only during roasting do the flavors emerge that give coffee its recognizable taste.
During the roasting process, the bean continuously changes. Sugars caramelize, acids change, flavors develop, and the bean loses moisture. The longer a coffee is roasted, the more the flavor shifts from the original characteristics of the coffee bean to flavors that arise during roasting.
That's why with a light roast, you primarily taste the origin of the coffee. With a dark roast, you taste more of the roast itself.
Ultra Light Roast
Ultra Light Roast is the lightest roast we use at FREKKO and is especially popular among specialty coffee lovers who want to experience the full origin of a coffee.
You often taste many floral notes, citrus, tropical fruit, berries, and a lively acidity. The body is typically lighter, sometimes almost tea-like, while the complexity can be enormously high.
An Ultra Light Roast does require a bit more attention during brewing, especially for espresso. The extraction must be good to bring out all the sweetness and balance.
This roast shows how much flavor is naturally present in a coffee.
Light Roast
Light Roast still retains many of the original characteristics of the coffee but is slightly more accessible than Ultra Light Roast.
The fresh notes are certainly still present, while the sweetness is more developed. You often taste stone fruit, citrus, red berries, honey, or light chocolate, depending on the origin of the coffee.
Within specialty coffee, Light Roast is incredibly popular because you can still clearly recognize the terroir of a coffee. An Ethiopian coffee, for example, tastes very different from a Colombian or Kenyan coffee, and a light roast allows you to taste those differences.
Light Roast is excellent for filter coffee but is also increasingly chosen for modern espressos with a lot of brightness and complexity. With Light Roast, it also takes some time and effort to dial in a good espresso.
Medium Roast
Medium Roast strikes a good balance for many coffee drinkers.
The fresh acidity softens slightly, while the body becomes fuller and the sweetness develops further. Flavors like milk chocolate, caramel, nuts, and ripe fruit are more often present.
The characteristics of the origin are still recognizable but are supported by more roundness and a longer finish.
For espresso, Medium Roast is often very forgiving. You get a lot of flavor, sufficient body, and a broad sweetness without requiring very precise brewing.
Dark Roast
Dark Roast has for years defined what coffee "should" taste like.
Many commercial coffees are roasted very dark, resulting in bitter and smoky flavors that largely mask the original characteristics of the coffee.
At FREKKO, we consciously choose a different approach.
Our Dark Roast is certainly powerful and full-bodied, but never black or oily. We roast dark enough to develop deep notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, roasted nuts, and a full body, without the coffee tasting burnt.
As a result, our Dark Roast remains a specialty coffee, where the quality of the bean is still central.
This roast works excellently for espresso, automatic machines, and milk drinks like cappuccino or latte, because the coffee stands up well to the milk.
Which roast is best for espresso?
Actually, all four roast profiles can produce beautiful and good espresso.
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Ultra Light Roast yields a very complex espresso with lots of fruit and lively acidity.
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Light Roast delivers a modern espresso with lots of sweetness and a distinct origin character.
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Medium Roast offers a nice balance between freshness, body, and sweetness.
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Dark Roast provides a classic espresso with plenty of strength and a full finish.
The best choice therefore depends not on the brewing method, but on the taste you are looking for.
Is Dark Roast worse?
Absolutely not.
Within specialty coffee, there is sometimes a tendency to view dark roasts as 'inferior'. We find that too simplistic.
A good Dark Roast can be fantastic, especially in milk drinks or for lovers of a powerful espresso.
What we are critical of, however, is coffee that is roasted so dark that the quality of the bean completely disappears behind burnt flavors. Then you taste mainly the roast and no longer the coffee itself.
Good roasting is therefore not about roasting as light as possible or as dark as possible. It's about the right roast for the right coffee.
Can you use every roast for espresso and filter?
This is perhaps the biggest misconception in coffee.
Many people think that a light roast is only suitable for filter coffee and a dark roast only for espresso. That's not true.
With specialty coffee, it's much more about the taste you want to achieve than the brewing method.
A Light Roast can yield a very special espresso with lots of fruit, floral aromas, and enormous sweetness. At the same time, the same coffee can show even more complexity as a filter coffee because the extraction process is different.
The same applies in reverse. A Medium Roast can be a delicious filter coffee if you like a lot of body, chocolate, and a classic coffee taste.
So the brewing method does not determine which roast you should choose. The roast primarily determines which flavors you want to discover.
Discover which roast suits you
The best way to discover coffee is by tasting different roast profiles side by side.
Perhaps you'll find that your favorite espresso isn't a Dark Roast at all, but a Medium Roast. Or you might discover that an Ultra Light Roast can be surprisingly sweet when brewed correctly.
At FREKKO, we believe that specialty coffee is primarily about curiosity. Not about rules, but about taste.
Which roast is ultimately the best?
The one you look forward to tomorrow.
