343 Coffee

Medium roast coffee is a brown color and rarely has an oily surface. These coffees have a medium acidity and body, as well as a rounded flavor profile. Roasting to this level also preserves many of the unique flavors of the coffee's origin, but it also begins to reach into the deep caramel sweetness of a longer roast.

With the roast flavor very evident, a Medium-Dark Roast usually has a heavy body, and the flavor may be spicy, perhaps with a bittersweet tang, subtle chocolate and caramel flavors, and hints of smokiness. The acidity is lower than a Light Roast or Medium Roast. In a Medium-Dark Roast the coffee beans become slightly shiny as oils begin to rise to the surface of the coffee beans, which take on a darker brown, somewhat satiny appearance.

Dark roasted coffee beans spend the longest time roasting compared to light and medium roasted coffee and are roasted at the highest temperature possible. Additionally, dark roasted coffee beans tend to have less nuanced flavor and more emphasis on the roast character. For example, smoky and sweet as opposed to fruity and floral. Over the years, dark roasts have become very popular to use for espresso because it has a nice, bitter flavor that people are looking for in their cup of coffee.