Flat, Stale, and Profitable: Thoughts on Light Roasted Coffee

This is a really interesting topic. Thanks a ton to Jim for being willing to raise it.

I have a somewhat unique perspective on this whole issue for a number of reasons.

First, as most of you know I was a coffee professional and have a strong network in the coffee business world. I understand the perspectives of coffee pros, and can ask them direct questions when needed.

Secondly, I was working in coffee at the pivotal period of time when people first started taking light roasted espresso seriously - and can talk to the history from personal experience.

Third, I've been completely away from the coffee scene since 2019 - only re-engaging in the last few months. As a result, I am free of a lot of the emotional context, ego, and dogma issues that always crop up in coffee.

Fourth, I don't live in America, and thus see all of this from a a bit of a remove.

For context-setting, I'm talking here about light roasted espresso. Light roasted coffees have been around for a very long time, and to be honest there isn't a ton of disagreement about the topic (at least among coffee professionals).

I first encountered truly light roasted espresso in 2005 at the Nordic Barista Cup in Iceland. It was an extraordinary experience - but the espresso itself was more interesting and exciting than good. A year later, however, things had evolved. At the World Barista Championship - and then at the "after party" that Stumptown threw - I had the chance to taste some exceptionally good espresso, which was light roasted. For the most part, this was all coming from Scandinavia - but there were also a number of light roasted single origin espressos at the Stumptown Single Origin Shoot-Out.

The combination of these three moments (the Nordic Barista Cup, the WBC, and the Single Origin Shoot-Out) radically accelerated the popularity of both light roast espresso and single origin espresso. Even so, it's unlikely that this would have had the same impact as it ended up having were it not for the Internet and Social Media. Coffee personalities ranging from Tim Wendelboe to James Hoffman and others started promoting a new, modern style of espresso - and their content was aimed directly at the professional baristas who either competed, or wanted to compete along with those professional baristas who were looking at transitioning into roasting or running coffee businesses.

The problem, however, was simple. As Tim Wendelboe said to me in San Francisco in 2008, "almost all light roast espresso is undrinkable. Roasting espresso light is very hard - and most roasters do not have the skill to pull it off." From shots that tasted like hot cranberry concentrate to ones that would do double-duty as paint strippers - this period in professional coffee was very challenging. I remember cupping coffees with a bunch of coffee professionals in San Francisco in 2009. We invited a professional sommelier (who loved coffee) to join us. There was once coffee where, upon tasting it, he took us (and the coffee industry) to task. "This is not good tasting. This is sour. You can talk all you want about 'sparkling acidity' but this is flat-out sour. People don't want sour coffee. You need to stop trying to push sour coffee on us." It was an eye opening moment for many of us.

Over the next few years, coffee roasters became more and more proficient at light roast espresso - and the days of flat-out undrinkable shots declined. What was interesting though, was that while the roast defects declined - the espresso was still very acidic and often, dare I say it, sour. The response from coffee professionals was to own this taste. Rather than trying to change the roast, or "age" the coffee, or anything to make the flavour profile different - they proclaimed that this new flavour profile was a good thing. The message became, "light roast espresso is better because it is a more accurate expression of the green coffee itself - rather than a mix of the coffee and the roast."

Now... three side comments about this. First - this mirrors the endless battle within the restaurant scene between those who believe that the job of a chef is to (as derisively put by Tony Bourdain once), "put a fantastic peach on a plate" and those who believe that a chef needs to transform the ingredients to do their job well. Secondly - the power of Social Media was particularly important at this period of time. All the professional baristas followed the same people - so when all those people started saying, "if you're not doing light roast espresso you're out of date" there was a mad rush to copy the style. Third - this also brings up the long-debated and highly divisive question, "is espresso a beverage or is espresso a way of preparing coffee."

This drove a huge wedge into the coffee industry - as many (often more established) coffee companies doubled down on "espresso that tastes good" while most of the newer and younger professionals migrated quickly to "light roast or die."

The problem was (as predicted by the sommelier) that most customers wanted good tasting espresso. So the trend setting, modern baristas quickly pivoted away from espresso entirely - claiming that it was an inferior preparation method, and adopting various new methods, tools, and approaches for brewing coffee. This was quite effective as a brewed light roast coffee (assuming the green is of high quality and you don't screw up the roast) is a lovely thing. Suddenly we had brew bars instead of espresso bars and various coffee pundits declared that "espresso was over."

So this brings me to about 5 years ago - right before I dropped out of the coffee scene entirely. I had become jaded by the clout-chasers, depressed by the trendiness, and most of all as a former chef I just simply couldn't deal with the idea that some sort of abstract philosophical issue like "degree of roast" was of higher priority than how the end result tastes.

Coming back onto the scene now, I've noticed a few things.

First - there is a huge disconnect between the way the professionals see light roasted espresso (and coffee in general for that matter) and how hobbyists see it. Professionals embrace the flavors and experiences of light roasted espresso and defend them as "better" whereas it seems like hobbyists are looking to figure out ways to transform the flavor and experience into something that is more enjoyable for them. Something, as Jim so elegantly puts it, "like a gummy bear."

Second - professionals have (often grudgingly) accepted that espresso is part of their job. Sadly, many seem to either now view it as a way to dispose of inferior coffee they would never sell for use brewed - or simply accept it as a "necessary evil" but put minimal care and love into. In my opinion, it is harder to find good coffee to make espresso with now that it was 15 years ago.

Third - coffee has become very expensive. Now... I'm going to say something that will not make me popular. Coffee, especially truly good coffee, was criminally underpriced for decades. It's only now that truly good coffee is starting to be priced in a manner which makes sense. The problem is that the huge price increases at the high end of coffee have also lifted prices on coffees that are simply not that good. I have no problem paying a very high prices for a truly extraordinary Cup of Excellence level coffee. It's when we get to the "better than commodity but certainly not special" coffees that I have a problem. Paying a ton of money for some perfect, micro-lot, Gesha that changes my view on coffee? Fine. Paying 80% of that for a rather generic Guatemalan coffee? Not okay.

Fourth - there is still all the clout and ego and status and identity involved, and there is still the Internet and Social Media. This means that some people would rather sell, use, and buy coffees that make them feel, seem, and look "cool" than sell, use, and buy coffees that they like. To me, some of the "age your light roast espresso" thing seems rooted in this issue. To be honest, if you want the espresso flavour profile described by Jim it would be far easier to buy a medium roast espresso blend comprised of a high quality Brazil, a high quality Ethiopian natural, and maybe a little high quality Guatemalan coffee to add sweetness and up the fruit.

Fifth - people are, have been, and will always be herd animals. Once a ton of people start saying something is true - it becomes true. Coffee is no exception to this reality.

Finally, if it's okay with y'all, I'm going to respond to a few comments from this thread. Mostly these are attempts to break the echo chamber or share some history - but a few are specific comments that I think need more discussion.

another_jim wrote:Hobbyists dominate the coffee internet, so people researching coffee think we are on to something.

So... I'm afraid I have to disagree with this. I have always felt that coffee hobbyists over-estimated their impact on the coffee industry and coffee roasters in particular, but given the sensitivity of this opinion I went and asked a bunch of current coffee professionals. And I was validated. I'm afraid that the responses ranged from "Honestly, I'm sorry but I don't pay attention to those people" to "there are maybe 1000 of those people in the US - we serve 1000 people on a busy day" to "more trouble than they are worth." Coffee hobbyists are passionate, and active, and engaged. And they are profoundly impactful when it comes to each other - and to vendor and manufacturers of equipment targeted at them. But to coffee roasters, hobbyists are not a significant influence I fear.

another_jim wrote:Most of the light roasts I get, despite being advertised and talked about as something special, are in this
everyday 82.5 to 87.5 point range.

To me, this is one of the key points here. If the message is that some light roast espresso is a super special green coffee or blend of super special green - then it cannot be made with average speciality grade coffee. And it certainly cannot be priced as if it were a special CoE coffee. To me, this is where the focus should be. It's not a question of light roast or not - it's a question of special or not. And simply roasting an ordinary coffee lightly does not make it special.

drgary wrote:Where did the light roast fashion begin? Did it start with cuppers highlighting many origin flavors in cupping roasts? Did it start with people trying to emphasize the origin flavors in high grown, heirloom coffees?

Cupping was definitely a big part of it, but as noted above I fear much was about trends, philosophies, newness, social media, and being cool. Now... that's for light roast espresso. As noted at the start, light roast coffees have been around for a very long time.

drgary wrote:There has been much discussion, encouraged by people in forums like ours, to emphasize grinder quality. Awhile back, people noticed that flat burr grinders like the Mazzer Major tended to produce sweeter espresso. Then there was Matt Perger's winning WBC performance Using an EK43 flat burr grinder. These developments fueled a specialty market for hyper aligned, large flat burr grinders and many have touted their advantages in pulling sweeter, flavor nuanced shots with very light roasts.

Honestly... as much as I respect Matt Perger, this is not historically accurate. Trying to couple the migration to flat burr grinders from conical ones with the trend towards light roast espresso is very forced. The migration to flat burr grinders had a lot more to do with the general performance of those grinders vs the conical ones (across all types of coffee) than anything else. I would argue that ease of use and decreased heat issues also had more impact than roast degree on this shift. My home grinder history is a pretty good snapshot of the trend here. I went from a DRM in 2006 to a Robur in 2009 to an Anfim in 2012.

drgary wrote:Many coffee enthusiasts have come to enjoy very light Oslo style roasts. Back in 2010, I tasted a very exotic natural coffee, Panama Esmeralda gesha, roasted by Tim Wendelboe, and it blew away everything else on the table with his fireworks of wonderful flavors that only improved as it cooled in the bowl.

That's an unfair example. The Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Gesha was a truly special coffee, and the reason it was special had absolutely nothing to do with roast degree. I've cupped it at a cupping roast degree, I've cupped it at a light production roast degree, I've cupped it at a medium roast degree, and I've pulled shots of it at a Full City roast. It stood out from the crowd in every single situation, at every single roast. The Esmerelda Gesha is an example of a coffee that I would pay obscene amounts of money for - and wouldn't have a moment's regret.

Almico wrote:That gets me to the real point. If all I drink is very good coffee, at some point, very good coffee will get boring, no matter how light it is roasted. You can only go so light. Like an 82*, 50% humidity sunshiny day in SanDiego (yawn), too much of a great thing becomes unremarkable.

Really?
I have to admit that the perfect weather and gorgeous surroundings here in Kauai never get old, and never become unremarkable. After 30 years of Kauai, I still stop alongside the road at least once a day to stare at something with wonder.

IMHO, there is no such thing as "too much of a great thing." And that isn't just for beautiful places or perfect weather - but also for coffee.

another_jim wrote:I think we need a reset. I think we need to be able to say that this or that coffee is just one more generic
light roast. Say that now, call a light roast boring and ordinary, and the response will be that you are doing something wrong. Around 80% to 90% of the coffees I get are ordinary and boring; this is true whether they are medium or dark roasted and sold at regular prices, and it is also true when they are light roasted and sold at breath taking prices. It's time to stop being intimidated, and to confidently apply our regular standards of taste.

Yes.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!!!

If folks can stop acting like a not good coffee is somehow special simply because of roast degree (or influencer endorsement, or price, or rareness, or hype) it would potentially change coffee for the better.

Do not settle for disappointing espresso.
Trust your taste.

To everyone who got all the way through this massive diatribe and is now reading this - thank you. I appreciate your patience and tolerance.