Why not make your own coffee roast color guide?
Here are some images of “degree of roast” sets that I made. The boxes are a clear type used for displaying beads and other craft objects. I bought these from The Container Store as I recall.
The roast samples represent the degree of roastDegree of Roast simply means the roast level of a coffee, how dark it has been roasted.: Degree of Roast simply means the roast level of a coffee,... levels from green to Full City+City+ roast is an ideal roast level that occurs roughly between 425 and 435 degrees Fahrenheit in many coffee roasters with a responsive bean probe where First Crack.... I skip some of the yellowing and browning stages, focusing on the levels starting just before First CrackFirst crack in one of two distinct heat-induced pyrolytic reactions in coffee. It is distinguished by a cracking or popping sound in the coffee, and occurs between 390..., City RoastCity roast is what we define as the earliest palatable stage that the roast process can be stopped and result in good quality coffee. City roast occurs roughly..., City+, Full City RoastA coffee that has been roasted to the brink of second crack.: A coffee that has been roasted to the brink of second crack. The internal bean temperature..., and then a bit into Second CrackAfter First Crack, a roast reaction around 440 to 450 degrees that is distinguished by a snapping sound. Second Crack is the second audible clue the roaster-operator receives... territory.
The set on the left dedicates one row to washed (wet-process) green coffee
Green coffee refers to the processed seed of the coffee tree fruit. Coffee is a flowering shrub that produces fruit. The seeds of the fruit are processed, roasted,... and the other to decaf, since decaf roast color can be so hard to gauge.
The set on the right also has wet-process coffee, compared alongside natural (dry-process) coffee. Each stage is the roast time and temperature equivalent. You can see how perceived color varies though.
Decaf versus regular (wet-process) coffee display comparing degree of roast levels from Green to FC+ Dry-processed coffee versus wet-process coffee display comparing degree of roast levels from Green to FC+
Degree of Roast Set for Coffee Beans
Other roast and green coffee-related reading:
5 Responses
It would be great if Sweet Maria’s could sell sample sets like this!
It’s really impossible to gauge the degree of roast of real beans using a chart on a computer screen or printed on paper. You need real beans to compare with, under the same lighting conditions.
Creating them would be a bit labor-intensive, but I bet people would pay enough to make it worth your while. I’d pay $100 to have one of these sets.
Hi Chris – It’s a great idea and we have actually been working on this exact thing. Progress had stalled on it simply because there were so many projects under way. But your email is a reminder to pick this up again! I agree, actually reference samples would be the best.
I agree Chris but I would add that the container needs to protect from UV and the lid needs to be removable so one can view the beans without any color distortion.