For a long time, coffee was roasted to a specific color. It was the standard. Charts were created, articles were written — like this one about how to use sight to determine roast degree. Some were technical and detailed, others as fun as this iconic kitten roast chart.

And it's true: the darker the roast, the more bitterness develops. When you see black, oily beans, something in you knows that something is not right. In an era where delicate and complex coffees were scarce, roasters worked with bitterness as the main variable. They created different shades of black for the consumer to choose according to their taste.

A new era for roasting

Thanks to the explosive growth of the specialty coffee industry —and its openness to technical and cross-disciplinary knowledge— today we have access to an incredible variety of clean, complex, and delicate coffees from all over the world.

And roasters realized: there's much more than color. There's a full spectrum of flavors, nuances, layers, and complexity that color, alone, cannot describe.

These nuances only appear within a very specific roast window, just before caramelization goes too far. If the roast is too dark, the burnt sugar and bitterness flavor overwhelms everything. If it's too light, it becomes astringent, acidic, and unbalances the natural sweetness and fruit of the bean.

Thus, between the extremes of ultra-light and intensely dark, roasters began to explore. And they discovered that coffee can no longer be talked about only in terms of color.

The language of roast profiles

What really matters today is not the color, but the roast profile: the shape, pace, and temperature curve that transforms green coffee into roasted coffee.

Each specialty roaster develops their own approach — a personal signature. A roast profile can look something like this — and for many, this may seem like chaos. But for an experienced roaster, it's a fingerprint. A way to read exactly how that coffee developed.

And that cannot be described with a single word. Certainly not with “light” or “medium”.

What we recommend

Instead of choosing your coffee by roast color, we suggest you ask yourself more relevant questions:

What is the flavor profile?

Is it fruity and bright? Smooth and sweet? Powerful and bitter?

What level of acidity does it have?

How are you going to prepare it? Filter, moka, espresso?

These questions are much more helpful in finding a coffee you will truly enjoy.

And above all: understand that every roaster committed to specialty standards is, in itself, a unique roast color. Don't choose by tone. Choose by signature.
Find your favorite roasters, not just your preferred roast level.

At Café Paramoka...

At Café Paramoka, we take this idea a step further.

We don't limit ourselves to a single roast "signature." Instead, we explore the potential of each coffee within that flavor window between light and dark.

We believe that the roast profile is part of the recipe, not a universal stamp.
There is no single perfect way to roast a great coffee — only different ways to make it shine.

That's why our concept is based on maximizing the potential of each coffee and creating precise and careful combinations for our customers, making the coffee we love also perfect for others.