Spilling the Beans: Coffee Myths Debunked
Everything you know about coffee might be wrong.
For decades, most of us have been drinking bitter, mid-grade coffee and assuming that's just how coffee tastes. It isn't. Here are five of the most common coffee myths and what's actually true.
Myth #1: Coffee should taste bitter
For decades, big coffee chains have sold mid-grade coffee to the masses. Mid and commercial grade coffee often contains defects like mold, mildew, and insect damage, and those defects show up as bitterness in your cup.
Coffee is the seed of a fruit, and good coffee is naturally sweet. Bitterness mostly comes from two places: defective beans and poor roasting.
Quality, specialty-grade coffee is naturally sweet, with complex flavors you won't find in commercial grade coffee. Coffee doesn't have to be bitter, and we've proven it in our roasting.
Myth #2: Darker is stronger
In our humble opinion, dark-roasted coffee is burnt coffee. The darker the roast, the more ash and charcoal flavors end up in the cup, along with a lingering bitter aftertaste. That bold look and bitter bite lead many people to believe a dark roast is a stronger cup.
It isn't. Caffeine changes very little during roasting, so a dark roast doesn't give you any extra kick. In fact, because lighter roasted beans are denser, a scoop of light roast holds slightly more coffee, and slightly more caffeine, than the same scoop of dark roast. Dark roast tastes stronger. It isn't stronger.
Myth #3: "Signature" coffee means quality
Many coffee shops and brands call their coffee "signature" to make it sound high quality. But "signature" doesn't mean anything about the coffee itself. It's a marketing word.
The word that tells you about quality is specialty. Specialty coffee is coffee that scores 80 points or higher on the 100-point scale used by the Specialty Coffee Association. To earn that score, the coffee has to be essentially free of major defects, which lets you taste the full, complex flavors of the bean.
When you see "signature coffee" on a label or a menu, ask what grade it is. Very often, it's mid or commercial grade coffee with a nice name. Don't let marketing convince you that bitter coffee is quality coffee.
Myth #4: Coffee needs additives
You've heard the joke: "Would you like a little coffee with your creamer?" Chain coffee shops stock plenty of creamers, sugars, and syrups, because a lot of people don't enjoy plain coffee.
If you think of plain coffee as bitter and flat, you're right about most of the coffee on the market. Mid and commercial grade coffee has tasted bitter for decades, and we've adapted by covering it up with dairy, sugar, and syrup.
Specialty coffee is different. Brewed correctly, it takes you on a flavor journey with nothing added. Some origins even taste a lot like coffee's cousin, tea. Try our Rose Tea Coffee black and see for yourself.
Myth #5: Roasting is roasting
Not all roasting is created equal. Coffee beans are heated in two ways: conduction (heat from touching a hot surface) and convection (heat from hot air).
Most coffee is roasted mainly by conduction in drum roasters. The steel drum is heated from below while a paddle or the drum's rotation keeps the beans moving. Conduction can scorch the beans, and over time the drum can add ashy, charcoal flavors. Consistent roasting with conduction is hard. Some drum roasters also blow in hot air for partial convection, which solves some of these issues.
We use a fluid bed roaster that roasts about 90% by convection and 10% by conduction. Hot air does almost all the work, scorching is kept to a minimum, and no flame touches our roasting chamber, so no ashy or charcoal flavors reach the beans. The hot air also carries away the chaff (the bean's papery skin). The result is a consistent roast without bitterness.
Want to go deeper? Read What Is Air Roasted Coffee?
Ready to taste the difference?
Testament Coffee Roasters is a family-owned specialty coffee roaster in Jacksonville, Florida. We air roast every bean ourselves and ship across the USA.