Do coffee beans have to be roasted?

Starbucks Price of Coffee Beans Roasting and Necessity

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world, and coffee beans are an important raw material for making coffee. However, many people have doubts about whether coffee beans need to be roasted. This article will explore this issue.

What is Baking?

Before we go into detail, let's first understand what roasting is. Simply put, roasting is the process of heating green beans to change their chemical and physical properties. By controlling the temperature and time, the green or yellow green beans can be transformed into different degrees of brown.

Why is baking necessary?

First of all, proper roasting can improve the flavor and taste of coffee beans. Green beans contain a lot of water, acidic substances and bitter components. Under high temperature, these components will react chemically and produce new aroma substances. At the same time, high temperature can also evaporate the internal water and make the beans obtain a more even heat distribution, thus making the flavor of coffee beans more intense.

Secondly, roasting can also improve the preservation of coffee beans. Green beans contain a certain amount of moisture and microorganisms such as bacteria. Roasting at an appropriate temperature can kill these microorganisms and extend the shelf life of coffee beans.

Different degrees of roasting

According to different degrees of roasting time and temperature, coffee beans can be divided into three types: light roasted, medium roasted and dark roasted.

Light roasting is usually done at around 180°C, when the surface of the beans is yellow or slightly brown. This roasting method retains more of the original flavor and has a relatively high acidity. Since it is not exposed to high temperatures too much, the bitterness is relatively low.

Medium roasting is the most common and popular method. At this time, the temperature is about 200°C to 220°C, the color becomes brown, and the surface becomes shiny. This method retains part of the original flavor and adds some roasted aroma and bitterness.

Dark roasting is the highest temperature roasting method, usually above 230°C. At this time, the surface of the beans becomes very dark and has a lot of oil. This method will cause the coffee beans to lose most of their original flavor, but at the same time produce a strong roasted aroma and bitterness.

Special baking method

In addition to the three common roasting methods mentioned above, there are also some special processing methods that can produce coffee beans with different tastes and flavors.

For example, "City+" is a roasting method between medium and dark. The temperature is slightly higher than medium but lower than dark, adding more acidic components while retaining some of the original flavor.

On the other hand, "Italian" or "French" roasts are special processes for the purpose of making espresso. This method is usually done at a higher temperature and for a relatively long time to obtain a stronger, bitter and chocolatey coffee.

in conclusion

In summary, roasting is a necessary step to improve the flavor and taste of coffee beans and extend their shelf life. Different degrees of roasting can produce coffee beans with different tastes and flavors. Therefore, whether it is light roasting, medium roasting or dark roasting, it has its own unique features and is suitable for the taste needs of different people.