As a general rule, the vast majority of our coffees at Ferris would be considered “light roasts” when compared to all the available coffee in the market today. This is intentional. We source extremely high-quality green coffee, therefore we want it to taste as much of what makes that coffee unique in the cup. These unique flavors come from the soil composition, growing elevation, coffee varietal, processing method, drying method, and other factors from the origin of where it is grown. When brewed, these coffees tend to have higher levels of acidity and exhibit flavors of fruits, flowers, sweet candies, specific chocolates and nuts, and other highly pointed flavors that make these coffees unique. A “light roast” reveals these flavors rather than hiding them through more application of heat and time in the roasting process. 

As we progress further in the roasting process, and more heat and time are added, the unique flavors from light roasted coffee tend to fade. On a chemical level, sugars in the seeds are caramelizing further and medium roasts are what we believe to be the point of peak sweetness in coffee. Acidity, fruity, and floral notes tend to be less present and the nostalgic chocolate and nutty flavors in coffee are most present at a medium roast. The body of the coffee, or weight and thickness perception on the tongue, is also increased compared to a lighter roasted coffee. A majority of coffee drinkers identify as preferring medium roasts above all else and we think it’s because the sweet, sugary notes in coffee are at their peak. If you prefer less acidity in your coffee but don’t care for the smokey, charred flavors of dark roasts, we recommend trying our medium roast offerings. 

With even more heat and time applied to coffee, we progress into “dark roast” territory. At this point in the roast, the sugar that we’ve caramelized is beginning to char, and progressively turn into more and more carbon. Think about toasting a marshmallow golden brown vs. starting it on fire and turning the outside completely black. The black crust is carbon that has formed from the pyrolytic process of caramelizing sugars deeply. Coffees that have heavily caramelized sugars have a lot of carbon, therefore tend to have notes of smoke, char, very dark chocolate, and sometimes spice. Almost all of the acidity in the coffee is no longer perceivable and the body of the coffee is usually at peak fullness in a dark roast. Sometimes dark roasted coffee can develop an oily surface, which is from fats and lipids inside the coffee seed being forced to the surface. We believe that if oil appears of the surface of coffee, it actually is a sign of over-roasting, so we avoid roasting coffee so dark that oil forms. Our dark roasted coffee is sourced and roasted to achieve flavors like dark chocolate, heavily reduced caramel, and roasted nuts, while providing just a touch of the “char” character that dark roast drinkers look for. 

The term single origin is just as it sounds - it means that the beans come from one place only, usually from a certain region, country, or specific farm. Given that they are sourced from one place only, single origin coffees tend to be available exclusively at certain times of year, contingent on the growing season of the geographical location from which they were derived. You can further break it down to single origin micro lot coffees, which derive from a single field on a farm. Facts like this are reflected in the price of single origin coffees. Coffee producing countries each have their own distinct flavor profiles. Central and the South Americas are expected to be clean and sweet while Africa is complex and fruity. 

When coffee beans from multiple locations are roasted and mixed together, this is known as a coffee blend. It is not uncommon to find coffee blends including beans separate places. Just because it consists of multiple locations, doesn't decrease its quality - we make our blends with all of our specialty coffees from our single origin beans. If you are someone who is looking for consistency in flavor profile, consider trying a coffee blend. While single origin coffees aim to celebrate the seasonality in coffee across crop seasons, our blends are designed to have consistent flavor profiles year after year. We use fresh, seasonal coffees in our blends to create flavor profiles that appeal to different groups of coffee drinkers.