Dark or Light Roast – Which tastes the best?

There's no one size fits all answer to this, as people tend to have individual taste and preferences.

It's not quite as straightforward as light vs dark. There are a wide variety of roasts, and the scale goes much further than just these three roasting profiles.There's a full spectrum between light and dark which coffee lovers can experiment with.

Some origins pair better with certain roasts and the best way for individuals to discover the right combination for  is to try them for themselves, and many people have told us that they enjoy trying new coffee varieties, sometimes specifying a dark or light roast. 

As a general rule, if you prefer your cup to have deep, strong and intense flavours, look at the darker end of the scale. If you prefer more delicate and brighter flavours, look at the lighter end. 

Dark vs light – does dark roast have more caffeine?

Another big question that arises when comparing the two… which has more caffeine? We understand why, if you only have time for one quick cup of coffee in a morning you probably want the most caffeine you can get.

Some usually associate dark to have a higher caffeine content, but this is actually a myth. When weighing out light and dark beans, you may notice there slightly less light beans than there are dark.

This is because a bean loses a lot of mass during the roasting process, usually the water content. So, as you have more dark beans, the caffeine content is probably a little higher. This is why dark roast is usually associated with a higher caffeine content, however, when it comes to bean for bean, there is a very minimal difference in caffeine between the two. 

If it were a popularity contest – which would win?

In fact, a medium roasted coffee would win – hands down. Most of the places you look, you will find medium roasts.

At Coffeelink.com you can choose from over 31 Single Origin coffees from around the world that are roasted to a medium level, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try other options. You should. Otherwise you just won’t know whether you're missing out on something or not.

We know some people prefer certain roasting profiles, which is why we've introduced Dark and Light roast blends this month.

Choose one of our Dark Roast or Light Roast blends here.