Darkish roasts have had a tough decade in specialty circles. The rise of third-wave espresso tradition introduced with it a corrective skepticism towards the charred, ashy cups that outlined second-wave specialty espresso on the flip of this century. Right this moment, gentle and medium roasts have turn into the home fashion of the discerning and the automobile by way of which origin character — terroir, selection, course of — can lastly converse with out interference from heavy-handed roasting.
The critique, taken by itself phrases, is honest. A poorly conceived darkish roast does exactly what its detractors declare: It masks origin, burns off the risky fragrant compounds that distinguish a Yirgacheffe from a Sumatra, and swaps bitterness for complexity. However this can be a critique of execution, not of darkness itself. The query just isn’t whether or not espresso needs to be roasted darkish, however whether or not roasters know what they hope to seek out on the opposite facet of second crack.
Jim, the son of Caesar Tu of Kakalove Cafe, studying his father’s craft at ALO Espresso in Ethiopia. Courtesy of Kakalove Cafe.
When you’re questioning what the perfect darkish roast coffees seem like in 2026, the reply just isn’t what it might have been 20 years in the past. The strongest examples at the moment are neither oily nor aggressively smoky. As an alternative, they occupy a narrower band of growth wherein roast affect and origin character coexist. The ten coffees highlighted on this report emerged because the highest-scoring picks from practically 200 blind-tasted submissions, providing a revealing snapshot of what darker-roasted specialty espresso could be proper now.
For this report, we pitched the decision to roasters focused on submitting as “darker-roasted” (not “darkish”), in order to not pre-determine the place anybody attracts the road between “darkish” and “not darkish.” This, the truth is, was a part of our query in regards to the present espresso panorama, although we did specify that submissions needs to be at, into, or previous second crack — that second within the roasting course of actually named for the sound of beans popping a second time after first crack. Second crack marks a chemical inflection level: Cell partitions fracture extra deeply, CO₂ escapes quickly and caramelized sugars start to carbonize. Oils migrate to the floor. Origin character — the risky aromatics that categorical terroir, selection, and course of — begins its lengthy fade.
Lori Obra, co-founder of Rusty’s Hawaiian on Hawai’i Island. Courtesy of Rusty’s Hawaiian.
When a roaster is focused on pushing a espresso previous “medium,” the decision-making course of begins within the silence on the finish of first crack. In that silence, the beans slowly develop darker, and the roast aroma very steadily turns extra pungent and intense. The temperature of the roasting beans rises. After which the primary crinkly, rice-crispies sounds of second crack are heard. That is the second that marks the start of the event of the character that we affiliate with darker-roasted coffees.
We acquired near 200 samples for this report and cupped them blind, as regular, in no specific order. And, because it turned out, once we took Agtron readings of the top-scoring 10 for evaluate, we discovered that each one landed in the identical common Agtron vary of 44 to 47 — that means that every was pulled from the roaster on the cusp of second crack, or simply into it.
What, then, makes a darkish roast among the finest obtainable at the moment? Our highest-scoring submissions shared three qualities. First, they started with distinctive inexperienced espresso able to retaining character below deeper growth. Second, they had been roasted with clear intent quite than merely pushed darker for depth’s sake. And third, they delivered the richness, physique and bittersweet depth related to darker roasts with out sacrificing distinction. The coffees that observe characterize the strongest expressions of these qualities we encountered on this intensive report cupping.
The ten High-Scoring Coffees
The throughline of the ten darker roasts we evaluate right here just isn’t merely a shared roast degree however a shared refusal to deal with darkness as a default. Every begins with inexperienced coffees distinctive sufficient to have one thing highly effective to say at second crack: You’ll discover a Kaʻu Typica whose inherent sweetness the roaster has transformed into layered, complicated construction (Rusty’s Hawaiian); a Kenya SL28 peaberry whose black currant and phosphoric acidity survive warmth in remodeled however recognizable type (Simon Hsieh’s Aroma Roast Coffees); a washed Guji Ethiopia whose floral appeal holds on the cusp quite than burning off (Kakalove Café); and a two-component Colombian mix whose carbonic maceration strawberry be aware is grounded by an deliberately developed chocolate base (modcup).
Ralph Gaston on the helm of the roaster at Rusty’s Hawaiian. Courtesy of Rusty’s Hawaiian.
The remaining six coffees lengthen the argument throughout a wider vary of types and uncooked supplies. An anaerobic washed Guji Ethiopia provides rose, bergamot, and crimson grape notes that survive medium-dark growth in compressed, concentrated type (Linsun Espresso). There’s a washed Nicaragua from the SACACLI Cooperative whose darkish chocolate, dried fig, and magnolia resolve right into a blissfully lengthy, most harmonious end (Utopian Espresso). And a washed Peru from the San Fernando Cooperative whose almond butter, crimson apple, and orange zest are deepened by cautious medium-dark growth with out being displaced by it (Wonderstate Espresso).
The crew at Linsun Espresso in Taiwan focuses on darker-roasted specialty espresso. Courtesy of Linsun Espresso.
After which we’ve a “French roast,” on this case, a washed Colombia-Honduras mix with baking chocolate, darkish caramel and a smoky sweetness end executed with the conviction of restraint (Crimson Rock Espresso Roasters); a washed Central and South American mix whose caramel, roasted pecan, and scorched cedar ship basic chocolate-and-nut consolation with a pleasant stone fruit raise (Fidalgo Espresso); and an India-Brazil mix that delivers darkish chocolate, date, and mandarin zest notes for a fruit-cocoa stability that holds up handsomely in brewed format, regardless of being roasted with espresso in thoughts (Oceana Espresso).
Crimson Rock’s manufacturing roaster, Carlos, infuses the FTO French Roast with solely the darkest and heaviest of riffs. Courtesy of Crimson Rock Roasters.
A Notice on Roast Measurement
When Espresso Assessment launched in 1997, roast degree was an important differentiator in specialty espresso. One may purchase coffees that had been medium-roasted, dark-roasted, or very dark-roasted. As Espresso Assessment co-founder Kenneth Davids says, “Though our evaluations have all the time shared our cuppers’ notion of roast, we felt we additionally wanted a strategy to talk roast degree in an goal, quantifiable strategy to our readers. On the time, the Specialty Espresso Affiliation of America (SCAA) had lately adopted its Agtron Gourmand Scale because the business commonplace for measuring and speaking the darkness of roast. So, with the beneficiant assist of Carl Staub, the founding father of Agtron, Espresso Assessment integrated the SCAA/Agtron system into the target portion of our evaluations.”
Roaster Nick Berardi of Utopian Espresso in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Nevertheless, practically 30 years have handed, and tastes in roast have radically modified. Lighter roasting now dominates specialty espresso. The (renamed) Specialty Espresso Affiliation (SCA) has begun an in-depth evaluate of methods to outline the darkness of roast, however the group is nowhere close to altering the present official requirements and calibrations. So, the outdated roast-naming system continues to represent the “business commonplace,” whereas the business itself clearly has moved on. Davids provides, “Not one of many 10 coffees we evaluate for this report qualifies below the present SCA system as darkish, but each one was described by the roaster (and bought to prospects) as a darker-roasted bean.”
Tending espresso seedlings at a SACACLI Cooperative plant nursery in Nicaragua. Courtesy of Sustainable Harvest.
Whereas the SCA ponders change, we’re doing one thing proper now to cease complicated our readers. We’ll nonetheless learn the darkness of roast with our well-calibrated Agtron instrument. However we’re adjusting the ranges upward by roughly 10 factors throughout all roast-level classes, efficient with this report.
The Agtron spectrophotometer measures roast coloration on a scale from gentle to darkish — larger numbers point out lighter roasts, decrease numbers point out darker. Our earlier scale positioned Medium-Darkish at 41–50 and Darkish at 35–40. These are averages, by the way in which, of readings taken of coffees as each complete beans and floor.
The brand new scale locations Medium-Darkish at 51–60. and Darkish at 41–50. The adjustment displays an actual shift in business utilization: Roasters and customers have been describing coffees as “medium-dark” or “darkish” at coloration readings that our earlier scale would have categorized as medium and even medium-light (sure, actually). Somewhat than maintain to a calibration that now not matches how the espresso neighborhood speaks, we’re aligning our language with the zeitgeist. The coffees on this report, with whole-bean Agtron readings starting from 44 to 47, fall squarely within the medium-dark vary below the brand new scale — and it’s value noting that every one 10 reviewed coffees for our “darker-roasted” name would have been outlined as “medium” on our earlier Agtron scale.
Coffees drying on raised beds in Ethiopia. Courtesy of Kakalove Cafe.
This roster of 10 darker-roasted coffees justifies the thesis that intentional darkness just isn’t a compromise. It’s a craft that asks questions on what survives warmth, what’s remodeled quite than destroyed, and what particular pleasures of viscosity, smokiness and bittersweet depth no medium roast can present. There’s room in a severe espresso drinker’s life for a broader spectrum.
*Because of Kenneth Davids, Espresso Assessment co-founder and creator of 21st Century Espresso: A Information, for offering a short historical past of using the Agtron Gourmand Scale.
