Blame It on the Beans

Like all college students the middle of the semester is always when schedules become crazy , days get longer , and sleeping gets shorter. I have been so busy theses past week and I live on my coffee to help me get through ! In particular I swear by Starbucks Sumatra brand coffee to really wake me up. Sumatra blend in Starbucks language is the “dark roast” . For my whole life I thought that the darker , and more bitter a coffee tastes, the more strong it is. I always thought that dark roast coffees had more caffeine content, meaning it would wake me up more. 

It occurred to me that my theory was completely wrong when I was discussing this matter with my friend who is a barista at Starbucks here at Penn State. I was telling her how tired I was and how confused I was because I just drank a whole cup of dark roast coffee. She then begun to explain that the lighter the roast the more caffeine content , so Starbucks Blonde roast has the most. I was very surprised by this fact so I started to do some research on my own…
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Starbucks Blonde roast takes Latin American beans and only “roasts” them for a short amount of time (compared to any other roast) . This process was said to allow the beans or “nuts” to really only be “toasted”. This is not letting the beans to really be dried out and contain most of their original make up, including the higher amount of caffeine when they are ground and brewed.  Unlike the Sumatra which is roasted for a very long time. The bean is described from a green / brown color and very dry to a bright orange and oily color and texture. The nut has completely transformed and since it was baked for so long it has a lot of different components. The lighter roasts have more acidity to them vs. the dark roast. In light roast there is about 1.37% caffeine and the dark roast has 1.31% caffeine. However there are differences of volume or mass but the same percent of that bean will be caffeine

You roast different beans at different heat levels to get the respected amount and taste out of the bean. For example in the light roast (depending on the type of bean) it can be heated up to 400 degrees F.  As for the dark roast it can reach close to 500 degrees F. According to this website and other articles i’ve read , during the roasting process caffeine is “burned off” , so the longer you roast the more caffeine is being lost! 

All and all if you are looking for a less intense coffee experience, go for the Dark roast, and if you could go for a “pick me up” a light roast is the way to go ! 

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