What's a Coffee Color Scale, Anyway?
Your guide to ditching "light, medium, and dark" for roasts that are spot-on, every single time. The Agony of the "Almost-Perfect" Roast If you're a roaster, you know the feeling. You pull a batch of coffee that's just... sublime. The smell is incredible, the flavors are popping, and the acidity has this perfect, clean sparkle. It's the kind of coffee that makes you remember why you got into this whole crazy business in the first place. You log every detail, save the roast profile, and a week later, you set out to do it all over again. You follow your notes to the letter. Same charge temperature, same time markers, and you drop the beans at the exact same final temp. But when you cup the new batch, something's just... off. That bright acidity feels a little dull, a touch of bitterness has snuck in, and the magic just isn't there. On paper, or on your screen, the two roasts look identical. Your taste buds, however, are telling a very different sto...