What is an Extra Dark Roast?

Extra dark roasted beans are roasted for longer than light, medium, and medium-dark and dark beans. They’re almost always roasted past the second crack of the bean. This results in quite an oily bean with low acidity levels and deep, dark flavors.

Darkly roasted beans tend to create coffees with nutty, caramel, and chocolate flavors. Coffees prepared with dark roasted beans are richer in flavor than light roasted beans. This is one reason why dark roasted beans are usually recommended for cold brewing, a process that typically results in a mellower, sweeter coffee.

Most of the individual flavors of dark roast beans are roasted away during the longer roasting process, but dark roast coffees still offer a rich depth of flavor. This flavor comes from the roast profile rather than the bean itself. If you want to balance flavor with body, medium roast beans may be a good fit.