Kona Coffee Roasts

There are many different roasts in the coffee world. Some are appropriate because of where you live in the country. For instance, a light roast might be traditional on the East Coast of America, and a French Roast is most popular in Japan and Europe. The general consensus is that good coffees that stand alone by themselves as an origin, like Kona Coffee, tend to be roasted to a more mild roast. At Mountain Thunder we have found two roasts that are very popular and represent the Kona taste.


At Mountain Thunder this translates into your choice of a Vienna or French Roast. How do you choose between the two? Right off the bat, I would reccomend drinking our Vienna Roast because it expresses the nutty, creamy, chocolate and sometimes cinnamon flavors in the coffee.


The difference between French and Vienna Roast are minor differences to an untrained drinker. Coffee is coffee, and it may seem like most of what I say is "talked up", but to the trained taster and the experienced cupper or coffee drinker, it becomes apparent that there really is a difference between French and Vienna Roasts.


French Roast is historically and technically the darkest roast you can go without ruining a batch of coffee. However, you will notice that with Kona Coffee, the bean is in such a superior class of coffee that you really don't have to burn the coffee to make it taste good. Historically, businesses roast their coffee (as in the case of canned coffee and your traditional chain store) to a French Roast to "hide" the unpleasant nuances in the marginal coffee they are buying and roasting. This allows, say for example, a sour note in the green bean to be "burned" out and replaced with a carmelized sugar flavor and the classic "coffee smell" that everyone has come to associate with coffee. Note that Mountain Thunder has a proprietary roasting method where we do not "burn" the coffee. Historically, our French Roast started as a French Roast (~460 degrees F), but now we roast technically to the light end of Dark Roasts (~450 degrees Farenhiet). Nevertheless, at Mountain Thunder the label has stayed the same, and we still call it French Roast. This is a result of the Green Kona Coffee bean being so superior, that to burn the coffee takes away from the superior flavor of Kona Beans.


Basically, if I were to present to you two little espresso cups, one with French Roast and one With Vienna Roast, you would probably like the Vienna Roast best, although a French Roast is the most popular roast in the world. The Japanese expect it, the Europeans expect it, and Americans are forced to buy it. The French Roast would have the characteristic coffee smell (smell is part of the experience of taste), but you would notice a little bitterness that comes from the higher temperature roast of the bean. The Vienna Roast would not have the characteristic coffee smell, and you might even say it doesn't have a strong aroma when compared to the French Roast, but you would definitely appreciate the smooth, buttery flavor, with no aftertaste. Vienna Roast is definitely more experimental for Americans, but if you are looking for the smoothest flavor, you would probably appreciate it very much. Nevertheless, I will tell you that French Roast is the safest choice, because so many people drink it. We serve Vienna Roast at our tasting center in Kailua Kona.

Detailed analysis of coffee roasting on coffeeresearch.com

Wikipedia article on home coffee roasting.