Hey there, Coffeedogs! Just like us, we know you wake up every morning looking forward to that beautiful burst of caffeine to start your day. Also like you, we’ve heard the chatter over which roast will give you more of that morning boost to get your day going. So which is it? Do light or dark roasts contain more caffeine?
We’ve heard just as many people claiming dark roasts have higher caffeine levels as do believe that light roasts are the champions in caffeine content. We’ve heard time and time again that caffeine is “burned away” during roasting, but the reality is that caffeine remains stable throughout the roasting process.
If you were to compare bean for bean, a light roast versus a dark roast would have relatively similar caffeine levels. However, the idea of differing caffeine levels isn't entirely unfounded. The method of measuring your coffee can indeed affect caffeine levels.
Let’s take a look at the math.
We weren’t about to count the entire bag, so measuring ten grams of both a light and dark roast we counted sixty-four light roast beans and sixty-six dark roast beans. Just a two-bean difference, you might think. But in reality, that matters because if there's a two-bean variance with just ten grams, how many beans differentiate a pound of light and dark roast?
There's roughly a ninety-bean difference between a pound of dark and light roast coffee, with dark roast taking the lead.
So, what's the takeaway? Should you only opt for dark roasts because you get more beans for your buck?
Not necessarily, because volume isn't everything. During roasting, a bean loses mass. The density of the bean changes; longer roasts yield less dense beans. That's why you get more beans by mass with dark roasts. When coffee is roasted, beans lose roughly 90% of their water content.
How does this affect your coffee?
If you measure your coffee by scoops, light roasted coffee will deliver more caffeine, as the beans are denser than darker roasts. However, if you weigh your scoops, darker roasts will pack more caffeine punch due to less mass. It's also worth noting that Arabica beans vary in caffeine levels depending on the plant species.
And, as we're aware from our caffeine basics, the difference in caffeine content between a cup of light and dark roast coffee is so minimal, we might not even notice.
Myth debunked. Depending on how ground coffee is measured, we find only a marginal variance in caffeine content between dark and light roasts. So splash around with some Sumatra or give in to your Guatemala cravings and enjoy all that coffee has to offer without worrying you’ll miss out on that daily boost.
Till next time, Rock On, Coffeedogs!
