How to Choose a Coffee Roast Level

Roast level is the fastest way to narrow a coffee menu. A higher number is not a better coffee. It only tells you how far that coffee was roasted. Lighter coffees keep more of what the green coffee tasted like. Darker coffees taste more of the roast itself: sweetness from caramelized sugars, and sometimes smoke.

Every coffee at Old Crown Coffee Roasters lists a roast level on its page. What is for sale right now runs from level 2, a light roast, to level 9 on Ninth Degree of Darkness. Those coffees are already roasted and ready to ship. US orders typically leave the same or next business day. Nothing on this list is held back to be roasted when you check out.

Start with how you already drink coffee

If you drink it black and you like a lively cup, look at the light end. If you want one bag on the counter, look at medium and at the House Blend. If you add milk, want a heavier cup, or you are making espresso, look at dark.

The light roast, medium roast, and dark roast categories are the shelves. A few coffees sit in more than one of them, so the number on the product page is the clearer guide.

Level 2, light

Tavern Blend is the bright, juicy light roast: fresh berries, delicate florals, and chocolate. The Devil You Know is the other light blend. The page notes that some people would call it a medium, and it still sits on the lighter side of what Old Crown roasts, with milk chocolate, ripe berries, tropical fruit, and floral undertones.

Several single origins are light roasts too, including Ethiopia Guji Arsosala Natural, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Idido, Tanzania Utengule Estate Natural, and Kenya Nyeri Mutwewathi AB. If you want fruit, flowers, or a tea-like cup, start with one of those. The single-origin guide goes through each one that is actually in stock.

Levels 3 and 4, medium-light and medium

Level 3 is medium-light. Big Squeezy is the blend in this spot: Brazilian, Ethiopian, and Sumatran coffees, recommended on the page for pour-over, espresso, or cold brew. Kenya Kichwa Tembo, Nicaragua La Bastilla Honey, El Salvador Pacamara from Finca San Antonio, and Costa Rica San Diego Anaerobic are medium-light as well.

Level 4 is a straight medium. Dem Gooood Beans is the sweet, smooth one, with cocoa, date, baked apple, peach, and faint warming spices. Enterprise was built as a medium-roast espresso and is also meant for drip or cold brew. La Reina is a more developed version of the same Brazilian, Ethiopian, and Sumatran idea, aimed at espresso and still pleasant as drip. Guatemala La Morena is the medium single origin here, with dark chocolate, almond butter, dried fruit, and honey. There is a shorter note on why medium roasts stay in the rotation if you already know this is your range.

Level 5 and darker

Level 5 is medium-dark. OC's House Blend is the everyday coffee: chocolate, vanilla, and candied pecan, with a little cardamom and black pepper. The page calls it a Full City+ roast. Colombia Don Darko is a Full City single origin at the same level, toasty and a bit smoky. Sumatra Mandheling is the heavy, earthy level 5.

Level 6 is dark, and it is a wide shelf, not one flavor. Espresso Blend 101 is the espresso-bar coffee, and it also works in a French press, AeroPress, or drip brewer. No Caffeine Here Blend is the decaf at this same dark level. Black Dog Blend, Book Burner, and Zen Brewdhism are the other dark blends. India Monsooned Malabar is the extremely earthy, very low-brightness cup, and the page suggests a smaller bag if you have not tried it. Bee's Knees is the scarce Indonesian dark roast.

Level 7 is extra dark: The One on the Right, smoky and heavy, with toasted hazelnut and baker's chocolate. Level 9 is Ninth Degree of Darkness, described on its page as all aroma, all body, and zero acidity. A separate post stays with why that darkest roast tastes the way it does.

After you pick a number

Match the roast to the brewer you already own, then get the grind right. Whole bean is the store's recommendation, and the grind guide lines up the pre-ground options with paper filters, metal filters, French press, and Turkish coffee. Water changes the same beans just as much. That is covered in the water quality guide.

If you are choosing for espresso, read the espresso at home post before you default to the darkest bag. If you want the dark-roast flavor after dinner, the decaf post is the one bag that is built for that.