French Roast Coffee
French Roast Coffee is our darkest roast that uses a special blend that accentuates the intensity of darker roasted coffees. Deep and smoky, this blend brews a pungent cup with pronounced smoky overtones creating a complex, rich, and superbly aromatic cup of French Roast Coffee. This is rated as a low acid coffee.
Certifications: Kosher Certified
Flavor Notes: Cherry, Lemon, and Chocolate
Processing: Washed Process
Roast: Dark Roast
Additional Information:
- pH: 5.5
History of French Roast Coffee
French Roast coffee is mistakenly attributed to originating from France, but was in fact the generally accepted roasting style of much of Europe all throughout the 19th century. This was partially due to roasters and coffee purveyors not having as great of skill or technology to control their roasts, and also due to the fact that most consumers in the 1800’s really enjoyed their darker roasted coffees.
It wasn’t until the 20th century in which the darkest of dark roasts began to be called and associated as French Roast. This came about during the 2nd wave of coffee that sprang about during the 1960’s and 70’s when the Dutch-American businessman, Alfred Peet, brought about a new style of roasting that would forever change the landscape of coffee as we know it. During this time, Peet’s Coffee & Tea developed what they called a European Roast, which many believe to be the progenitor of most French Roasts today.
While coffee technology and roasting techniques have evolved to the best they’ve ever been, there’s still no messing with good, traditional dark roasts, like French Roast coffee. Traditionally, French Roast coffees are roasted to approximately 465 degrees F to 470 degrees F, where most of the chlorogenic acid has fully evaporated, and the coffee beans begin to take on an intense, smoky aroma and sensation.
There are certainly detractors of French Roast coffee that say it doesn’t matter what sort of coffee you use to roast it, and that no matter what it will just taste like burnt charcoal. But we believe that truly artisanal and carefully sourced Arabica coffee beans that are chosen to withstand extreme heat can lend themselves to produce a beautifully complex and deeply aromatic cup of coffee that any dark roast lover will enjoy.
Taste Profile of French Roast Coffee
The key component to any good French Roast coffee is going to be that smoky taste with heavy notes of bitter dark chocolate, cherries, and thick syrup tones. The body will be heavy, and you will definitely be able to feel the weight of the coffee on your tongue. We recommend using your preferred cream and sugar to accompany your French Roast coffee to cut some of that bitterness and bring out unique cocoa flavors that border on chocolate milk.
While French Roast is more of a roast denotation rather than an origin signifier, we do believe that coffee sourced from certain regions do best when roasted to the intensity level of French Roast, which is why we are careful to only roast high-quality Arabica coffee beans that can withstand prolonged exposure to heat without scorching or breaking down altogether during the roasting process.
The coffee beans we use to create our French Roast coffee lend themselves to the flavor profile of our French Roast to give it a slightly sweeter, more caramel flavor that we believe makes it a unique French Roast cup of coffee. Simply put, the beans matter no matter the roast degree or level, and it is because of this that we take special care into creating the perfect blend of coffees that develop the French Roast coffee we offer to be the very best of our dark roasts.
Best Ways to Enjoy French Roast Coffee
French Roast coffee can be brewed any imaginable way, though keep in mind that the way you brew your French Roast coffee will slightly change its flavor from one brewing method to the next. From French press to the Chemex, to even the Moka Pot, French Roast coffee lends itself to be experimented with. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing your preferred method of brewing French Roast coffee.
Immersion brewers, such as the French press and Aeropress, will retain more of the oils within French Roast coffees because the water is exposed to the coffee grounds for longer periods of time. This can create a more bitter, syrupy cup. You might also notice that there’s a slight layer of residue left at the bottom of your cup that’s a bit more astringent than the rest of the cup.
It is because of the residue that French Roast coffee typically creates, that we recommend using a filtered approach, either through a drip brewer or pour over mechanism, which will filter out some of the bitterness within French Roast coffee and leave a pleasant, full-bodied cup.
As with most dark roasts, it’s best to enjoy French Roast coffee with your preferred amount of cream and sugar. Unlike lighter roasts, French Roast coffee does in fact take on more flavors when cream is added, as it transforms from a harsh and bitter cup to a mellow caramel of lush flavors that richly envelop your mouth’s taste sensation.
And it’s not just cream and sugar that you can add to your French Roast coffee. We designed the roast profile of French Roast to be a bold, coffee-forward cup that stands out whether it’s the obligatory cream and/or sugar or if you decide to get fancy and add a flavored syrup, your favorite liqueur, or even make your French Roast even richer as a dessert with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.
No matter how you take your French Roast coffee, we’re sure that you’ll experience the bold, lavish notes of chocolate mixed with tart cherries that are swimming in a pool of sweet maple syrup and fall in love with your morning cup again and again.
