Roasted for Filter vs Espresso – say what?
Ready for some fresh roasts?
A whole bunch of new beans have arrived in the last few days. Combining an incredible range of flavours, they taste like summer in a cup.
Sounds tempting?
Grab yourself one of these fireworks of flavours from our web shop – or visit us for a sip of sparks. Anytime.
One thing these new beans have in common: They’re all roasted for filter use (although they’ll taste like an exquisite espresso too of course. Nobody will stop you from trying.)
And yet: Have you ever wondered why there is made a difference? Why some coffees are labelled as roasts for filter and others for espresso? We’ll shortly explain some of the reasons.
«I prefer roasting filter coffee because it’s more challenging. You have to be much more precise in order to give the bean the chance to express itself to the fullest.»
Alfonso, Head of
Roasting
First things first: To give you the full picture, we’d have to talk about how the green bean is grown – because that’s where the difference starts. But (so as not to overwhelm you with information) let’s skip some of that and move on to the roasting process:
Roasting
The aim of an espresso is above all to create balance: Acidity, sweetness, bitterness – everything must be in harmony.
In order to achieve this (to get a nice body, to enhance the sweetness, to minimise the bitterness and to reduce the acidity), the beans are roasted for a longer time and in a gentler way. This caramelises the sugars and breaks down the acids (making the coffee less acidic).
With filter coffees, we have a similar aim: to create balance and harmony. BUT – and there’s a difference – we also want to highlight the special characteristics of this coffee.
Means: We’re trying to get more floral flavours, fruitiness and acidity – by reducing the roasting time. During a shorter roasting time the sugars also don’t caramelise as they would in an espresso. This results in more complex aromas and the bean will taste like a brighter cup of coffee. In other words: It will have clear fruit notes, a sharp acidity and a clean taste.
The rest (in terms of specific roasting recipes), as our roaster Alfonso says, is a bit of a secret. Fair enough.
Extraction
Another point is that the extraction process makes the coffee taste different:
Espresso (due to the water pressure, shorter extraction time and higher brew ratio) contains more concentrated flavours – espresso is therefore more punchy.
Filter coffee, on the other hand (due to the longer, simply gravitational extraction process and lower brew ratio), has a more complex flavour profile. It contains more aromatic, fruity and delicate notes as well as more acidity and bitterness.
Also, filtering the coffee removes many of the lipids, as they remain in the filter paper – so the mouthfeel is very delicate and different from an intense and creamy espresso.
You could say that a filter coffee has more depth to “read”, whereas espressos are rather short stories – they get to the point more quickly.
«Most people say filter coffee tastes like tea», says Ivan, our quality manager. And: «I’d like to encourage people to give filter a chance: It can be a deeper and more interesting experience than espresso.»
Indeed, the best and most expensive coffees are made for filter. «Filter is definitely the royal discipline of coffees.»
«As a filter brew, you get to know the coffee better – in its purest form.»
Ivan, Head of Quality & Education
Last but not least though it’s always a matter of taste.
And whether you’re a filter lover or an espresso nerd or not yet in possession of a fancy machine or brewing utensil – our new coffee beans will still make your day perfect. Promise.