There is a common debate among coffee drinkers that the darker the roast the more the caffeine. Light roast jitter chasers will tell you that the dark roast isn‘t the highest octane beverage. And dark roast enthusiasts will strongly attest that the darker the roast the better the buzz.
Spoiler alert. It really doesn‘t have much to do with the roast at all. I know the fervent believers won‘t buy into this idea; however I‘ve got some data to share with you that may just shift your perspective.
The roasting process doesn‘t change the amount of caffeine. The chemical caffeine is present in all coffee beans naturally and stays constant throughout the roasting process. The high temperatures required to roast coffee will force the bean to give up water and some CO2, but the base chemistry stays the same. Don‘t get me wrong, you can roast the heck out of a batch and change the chemistry, but we call that ‘lava‘ and I don‘t recommend that for your morning cup of joe. More like your last cup of joe ever. It tastes terrible.
Now a bit of science to help those dark roast caffeine gulpers. When you roast coffee it changes weight due to the water that evaporates as part of the process. You‘ll see this phenomenon in popcorn too. I‘ll put a pound of green (unroasted) beans in the roaster and lose anywhere between 15% and 18% of the weight in the roasting process. The darker the roast, the more water is released and the more weight the coffee beans will lose. So, technically, a pound of dark roasted coffee is more concentrated than a pound of light roast coffee, ounce for ounce. That is a very minute difference, so the dark-roasties out there get a slim advantage here.
The genetics of the bean is where you should look for your caffeine boost. There are varieties of coffee bean plants that are descended from caffeine royalty and those that are descended from divine flavor heritage. These aren‘t mutually exclusive. Check out the very full family tree of our friend below.
This family tree is what makes coffee so diverse and so much fun for a roaster. There is a great lineage of varieties to choose from and they all have unique flavor profiles and chemistry.
The vast majority of what western coffee drinkers enjoy is Arabica coffee and that is about 90% of the family tree above. The Robusta family is not generally liked by the western palette; however, it is popular in other cultures like India. While arabica coffees taste bright, citrusy, or even floral, robusta coffee has flavor notes that are stronger and more bitter.
Here is the punchline. Robusta has about twice the caffeine of Arabica. The arabica bean will generally have about 1.7% caffeine per cup and Robust has about 2.5% caffeine.
We believe that a blend of the two can be a perfect match. So if you‘re looking for a bit of an extra buzz then you should check out a blend that contains Robusta like our Hyper Brew. Sure to tickle your taste buds and keep you dancing all day long. We hope you‘ll give it a try and enjoy a cup of one of our favorite roasts.
