# French roast \> other varieties **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155 "2017-11-30T16:53:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/1 "2017-11-30T16:53:26Z")
I just don’t understand why anyone would want “breakfast” barf or whatever other magical variety they’ve come up with lately. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/2 "2017-11-30T16:56:03Z")
French roast isn’t the variety, it’s the degree of roasting, with French roast being the highest level bordering (or often will into) burnt. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/3 "2017-11-30T17:20:59Z")
Spoke too soon. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/4 "2017-11-30T17:23:20Z")
Many people have been trained to associate full body with over-roasted, burnt beans. A full-bodied coffee with a light or medium roast of high-quality beans allows you to taste and smell all the other flavors and aromas that would be otherwise swamped in a dark roast. I thought descriptions of coffee with words like leather, honeysuckle, ripe berries, etc. were pretentious crap until I tasted good light roasts. I never go back to burnt french roasts. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/5 "2017-11-30T18:39:32Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > French roast isn’t the variety, it’s the degree of roasting, with French roast being the highest level bordering (or often will into) burnt. Actually there is an Italian roast, which is darker. Italian roast, in English, means ‘burnt to shit’. And a Dark French roast, which means ‘really burnt to shit’. Slee ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/6 "2017-11-30T21:10:44Z")
French and Italian roast coffees are awful. They’re incinerated and ashy. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/7 "2017-11-30T21:17:52Z")
Perhaps to taste the coffee? Beans roasted right and not stale and brewed correctly can taste amazingly awesome. While I had many cups that fit this, I have never had a dark roast that did. That falls into the light to medium range. Dark coffee is strong and dependable, but never amazing. Other roasts are amazing on occasion but often variable, that is the difference. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/8 "2017-11-30T21:32:26Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Perhaps to taste the coffee? Beans roasted right and not stale and brewed correctly can taste amazingly awesome. While I had many cups that fit this, I have never had a dark roast that did. That falls into the light to medium range. Dark coffee is strong and dependable, but never amazing. Other roasts are amazing on occasion but often variable, that is the difference. In addition, lighter roasts have a [bit more caffeine](http://www.ncausa.org/About-Coffee/Coffee-Roasts-Guide). ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/9 "2017-12-01T05:26:02Z")
French roast is fine if you like a very sweet tasting coffee but the flavor become undrinkable and vile as the coffee cools and the mouth-feel gets … “liquid soapy”… that’s the only way I can describe it, also, unlike other roasts, French roast cannot be reheated into any semblance of potability. I’ve never, to my knowledge had Italian roasted coffee. As a side note, if drinking blended coffee, stay away from anything using the word silk in the name. It’s code for “substitute used butt-wipe for actual coffee” ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/10 "2017-12-01T05:46:16Z")
Am I the only one who read the thread title as “French toast”? I was wondering why breakfast was in quotes and who would barf at different varieties of french toast! ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/11 "2017-12-01T05:47:33Z")
I like the darker roasts, they seem (to my stomach at least) to be less acidic? I’ve been drinking a mellow cuban brew, it doesnt seem throw off my digestion as much as lighter brews do. (less caffiene? I dont know) > **[Café Cubano Roast - Mayorga Coffee](https://mayorgacoffee.com/products/cafecubano?variant=34505431495)** > > Signature Blend. Dark Roast. Full body cup with hints of vanilla and a sweet, syrupy smokiness, with a smooth, bold finish. edit: Italian does seem to be “smoky” ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/12 "2017-12-01T14:16:56Z")
Might as well have a thread on why anyone would drink any other whiskey or whisky than a heavily peated Islay. Different preferences, different mood of the moment, liking variety? I do think different food and beverage preferences tend to cluster together. I for example often prefer a somewhat darker roast (not burnt thank you) and prepared in a French Press with some mouth feel in the final cup, and can appreciate a lighter roast with what often gets referred to as “higher notes” as well. It seems to me that others who do often like me who lean to the darker side also would gravitate toward an Islay over a Highland, to desserts that have some texture over say a flan, and so on. Could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-roast-other-varieties/803155/13 "2017-12-01T19:38:35Z")
Blend of [torrefacto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrefacto) (blackened and sticky from sugar glaze) and normal roasted beans is the way to go.