Excellent Meal, Wonderful Hospitality, Superb Coffee

It was Bastille day in Paris, and after an excellent and very expensive meal, we were served our "French Roast" coffee in a sidewalk cafe when it began to rain. It was our first night in Paris and we had heard that the Parisians were a peculiar people – and that waiters were known to be extremely rude to American tourists. Yet, before we had the time to finish stirring the dark aromatic brew, the waiters were hovering over our table holding large umbrellas to protect us from the downpour. Ah yes, an excellent meal topped off with a superb cup of French Roast coffee – all served up with a large measure of French hospitality.

French Roast Coffee – Debunking the Myth

During our nearly month-long journey that year in Europe, our first stop was London. There, at the Liverpool Street train station, I began my in-depth exploration of "dark roast" coffees (French Roast) at the local cafe. It was the first of numerous dark roast coffees I would experience (and, of course, critique) during our sojourn across several countries.

We met-up with our traveling companions in the cafe. Interestingly, many of them declined savoring the dark roasts of the locals – uniformly commenting that darker roasted coffees are harsh and bitter – and are "supposed to be that way." Nonsense, of course, but a very interesting perception on their part.

A quality French Roast gourmet coffee is not harsh and bitter. Quite the opposite. See, the most common reasons for that harsh and bitter taste are (1) low-end (low quality) beans, (2) over-roasting of the coffee beans, and (3) grinding the coffee beans too fine for the type of coffee maker you are using.

That's why it is so very important to use premium quality coffee beans that are French Roasted correctly and, when grinding beans at home, it's important you choose the proper grind setting recommended by the grinder manufacturer.

Here's another popular misconception. The darker coffee beans are roasted, the stronger the coffee and the higher the caffeine content. Contrary to those beliefs, the opposite is true! Darker roasted coffees – like a French Roast or an even darker Italian Roast – contain about 15% less caffeine than lighter roasted coffees (like a Full City Roast or a Vienna Roast).

Gourmet Quality French Roast – What to Look For

First, focus on obtaining premium quality coffee beans. The quality of the beans ultimately reflects the quality of your brew.

Most all non-commercial French Roast coffee is from the Arabica coffee tree species. That's the only kind of coffee tree that can produce gourmet quality coffee beans. Many, if not all, of the "grocery store gourmet" beans (commercial grade beans) are usually from the Robusta species. To an extent, these beans may even be lower quality, lower grade Arabica beans.

Since there are at least 100 different types of coffee beans, and each coffee producing region around the world yields various grades of coffee – from premium quality grades to grocery store grades – you must be diligent to choose the better quality beans. The subtle fragrance and taste of gourmet quality French Roast is quickly lost when the coffee beans are inferior, or when the beans are not roasted properly.

Second, the roast of the beans must be "just right". Roasting coffee is as much of an art as it is a science. Not all coffee roasters know how to do it correctly. Coffee beans that are under-roasted – or roasted at too low a temperature – will produce a bland coffee. Beans that are over-roasted – or roasted at too high a temperature – will taste bitter or burnt (sound familiar).

Quite often the burnt taste will mask inferior quality beans, or those that are stale, musty and low in flavor. Again, contrary to popular belief, a dark roast does not equal a richer, more flavorful, or stronger cup of coffee.

Always Premium Quality – Never Less