What coffees do we offer at Two Chimps?

At Two Chimps Coffee, we roast our single-origin coffees individually to suit different brewing styles. Some of our coffees are considered a light roast, whilst others are towards a medium-dark roast.

When we roast, we make sure that we stay away from bitter, burnt and oily coffee. We want to keep the natural flavours within the beans rather than turn these into unpleasant notes. So, to cut to the chase, you won’t ever see pure dark roasts at Two Chimps. We can’t wrap our heads around why you would want to burn speciality coffee (shudder!).

But what are these different roast styles, and how are they different from each other? Keep reading to find out.

Light & Fruity

Let’s start by discussing lighter roasted coffees, our head chimp Andy’s favourite roast style! The easiest way to tell if a bean has been roasted lightly is by its colour. The beans will be light brown and have a matte finish. Lighter roasted coffees can have a balanced flavour and usually have a brighter acidity, similar to that found in fruit (get where the name comes from now!)

To get the most from a lighter roasted coffee, we recommend using either a paper filter brewing method, like a V60, or a Cafetiere, as these methods rely mostly on gravity to brew. This low pressure allows these coffees and their delicate flavours room to shine.

How to brew with a V60

How to brew with a Cafetiere

Medium

Medium-roasted coffees are often referred to as city or full city roasts. This roast level is the next step up from a light roast, allowing the natural sugars within the bean more time to develop.

As you can imagine, this results in a sugarcane, caramel, or toffee sweetness becoming present.

With this additional time given in the roaster, the brighter, acidic flavours can head over toward the dark side. For instance, a citrussy acidity could develop toward a dark fruit acidity instead.

Our brew device for medium roast coffee would be an espresso machine, Moka pot or Aeropress.

How to brew with a Moka Pot

How to brew with a AeroPress

Medium/Dark

Lastly, let’s talk about darker roasted coffees, often known as French, or Italian roasts. These beans will be a very dark, rich brown or almost black in colour, depending on the final level of roasting.

You will also notice they have a shiny finish due to the oils escaping from the coffee beans. Beans that are roasted darker will lose their original characteristics, and there will often be very little to distinguish between each origin after roasting.

The flavours left within the coffee will usually be burnt, bitter, smoky, with a hint of toffee or caramel (if you are lucky!) As coffee roasts, some of the caffeine is roasted out, too. The darker the roast, the more caffeine is lost as a rule. Don’t worry, however; this is barely noticeable.

On the subject of caffeine, if you need a coffee with no caffeine, we recommend our best selling, naturally decaffeinated coffee!

Check it out!