Do you think light roast coffee is weaker than a dark roast? Undeceive yourself, madame/monsieur.
Light coffee can be flavorful and caffeine-rich. Enjoying a cup of dark coffee doesn’t mean it has to be a dark roast. It just means that you’re taking your coffee without sugar, milk, or other additives.
The misconception of a light roast being a “light” coffee keeps many people away from enjoying this wonderful coffee. Take a look at these best light roast coffee beans and you might find yourself a whole new favorite. If you enjoy light roasts, you’ll likely find something new to try.
Editor’s Choice: Lifeboost Light Roast Low-Acid Healthy Coffee
A smooth light roast brings out the flavors and taste notes like no other. So it’s a good thing that Lifeboost Light Roast Low-Acid Healthy Coffee has plenty of flavor and deliciousness to flaunt. A big reason for this is the ideal environment in which this coffee is grown.
Lifeboost coffee uses single-source beans brought in right from an exclusive plantation in Nicaragua. Nestled high in the mountains, the coffee farm has an elevation of nearly a mile above the sea level. Another aspect of the beans is that they are organic, non-GMO, pesticide-free, and shade-grown.
All these factors come together to create light roast coffee beans that display vibrant flavors and pleasing after taste. Ideal growing conditions do play a big part in these high-quality coffee beans.
Lifeboost Light Roast Low-Acid Healthy Coffee is available as whole coffee beans or ground coffee. So take your pick and enjoy these wonderful flavor notes.
Highlights
- Single-source coffee
- 100% Arabica coffee sourced from Nicaragua
- High-grown and shade-grown coffee
- Certified USDA Organic and Fair Trade
- Smooth coffee with lasting aftertaste
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Top Light Roast Coffees To Consider
- Silencer Smooth Light Roast Whole Bean Coffee by Black Rifle Coffee Company
- Wink Coffee Blonde Roast, Whole Bean Coffee
- Kicking Horse Coffee, Hola, Light Roast
- Cafe 1820 Tueste Claro | Light Roast
- Cafe Don Pablo Subtle Earth Organic Gourmet Coffee – Light Roast
- Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC, White Knight Organic Coffee
- Panera Bread Coffee, Light Roast
- Coffee Bean Direct Hawaiian Kona Blend Coffee, Light Roast
- Cameron’s Coffee Roasted Ground Coffee Bag, Breakfast Blend
Reviewed: The Best Of Light Roast Coffee
1. Silencer Smooth Light Roast Whole Bean Coffee by Black Rifle Coffee Company
Black Rifle Company is owned by US military veterans. That’s one reason why the name of the company and its products often refers to ammunition or weapons. For some products, even the packaging can look like military supplies. True to their calling, the company supports causes for veterans, first responders, and law enforcement officers.
As its name implies, Silencer Smooth is a blend of light roasted coffee beans that create a wonderfully smooth cup. You’ll find a citrus touch, crisp finish, and a sweet aroma in a cup of this coffee.
They use high-quality beans for this coffee. Colombian and Brazilian coffee beans come together to make a cup that’s delightfully smooth and has the kick of caffeine we’ve come to rely on!
Highlights
- Whole bean coffee
- Blend of Brazilian and Colombian beans
- Taste notes of citrus and a sweet aroma
2. Wink Coffee Blonde Roast, Whole Bean Coffee
Wink Coffee Blonde Roast is presented as “silky smooth” and that’s pretty much true. Smoothness is a default trait of the light roast coffee, seen in practically all high-quality offerings.
Speaking of quality, this coffee is made from one of the best beans in the world. It’s a high grown coffee from the Colombian Andes. The unique location makes it high on flavor and gives it delightful taste notes that are often seen in Colombian coffee.
The blonde roast has a vibrant touch of citrus with milk chocolate taste notes. You’ll also find hints of an earthy flavor and nuttiness. One of the reasons it’s our favorite is because even beginners can drink this coffee dark and enjoy the flavors. Its taste is wonderful and something coffee beginners and pros can all appreciate.
Highlights
- Whole bean coffee
- Single source high grown coffee from Colombian Andes
- Taste notes of milk chocolate with earthy flavors and nuttiness
3. Kicking Horse Coffee, Hola, Light Roast
Kicking Horse Coffee, Hola, Light Roast is a blend created with Central and South American coffees. The taste notes here are juicy red currant which goes remarkably well with the overall feel of the coffee.
This is a ground coffee and the company recommends brewing it with a drip machine or pour over method. Cold brew is good too and that’s just what we want for the summer! Hola is a delightful blend and a great choice for the morning pick-me-up coffee.
Highlights
- Ground coffee
- Blend of Central and South American coffee
- Taste notes of red currant
- Excellent aroma
- Certifications: Kosher, Fair Trade, USDA Organic, Canada Organic
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4. Cafe 1820 Tueste Claro | Light Roast
Cafe 1820 Tueste Claro is amongst the well-known brands of Costa Rica Coffee. This light roast is particularly interesting as a delightful coffee that shows off the highlights of the Central American nation’s coffee. Expect the vibrant acidity and flavors Costa Rica is famous for, and enjoy the best of them with this light roast.
The only downside to this coffee is the pricing. It is expensive. This is great coffee, but the value for money here seems to have gone off balance.
Highlights
- Ground coffee from Costa Rica
- Excellent taste and aroma
- Questionable value for money
5. Cafe Don Pablo Subtle Earth Organic Gourmet Coffee – Light Roast
Sourced from Honduras, this coffee comes with sweet notes of honey, caramel, and cocoa. A pleasant aftertaste completes the set and makes this a coffee to love. Cafe Don Pablo Subtle Earth Organic Gourmet Coffee – Light Roast brews a smooth cup of coffee.
Beans are sourced from the Marcala region, where the high altitude helps them get denser and allows flavors to shine through. The coffee is non-GMO and certified organic.
Highlights
- Whole coffee beans
- Sourced from Marcala in Honduras
- High grown beans with taste notes of honey, caramel, and cocoa
- Certifications: non-GMO, USDA organic
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6. Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC, White Knight Organic Coffee
White Knight from Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC is an organic light roast coffee. The blend uses premium single origin coffee beans and brings them together to create a brew that’s bold and smooth. The flavor here is truly amazing and is a great way to start the day.
The taste notes of cherry and cocoa are quite prominent and enjoyable with this coffee. White night comes with USDA certification to highlight its organic origins.
Highlights
- Whole bean coffee blend
- Excellent flavor and aroma
- Taste notes of cherry and cocoa
- Certifications: USDA organic
7. Panera Bread Coffee, Light Roast
Panera Bread defines this light roast as balanced and bright with a note of nutty flavors. This is a bold and smooth coffee that is quite enjoyable. It does, however, lack the vibrant flavor profile we’ve come to love with light roasts. The nutty flavor is nice, but I was expecting something… more.
Overall, this is an enjoyable and smooth coffee. I just feel it could have been better. It’s not exactly cheap, so asking for a finer flavor shouldn’t really be out of the park for this coffee.
Highlights
- Ground coffee blend
- Good flavor and aroma
- Bold and smooth
8. Coffee Bean Direct Hawaiian Kona Blend Coffee, Light Roast
Coffee Bean Direct has done an excellent job at gourmet coffee with this light roast Kona blend. The blend contains about 10% Kona coffee, and the rest includes various other premium coffee beans.
Coffee beans are chosen in a way that highlights and accentuates the flavor of Kona coffee. The goal is to bring the rare and expensive taste of Kona to a more affordable package. They succeed quite well in that attempt. Of course, it’s not 100% Kona, but the flavor and aroma are still very enjoyable. This coffee has a mellow body and shows taste notes of coriander, buttery macadamia nut, and mocha.
Highlights
- Whole coffee beans
- Blend of 10% Kona and premium coffees
- Excellent flavor and aroma
- Taste notes of coriander, macadamia nut, and mocha
9. Cameron’s Coffee Roasted Ground Coffee Bag, Breakfast Blend
Cameron’s Breakfast Blend is a very well regarded light roast. It doesn’t quite hold up with some of the artisanal and gourmet options on this list, but it certainly is an enjoyable brew. It brews a bright and fruity coffee that’s rich in flavor and provides a solid start to the day. The blend is made from coffees sourced from Central and South America.
Highlights
- Ground coffee beans
- Blend of Central and South American coffees
- Enjoyable bright and fruity cup of coffee
A Quick Buying Guide For Light Roast Goodness
What Is A Light Roast?
Roasting coffee is a way to bring out its flavor and potential. Green coffee beans don’t offer much in the way of the coffee flavor all of us love and enjoy. It’s when they’re roasted that the delicious flavor and aroma we love shows up.
The roast level of coffee is determined by cracks. While there is no standard definition, light roasted coffee brands prefer to stop roasting at, or just before, the first crack shows up. Going any further puts it in the range of a medium roast. At the far end of the spectrum is the strong and bold Italian roast coffee.
Flavors change as coffee beans are roasted. A light roast is more likely to highlight the inherent flavors of a coffee and show off the subtle taste notes. For most beans, this changes as the roast progresses, until the dominant notes are the bittersweet (perhaps chocolatey) notes of dark roast.
Is Light Roast More Acidic Coffee?
In a way, yes. Light roasts have the highest acidity and are the brightest roast. However, when brewed, practically all roasts have the same pH value on the acidity scale. It’s important to remember that the vibrant acidity in a light roast often represents the taste notes of coffee. Light roasts retain the varying characteristics of different origins that result in the wonderful taste notes.
That said, if you have to consider a low acid coffee, a darker roast might be a better choice. It’s not a clear science yet. So while darker roasts work better for most people, some will find light roast to be easier on the stomach.
While we’re on topic, it’s also worth noting that light roasts aren’t oily like dark roasts. Secondly, by virtue of their preparation, light roast beans tend to have more moisture content than dark roast coffee beans.
Light Roast Coffee FAQs
1. Is light or dark roast coffee more bitter?
Light roast coffee spends less time in the roaster and retains more characteristics of the coffee origins. It’s vibrant and brighter, and less likely to be bitter. Dark roast coffee spends more time in the roasting process and runs a greater risk of getting bitter, though a proper roast rarely falls into that trap.
Keep in mind, over-extraction will turn any coffee bitter. Simply put, a light roast brew has a slightly lower chance of tasting bitter. However, it is not immune to that problem.
2. Does dark or light roast coffee have more caffeine?
Both, depending on how you view the measurements. This is something of a never-ending debate and the answer can vary in some conditions. Generally speaking, as green coffee beans are roasted, they lose their water content. However, longer roasting also reduces the caffeine content in the beans.
Therefore, a single bean of light roast coffee is likely to have more caffeine content than a dark roast. But, dark roast coffee beans have more caffeine by mass i.e. one oz of dark roast will likely have more caffeine than a light roast. This is because dark roast coffee beans are lighter since they have low water content.
For an average cup of coffee, these changes make little to no difference as far as caffeine content is considered.
3. What does light roast coffee taste like?
Light roast coffees usually have a sweeter, tangy taste. They highlight the characteristics of their growing region and showcase various flavors and taste notes. Various coffee growing regions provide their own classic taste notes to the coffee, thanks to the soil and elevation.
High grown coffee usually has a more pronounced effect because the bean takes a longer time to mature. This also gives the characteristic taste notes more time to form and make their presence felt in the coffee.
The Bottom Line — Choosing The Right Light Roast Coffee
It is important to remember that light roast coffee is as strong and enjoyable as any other roast. Your choice of the best light roast coffee beans shouldn’t be directed by the perception of a “strong” coffee, but by your preference of flavors and expected taste.
Light roast coffee highlights taste notes characteristic of coffee growing regions. When you drink this coffee, take time to enjoy these unique characteristics of the coffee. The sheer joy of coffee being so flavorful without added flavors is quite remarkable.