Roast Classifications

The Ibis Full City Roast

The goal of The Ibis Full City Roast is to maximize for special variety flavor and aromatic qualities that make a particular coffee famous. Differences in coffee rootstock, soil, climate, altitude, crop management, cultural practices, processing, shipping and storage can all affect coffee quality and determine how a coffee should be roasted to bring out the classic characteristics that make premium coffee special. Many new roasters and large roasting houses roast by color alone. Ibis Full City Roast is our lightest roasting profile. At the Ibis we roast for the coffee. Even coffee from the same grower may require a difference in roasting approach (for example: early crop vs. late crop).

The Ibis Dark Roast

As coffee is roasted past full city, roasting characteristics begin to play a larger role than bean quality or country of origin. Some roasters will even buy down on grade for dark roasts thinking that the roast will cover up quality problems. At The Ibis we use the same premium quality beans for all our dark roasts.

If you like a smoother, spicier, and more full-flavored coffee you may want to join the increasing numbers of people who prefer the dark side of the bean. High altitude roasting provides the optimum conditions for dark roasting. The Ibis Dark Roast (Vienna roast) is taken beyond the full city roast in temperature and roast time. Once again, it is important to pay careful attention to the highly individual characteristics of each coffee to arrive at the optimum dark roast.

The Ibis Dark Roast Classics

At The Ibis we follow an over 100 year old European tradition in roasting our darker roasts. Our Vienna Roast is next in darkness after Full City, then our Espresso Roast, followed by our French Roast and finally Double French (Italian). There can be regional differences in how different roasters classify their roasts. Espresso really refers to a method of brewing precisely fine ground coffee under high pressure. Much of the popularity of our espresso has developed from the custom roast specifications of our espresso blend.

The darker roasts are where roasting equipment and conditions and roastmaster training become critical in producing consistent quality. All of our dark roast classics are blends of our very finest coffees. The blends are intended to produce a coffee that is more interesting, complex, and flavorful than any of the individual coffees would be alone when roasted in the same manner. These are classic examples of "the whole being greater than the sum of its parts".

The Ibis Blended Coffees

Even coffee purists accept the blending of coffees to create coffees with increased interest and complexity. Coffees can be blended either before or after roasting to give different taste sensations. Like great cooking, coffee blending can approach art form. Like cooking, anyone can play at this game and discover personal favorites.