It’s the lightest roast I’ve had. Had to grind so much finer to dial in. The colour in the puck looks amazing.
However taste wise, it’s not for me, at least for espresso. Tasted like celery and carrots. 🥕 maybe it would shine better in a pour over.
by northernlionpog
33 Comments
I’ve had this problem as well with very light roasts… curious if anyone has any tips on their preferred brew methods for lighter roasts
“Your coffee tastes like carrots” is probably also the lightest roast you’ve ever had
Try a very quick 12-15 second turbo shot. 1:3 ratio. It will be messy and spray everywhere, that’s OK.
She’s gorgeous ✨
This is what I imagined unroasted beans would look like in a portafilter.
Light roasts for pourover all the way, too much sourness and hassle for me when it comes to espresso.
I don’t like light roast. I love the smell of a yummy DARK roast. Mmmm.
Grinder makes a huge difference, along with a high extraction basket with a paper filter on the bottom. With a brew burr, high extraction and paper filter, I am able to pull americanos that taste pretty similar to a good pour over with standard ratios. The espresso tastes good too, but I find it hard to identify florals if I dont water it down a bit first.
Did you collect all the quackers you got in 2025?
A tea portafilter increases bloom time. 👌
You can’t make light roast espressos without a professional machine and a professional barista.
I know a guy who is a guru of light roast coffee, when he’s on vacation, he goes to a friend barista’s coffeeshop and drinks his espressos there, not at home. Becaues he doesn’t have a slayer at home
Turmericcino. It could work.
Are you sure that’s not actually just dried celery and carrots?
Light roasts that taste like celery are underdeveloped. You can give the beans more rest time (4-5 weeks off roast) and it may develop the notes you’re looking for. If not then it’s an issue with the roasting process not you
How sure are you that thats coffee?
An austere, contemplative cup, opening with an unmistakably vegetal attack: cool green celery leaf and freshly snapped stalk, lending a saline, almost mineral crispness. Mid-palate develops into sweet root notes—young carrot, lightly steamed—tempered by a faint loamy earthiness that evokes damp garden soil after rain. Acidity is restrained but precise, recalling clarified vegetable stock rather than fruit, while the finish lingers dry and savory, with a whisper of parsley stem and raw fennel. A challenging but intellectually rewarding coffee, more mise en place than dessert, inviting reflection on the porous boundary between café and kitchen.
This is obscenely light. I love light roasts. Love the Nordic lights as espresso. Still, I’ve never seen anything like this, not that I’m any sort of expert. I’d be inclined to think this roast is a mistake.
Using a step down basket and an extended preinfusion gets me very good results from light roasts. Since switching from a sage dual boiler to a decent, I’ve also managed to make more textured shots that aren’t sour.
Using the blooming espresso profile with a 60s pause at the moment.
I’m not into anything lighter than darker medium roast, and it’s pushing it for me.
Are you sure that isn’t the powdered stuff that office workers make caramel latte with? Comes in a paper sachet and you just ad water!
I’m no expert, but even to me, that doesn’t look pleasant; as for carrots and celery, maybe you’re supposed to make soup out of it!
I agree that this sounds potentially underdeveloped. Even though some coffee has a relatively savory profile (Indonesian, Yemeni, etc), carrots and celery sounds like the grassy character that tends to show up in under roasted coffee. What’s the origin of this coffee?
Personally, I have generally only been able to get decent medium light roast espresso on my flair 58+ by using the highest heat setting, near boiling water, and a long pre infusion.
I have frequently heard that pulling a longer shot can work, but personally I’ve found the opposite to be true. I assume there’s truth to the benefits of using longer ratios, and i’d like to explore that method a little more, but I’m just not personally a huge fan of that profile, so I haven’t dialed in my long shot game.
If I’m getting too much acidity, but no underdeveloped vegetal notes, pulling a ristretto shot (specifically 1:1-1:1.5) often produces a shot with enough intensity to balance out the acidity. I don’t have much experience with coffee that is as light and vegetal as what you are describing, so that may or may not improve it, but it might be worth a try.
As much as I enjoy light roasted fruity and floral natural process shots, espresso just tends to be so unforgiving of coffee that is even slightly underdeveloped, so anymore I mostly drink medium roast espresso and save the super light stuff for pour over.
Which grinder?
How long has it rested for?
Random-ish question: How are you finding the Argos? I have one on order and I can’t wait to get it and play around with it.
Argos supremacy
93°C, 1:3 in 22 sec. Usually I also do a lower dose (16g in 48g out). It’s worked for most light roasts for me.
Every time I have a medium or lighter roast I no longer taste coffee, it’s more like wine fruit or grapes or something.
When you grind, if it smells meaty then it’s too light. If you want to taste the bean, chew one.
Ooof this is nsfw
Sometimes it’s just hard to get a coffee to taste good. I had a wushwush that tasted like pickles regardless of what factors I changed. That said, that’s one of the fun parts of light roast.
Had something like it. As soon as i made a latte with it, the microfoam would start melting away. By the time i returned with the spoon, 1/3 of my cup was empty!
Don’t know about the coffee but I really like the picture !
Light roast espresso is like dancing on the edge of a knife. If you get it right, it can be incredible. But if a little off, you are in for serious pain. We run a med to med-light roast at our shop, and it can be tough enough that way.
Where’s the shot?