Does Dark Roast Coffee Have More Caffeine? - Arbor Day Coffee Blog

By A Mystery Man Writer

A friend asked me, “do dark roast coffees have more caffeine than light roast coffees?” I replied, no. But if you think that dark roasted coffee is stronger in caffeine, you’re mistaken. There are a few more factors that determine how strong coffee is, the biggest one is whether you measure coffee by weight or volume. But there are a few other variables to consider. Plant Physiology There is a significant caffeine difference in arabica and robusta coffees, the two most common varieties. Arabica is typically considered higher quality and grown at higher elevations, with less caffeine in the fruit, while robusta has higher quantities of caffeine, giving it a more bitter taste. Diving further into the science of plant physiology may help explain why coffee grown at lower elevations naturally evolve to produce more caffeine in their seed, perhaps to increase their defense mechanisms due to the environmental and humid conditions that may have more insects for the plant to fend off. Solubility Since we are talking about arabica coffee, the question often comes when referring to the roast profile or degree of roast. There is one key factor to consider when discussing caffeine. It is easily removed from coffee when placed in hot water, due to its solubility. Caffeine is soluble in water, but not in the roasting process. You can put one raw bean in a coffee roaster and take that one roasted bean out of the roaster with it […]