French roast coffee recommendations

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Rikkitic

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#299196 19-Aug-2022 12:59

What are good French roast coffee brands? At the moment I am drinking the Countdown one, mainly because of the label. It isn’t that great and I am wondering what other options may be out there. I am only interested in French roast or equivalent. I don’t like Italian, especially espresso. Any suggestions?

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Handle9

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#2956609 19-Aug-2022 15:58

You’re probably going to get more suggestions if you describe the flavour profile you like and brew method you are using. Are you grinding fresh or looking for pre-ground?

Rikkitic

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#2956653 19-Aug-2022 17:19

Thanks for the reply. I am not a gourmand or an expert in any way and I don't have the specialised vocabulary that goes with that. I just know what coffee I like, which is usually described as French roast. I like the rich, intense flavour and I like the coffee I used to get in the south of France, which is the best in the world. As far as I know, 'French roast' IS the flavour profile unless you mean something else, which I then do not understand. I brew each cup individually using the filter method. I either grind the beans myself or I purchase the 'espresso' grind. I don't actually like Italian espresso, which is bitter to my taste, but it also describes the fine grind needed for filter coffee.

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#2956665 19-Aug-2022 18:02

French roast is mostly the level of roast (very dark, almost burnt), if you use different beans you'll get slightly different flavours however you are roasting most of the flavour differences out of the coffee.

Espresso is a brew method, usually associate with a fine grind, you can use the same beans for both with quite different results. There's a huge difference between traditional Italian espresso and modern, often lightly roasted, specialty coffee.

Traditional Italian espresso usually uses a fair bit of robusta beans, which gives the bitterness and astringency, traditional French roast uses more arabica which is more forgiving and smooth.

Using espresso grind is a bit different for filter (I'm guessing you mean pour over?) coffee - usually you use a medium grind otherwise you get a different level of extraction to what is normally considered ideal. I don't mean this as a criticism, if you like it brewed that way it's the right way to brew it. Like any subjective food/beverage topic coffee has a lot of snobbery and geekery about it.

Anyway if you are reading a packet of coffee you are looking for a very dark roast with mostly arabica. If its a specialty coffee company (as opposed to straight supermarket stuff) then it will almost always be arabica.

You are looking for words on the notes like smoky, rich, chocolatey, bittersweet. Avoid notes like fruity, bright, acidic, light roast. It might not be dark enough for you but Altezzano rich blend is very good at the darker end. It's also a bit pricey.

Rikkitic

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#2956715 19-Aug-2022 18:36

Handle9:

French roast is mostly the level of roast (very dark, almost burnt), if you use different beans you'll get slightly different flavours however you are roasting most of the flavour differences out of the coffee.

Espresso is a brew method, usually associate with a fine grind, you can use the same beans for both with quite different results. There's a huge difference between traditional Italian espresso and modern, often lightly roasted, specialty coffee.

Traditional Italian espresso usually uses a fair bit of robusta beans, which gives the bitterness and astringency, traditional French roast uses more arabica which is more forgiving and smooth.

Using espresso grind is a bit different for filter (I'm guessing you mean pour over?) coffee - usually you use a medium grind otherwise you get a different level of extraction to what is normally considered ideal. I don't mean this as a criticism, if you like it brewed that way it's the right way to brew it. Like any subjective food/beverage topic coffee has a lot of snobbery and geekery about it.

Anyway if you are reading a packet of coffee you are looking for a very dark roast with mostly arabica. If its a specialty coffee company (as opposed to straight supermarket stuff) then it will almost always be arabica.

You are looking for words on the notes like smoky, rich, chocolatey, bittersweet. Avoid notes like fruity, bright, acidic, light roast. It might not be dark enough for you but Altezzano rich blend is very good at the darker end. It's also a bit pricey.

Thanks for the information. That is very helpful. My coffee heritage is Dutch. There filter coffee is the norm, and the grind is fine, like espresso. I also have American experience, and the coffee there is undrinkable. After arriving here, I tried different things but have never found anything as good as Douwe Egberts 'roodmerk'. However that is very expensive here and only available from importers. I settled on Countdown French roast through trial and error but it isn't as good. For filter brewing the espresso grind is most like Dutch coffee. Regular grind is too coarse and the water passes through it too quickly. That is my experience. Yes, I mean pour over.

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#2956799 19-Aug-2022 23:22

Have a look at James Hoffmans YouTube channel with pour overs and grind size. I think you'll enjoy his attitude and you might learn some interesting information. If you enjoy what you make that's all that matters.

The upside is you get to try some new coffees which is always fun :)