untold-coffee-lab
Untold Coffee Lab Colombia Delagua Geisha Honey
Apple brightness arrives first, then maple sweetness catches it as the cup cools, with enough body behind both that the florals have somewhere to land.
Roast Level
Medium Roast
107 beans
6.9 avg score
$0.42–$10.83 /oz
What Medium Roast Does to Coffee
Medium roast reaches 415–435°F, just after first crack and before second crack begins. Sugars caramelize — caramel and brown sugar notes emerge from the roasting process itself, not just the origin. Acidity softens to a mild brightness. Body develops. Bitterness stays low.
Medium roast is the universal roast level. It's forgiving of brew method variation, origin inconsistency, and equipment limitations. The most-purchased bag of coffee in any grocery store is a medium roast for this reason.
Acidity, Body, Sweetness, Bitterness
Acidity: medium. Present enough to keep the cup lively; not aggressive enough to challenge an average palate.
Body: medium. Enough weight to feel satisfying without the heaviness of dark roast.
Sweetness: high. Caramelization produces the sweetest cup of any roast level. No roast bitterness competing with sugar development.
Bitterness: low. Medium roast is the sweet spot before roast-derived bitterness overtakes caramel sweetness.
Who Medium Roast Is For
Anyone who drinks coffee daily and wants a reliable cup without thinking about it. Drip machine users. Anyone who adds a small amount of milk for texture but wants to taste the coffee. Medium roast works at every price point.
Who Should Skip It
Light roast enthusiasts who want origin clarity — medium roast development covers some of the floral and fruit notes. Drinkers who want the intensity of dark roast in espresso. Those two audiences know what they want.
Medium Roast coffees reviewed
107 reviews
arkib-kopi
Arkib Kopi Colombia El Diviso Sidra
Strawberry-forward acidity and a sake-inflected fermentation finish: this is what the El Diviso Estate's Borbon Sidra varietal produces under anaerobic conditions, and nothing about it reads as familiar.
offshoot-coffee-roasters
Offshoot Coffee Roasters Sebastian Ramirez Pink Bourbon Honey Rare
Citrus brightness opens, peppercorn spice rises mid-cup, and a mint-chocolate cool arrives at the finish: a specific arc the body holds steady, with bitterness staying out of the picture entirely.
four-barrel-coffee
Four Barrel Coffee Kenya Gaturiri Peaberry
Built for filter brewers who want fruit clarity before anything else, this Nyeri peaberry delivers blackberry and dried currant at a sweetness the medium roast has no business sustaining.
mikava-coffee
Mikava Coffee Gesha Espresso Blend
Espresso drinkers seeking floral complexity and citric brightness get a washed Red Gesha from Marsella, Risaralda pulling maximum acidity and sweetness into a cup that earns its specialty-tier positioning.
coffeerem-roastery
Coffeerem Roastery Kenya Masai AA Top
The jasmine opens at 150F and the cup becomes something different: cherry-forward at serving temperature, floral and stone-fruit-sweet as it cools.
coffee-central
Coffee Central Colombia El Refugio Geisha
The lime hits first, sharp and citrus-specific, then the floral opens; this is Geisha character that the medium roast has not buried.
studio-caffeine
Studio Caffeine El Salvador Finca Santa Rosa Pacamara
The black tea dryness that closes the cup is the defining characteristic: Chalatenango Pacamara, anaerobically processed, resolves into something the El Salvador category rarely delivers.
alt-wien-kaffee
Alt Wien Kaffee Kenia Gicherori AA
Thin body is the primary trade-off; the SL-28 and SL-34 acidity from Embu is the payoff.
klatch-coffee
Klatch Coffee Guatemala Huehuetenango Rio Azul SHB EP
Cherry and orange arrive at the first sip, and the sweetness holds through the finish without anything added to coax it.
case-study-coffee-roasters
Case Study Coffee Roasters Ethiopia Guji Shakiso (Natural)
Performs cleanly across pour over, drip, and French press, with the citrus-bright fruit carrying through each method and the wine-like peppery finish arriving last, distinctive enough to make this Danbi Uddo lot stand on its own.
klatch-coffee
Klatch Coffee El Salvador Las Mercedes Pacamara Black Honey
Holds its sweetness across drip, pour over, and French press without the roast getting involved, and the payoff is stone fruit clarity grounded in Pacamara's structural weight.
penyora
Penyora Colombia Santa Monica Espresso
Natural anaerobic processing trades the origin-defined clarity of a washed Quindío Colombian for saturated tropical sweetness and exceptional body: this is fruit-maximalist espresso, built for drinkers who want the fermentation character to lead.
wes-ngopi
Wes Ngopi Ethiopia – Banko Taratu – Washed
Jasmine leads, peach follows, and the 777 double fermentation closes the cup on a calpis-like sweetness that a standard washed Ethiopian doesn't produce.
studio-caffeine
Studio Caffeine OMNI Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Winey Natural
Pour over brings the black grape and maraschino into distinct focus; drip softens the winey edge into something more approachable, and both deliver a fruit precision that commodity Ethiopian roasting does not reach.
triple-five-coffee-roasters
Triple Five Coffee Roasters Colombia Pink Bourbon
At $1.75 per ounce, this Pink Bourbon earns most of its price tag: maximum citrus-driven acidity and genuine floral lift, with bitterness low enough (2/5) that the brightness stays clean all the way through.
perky-blenders-coffee-roasters
Perky Blenders Coffee Roasters Anthem Blend
Orange zest and caramelized sweetness arrive at full volume, sustained by a body heavier than most medium blends can manage.
district-v
District V Kolumbien Manos Juntas
The anaerobic natural process redirected this medium-roast Colombian from origin transparency toward fermentation sweetness and winey lift, and the trade pays off for drinkers who want the process to be the point.