Best Medium Roast Coffee Beans: Reviews and Buyer’s Guide

Best Medium Roast Coffee

Therefore, it’s hard to choose only the best product from the market. Everyone has different reasons for buying medium roast coffee. To help make your choice easier, we have organized the best coffee brands by value for money. Here are the Urban Bean Coffee’s top 10 best medium roast coffees in 2021:

1. LifeBoost Coffee – Best Medium Roast Coffee Beans

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This coffee comes from the highlands of Nicaragua, a country that has unique coffee-growing factors that affect the taste of the final drink.

The plantations that grow coffee for Lifeboost are located at an altitude of 5,700 feet. Here, among untouched ecology, only premium, shade-grown coffee is produced.

It is not easy to grow coffee here, and therefore the company has a Fair Trade certification. This means that it respects the rights of all workers on its plantations and provides them with decent working conditions.

This medium roast has a bright, rich flavor with notes of fruits and spices and a long-lasting, wine-like aftertaste. Despite the fact that this is a single-origin coffee, with each new cup you will discover new and slightly exotic shades of its taste. These are the features of coffee from the highest Nicaraguan plantations.

You can choose from whole beans or ground coffee beans.

2. Spirit Animal Coffee — Specialty-Grade Coffee

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To make the best coffee, you need high-quality, fresh beans with excellent flavor. Spirit Animal Coffee caters to coffee connoisseurs. Now they have a great offer: You can order a set of 3 bags with a 50% discount.

The company uses specialty coffees with Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) scores ranging from 88 to 90.5 points. They are some of the highest-rated coffees you can taste. Usually, coffees with scores that high go to championships and special roasts rather than the mass market.

The coffee is grown in the shade of trees high in the mountains, is not treated with pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and is harvested by hand at the peak of ripeness. Because of this, it has a complex flavor with notes of jasmine, mango, pineapple, orange, peach, and sugarcane.

Coffee is delivered to the roastery by air transportation immediately after harvesting. The beans are then roasted to order, which ensures you get to brew coffee from the freshest beans.

3. Coffee Bros.

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The Coffee Bros. medium roast blend is one of the best in its segment, and is formulated to hit all the right notes in terms of flavors. Coffee Bros. – the company was launched by two brothers – Nick and Dan Hunnewell recently in 2019, but has taken the industry by storm due to their superior quality of products.

This medium roast coffee blend is made from 100 percent Arabica beans, and is infused with subtle tastes of red fruit (strawberry), brown sugar, and hazelnut topped with a balanced and round body. Arabica beans, if you didn’t know offers twice the flavor and aroma as its counterparts, making it a great choice for all types of coffee lovers. 

With regards to freshness, Coffee Bros. sends Amazon com small batches per week, so they always have the freshest batches available to deliver right to your doorstep. Once you receive a batch of the Coffee Bros. medium espresso coffee, you can store and use it up to three months after the roast date mentioned on the box. 

The Coffee Bros. medium roast coffee originates from Brazil, Ethiopia and Colombia, and can be used in espresso machine – 20 grams yields 40 grams of liquid, drip machine – 60 grams makes approximately one liter, and drip machine – 60 grams makes one liter.

4. Kicking Horse Coffee 

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The Kicking Horse Coffee Three Sisters medium roast coffee is inspired by three towering Rocky Mountains, and is a tribute to these three peaks. It is a multifaceted blend complete smooth, savory and seductive flavors, and also features notes of stone fruit, sweet tobacco and cocoa. 

The Kicking Horse Coffee can be brewed in several different ways including pour over, cold brew, drip machine and French press. Adding to this, it is sourced in an environmentally and socially responsible way by reliable farmers from popular coffee growing plantations from around the world. 

The Kicking Horse is 100 percent Arabica, kosher, fair trade, organic coffee beans that are roasted in the Rocky Mountains, right below the Canadian Rocky Mountain peaks. It originates from Central & South America and Indonesia, and is brought to you by a community that’s committed to its community. 

5. Caribou Coffee 

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The Caribou Coffee Caribou Blend is a rich bodied medium roast coffee blend that is Rainforest Alliance Certified, meaning the coffee beans involved in the making have been sourced ethically and sustainably. This also ensures that each cup of coffee is nothing short of premium, so you can enjoy each cup. 

This light breakfast blend features a sweet caramel and nut finish, so you get the best of both worlds – chocolate wonder and flavorful vanilla. The Caribou Coffee Caribou Blend is a great choice compared to other coffee blends including Folgers and Copper Moon, and is created using the latest technology from Europe and the United States.

The Caribou Coffee Caribou Blend is made from the world’s top rated Arabica beans, and is roasted in small batches. Furthermore, it is roasted in an economical sustainable manner, and features bright acidity for a truly satisfying taste. 

6. Peet’s Coffee Big Bang 

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Peet’s Coffee Big Bang blend slots in at the #5 position on this list of best medium roast coffee grounds for several great reasons, starting with its rich, fresh taste and award worthy quality. This blend was created as a token of appreciation to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the company, and features rich fruitiness straight from the super natural flavor notes from Ethiopia. 

The Peet’s Coffee Big Bang medium roast coffee blend is created with quality in mind and showcases a vibrant blast of tropical fruit. Further, the beans included in this best medium roast coffee blend are sourced from some of the world’s top most coffee growing regions in the world including those with high elevations, and rich, volcanic soil. 

Peet’s Coffee Big Bang beans have been selected by nine top roasters that possess an average tenure of 13 years. This means that the coffee beans are handpicked rather than with a computer with some cheap quality medium roast coffees. The end results are a Pete’s Coffee blend that boasts unapparelled complexity, and distinct flavor.  It can be ordered in several different sizes including 20 ounce and 12 ounce packs, making it easy to get the right size for your needs. 

Is Medium Roast Coffee Stronger?

According to SCA, coffee strength is measured by the ratio of dissolved coffee particles in water. This value is called TDS.

The TDS level is influenced primarily by the ratio of coffee to water, as well as the grind size. The type of roasting has nothing to do with it. Therefore, a medium roast coffee is as strong as a light or dark roast coffee, while maintaining the same brewing parameters.

What is the Difference Between Medium and Light Roast Coffee?

Light roast beans have a sharper taste and higher acidity compared to medium roast beans. Medium roasts, in contrast to light roasts, have a more complete and balanced taste. However, do not forget that different varieties have different tastes even when roasted to the same degree because the taste and aroma of coffee beans depend not only on roasting but also on the type of coffee.

For Which Brewing Methods Is Medium Roast Coffee Best?

Medium roast coffee is a universal roast and is suitable for almost any method of making coffee. It’s best to use medium roast coffee for pour-over, espresso, and cold brew brewing methods.

What to Look for

Blends or Single Origin

In today’s advanced technological era, and highly knowledgeable and environmentally centric farmers, it is not hard to find rich, well rounded and delicious coffees. The specialty coffee industry is growing by leaps and bounds, but this surge has also given rise to single origin coffees. 

But this doesn’t imply that blends are far behind either, leading many consumers to ask what’s the difference between single origin coffees and blends. To explain briefly, coffee blends are made up of different coffee bean crops, often times from around the world such as Mexico and Bolivia, and are then blended together. 

Roasters create blends to achieve a unique flavor profile that is a mix of multiple beans and origins. So rathe than having 500 pounds of five different coffees, you can have 2500 pounds of a single blend. This process also makes it easier to distribute a consistent product across a greater area. 

Coffee blends are sometimes a preferred choice for many coffee lovers, given that the harsher flavors can be paired with mellow flavors to ease the acidity to make it more desirable. On the downside, blends may get rid of some of the excitement of certain coffees that would be present in single original coffees. 

Single original coffees just as the name would suggest are hailed by the specialty coffee industry, and best part is that no two single origin coffees are the same. This allows you to check of each flavor of single origin coffee, and gauge their unique characteristics alongside each other.

So, you get more coffee flavor options such as Ethiopia one week and Mexico the week after. Some of the best single origin coffees are unique and exotic, which is one of the biggest reasons why they’ve garnered a high level of interest among coffee lovers. They also lack consistency, but on a brighter note, tend to be well rounded yet still work well with espresso. 

Whole or Ground

One of the other big questions consumers ask when shopping for the best roast coffee is which is better whole or ground coffee beans, and here’s the lowdown. First thing first, ground coffee is easily accessible, and is extremely convenient to use, because you don’t have to grind it in a coffee grinder. 

However, some coffee aficionados still prefer to use whole beans owing to the better coffee drinking experience. Whole beans are just that, beans packed in a bag, which you grind right before making your coffee, so what you get is a more complex and fresh taste compared to ground coffee. 

Another factor to consider when choosing between whole beans and ground coffee is how often you drink coffee, because ground coffee as experts claim may lose its freshness faster. And if you drink several cups of coffee in a day, then it makes sense sometimes to just buy ground coffee since its just the matter of opening the bag and brewing a cup. 

Another point worth noting is that ground coffee beans must be kept in their airtight packaging it came in or an airtight container. Adding to this, it also should be used within two weeks in most cases even though the manufacturer expiry date may state otherwise. Next factor to consider is the method you use to brew your coffee. 

If you’re going to be using manual pour overs or drip brewers, ground coffee is an ideal choice, given that it offers the best coarseness for these coffee machines. If you do end up using extremely coarse coffee grounds with the wrong brewing method, you will simply end up with a weak flavored drink. 

Contrarily, if you’re going to be using a auto espresso machine or percolator, then buying whole bean coffee may be a better option for you. Reason being that these methods fine or coarse grinds, things you won’t see with pre ground coffee beans, but can be achieved in the best burr grinder. 

Fair Trade

When shopping for the best whole bean coffee or any other type of coffee for that matter, you may have noticed the term “fair trade” crop up often. So, what is it and why it is so important? To avoid any confusion, Fair Trade is not the same as Organic Certification (read below), and lets you learn more of the coffee product. 

Fair Trade certified products come from all across the globe, and farmers who grow Fair Trade coffee receive a fair price, and also receive great benefits towards their communities and the environment. This is made possible by offering farmers fair prices for their goods, resulting in a better life for them and their families.

A Fair Trade label guarantees several things, starting with the fair price, allowing famers to invest more in their business and the environment. A product that is designated fair trade also means that it is free from harmful agrochemicals and GMOs, which not only protects the long term health of the farmers, but also results in proper water conservation, waste disposal, etc. 

Fair Trade farmers also provide safe working conditions and fair wages for their employees, and strictly prohibit child labor. They also have free reign over how and where to invest their revenues, and invest in social and social and business development projects. 

Organic Certification

Just like Fair Trade, you will notice the words Organic Certification on several different packages of coffee when on the shopping trail. So, you may be wondering what is Organic Certified coffee, and does it actually matter? Just like Fair Trade, there are several different types of certifications, most notably USDA Organic Certification.

USDA organic certified coffee is basically grown and processed in accordance with federal guidelines, and takes into account several factors such as soil quality, etc. This certification is heavily regulated, and was created in an effort to create a system that produces coffee that is sustainable, and produces coffee that supports biodiversity, enhances soil health and is in harmony with nature. 

There are several requirements of the USDA coffee certification program including ensuring that the land in use has not been used for any prohibited substances for the past three years, where the term “prohibited substances” refers to as herbicides, fertilizers, and synthetic pesticides.

Medium roast coffee caffeine content

Caffeine content just as you might have guessed is the amount of caffeine present in each type of coffee. Caffeine content various across different types of coffees, where light profile coffees generally have more caffeine than a cup that’s dark roasted. 

Medium roast coffee content also depends on the type of beverage you’re making. For example, espressos, even though they may seem to have more caffeine actually don’t compared to drip coffee. In terms of numbers, an espresso shot has between 60 – 80 mg of caffeine, whereas drip coffee has between 70 – 140 mg of caffeine. 

Sources:

1. Coffee Roast Guide – National Coffee Association USA
2. Coffee Roasting Explained – Pinebrook Coffee Roasters