Single vs. Double Roasted Coffee

Have you ever had roasted coffee sitting on the shelf longer than planned, or wished there was a way to give it new life? Double roasted coffee might be the answer! After reading Rob Hoos’s piece on the concept, we decided to put it to the test. Learn about Mike Romagnino’s experiment and the potential of double roasting coffee in a production environment.

About Double Roasting Coffee

Double roasting is when you take a coffee previously roasted to a light/medium level and re-roast it to a dark level. This can potentially be used as a way of managing inventory by re-roasting slow-moving product and blending it into other offerings. For example: say you have an offering on your menu that you’re roasting to a light level, but it’s not selling that way you hoped. You can take this coffee, re-roast it to a dark level, and blend in a small percentage of it at a time with your dark roast offerings.

Exercise 1: Production Roast

After reading Rob’s piece on double roasting, I decided to try it. First, I roasted a washed offering from Honduras to a light level, developing the coffee for two minutes. To get the most out of this exercise, I made sure to give this roast a rest to best replicate a coffee that had been sitting in inventory. I roasted this coffee on 4/28 and re-roasted it on 5/29.

For the double roast, I decided to take the same approach as Rob; I aimed to stretch out the roast by utilizing a low burner and air. Normally, I would roast a 9lb. batch with a charge temperature of 385°F. Since the batch was previously roasted, I reduced batch size to 5lbs. and charge temperature to 305°F.

I charged the batch at 305°F with 30% of heat applied and 50% of air to the drum. The roast turned around at 1:07 into duration. Then, I increased the burner to 35% at 2:45 into duration. At 4:22 into duration, I increased burner to 50%. I increased airflow to 100% at 5:03 into duration. Finally, I made my last gas adjustment at 11:08 and lowered the burner to 30%.

Total duration of the roast was 14:02 with an end temperature of 415°F.

Cupping/Brewing Double Roasted Coffee

To test the results, I set up a blind cupping with 4 coffees. 2 of the coffee were double roasted. I thought a blind cupping would be best so there were no preconceptions going into the tasting.

3 people participated in the tasting exercise. All noted that each cup had a similar flavor profile, expressing notes of chocolate, caramel, and brown sugar. While the double roasted batches had some muted flavors compared to the single roasts, they still had balance in the cup. This showed that double roasting could be a workable option for blending away into a dark roasted coffee.

I also brewed an airpot on our Fetco. The results were similar to the cupping session, though it produced slightly more pronounced flavors.

Exercise 2: Sample Roast

Using our Probat sample roaster, I roasted a Kenya offering to a light level. Then, I rested the roast for about 2 weeks before re-roasting the samples. I charged the batch where I would for a green coffee sample roast, but I used a much lower flame and had more air moving through the drum. The duration of the roast was just around 9 minutes.

To learn more about sample roasting, check out our post on what makes a high-quality sample roast.

Cupping Session

I set up another blind cupping, but this time I just used the double roasted Kenyan samples. The cup was balanced with a nice acidity up front and sweetness on the finish. I was pleased that the outcome of this double roast still showed notes of peach and lemon. That being said, I believe I had better results with the sample roasts because I had more control with the flame and airflow throughout the duration of the roast.

Double Roasted Coffee Final Thoughts

These experiments reinforced that while double roasting isn’t a replacement for fresh, intentional roasting, it is a practical tool when used with care and purpose. When excess inventory needs repurposing or where blending flexibility is needed, this technique offers roasters a way to be both economical and creative. If you’re curious, I encourage you to try it for yourself. Tweak the variables, track the results, and taste with a critical, yet open mind. You might be surprised by what’s still in the cup.

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