What is Blonde Roast Coffee?

Coffee roast terms can be so confusing — French, Italian, City, Cinnamon, New England, Vienna, etc. And just when you think you’ve got them all straight, something new comes along.

So what’s up with the sudden popularity of Blonde roast? What is it, and do you want to drink it? Let’s find out!

What is a Blonde Roast?

While Blonde roast might feel like a new addition to the roast spectrum, it’s actually just a simple rebranding.

But this confused consumers expecting a cinnamon flavour. So a few years ago, Starbucks marketed their light roast as a blonde roast. It can also be called a Half City or New England roast.
Of course, the confusion continues because there is no firm definition of a Blonde roast. Blonde, as a colour, suggests an ultra-light roast, lighter than normal light. And many roasters interpret it in exactly this way.

However, the Starbucks Blonde roast, which is the best known to many consumers, is actually closer to a medium.

How do you make it?

To achieve a Blonde roast, you roast coffee beans low and slow until they reach the first crack. The first crack occurs around 356 – 401 ℉ when the moisture inside the bean turns to steam and bursts out via an audible crack.

This video has some great details about light roast coffee:

The beans are hard and dense at the first crack stage, with a pale brown colour and none of the oily sheen you find on dark roasts.

What Does a Blonde Roast Taste Like?

The defining characteristic of any light roast is its high acidity. As long as the coffee is from a skilled roaster, this acidity should taste bright, with flavours like lemon, orange, or green apple. If the acidity comes off as sour or acrid, the beans were either roasted too fast or the coffee is under-extracted.

Light roasts are known for having subtle and complex flavours, with fruity and floral profiles. You’re tasting more of the coffee bean itself rather than the flavours added through the roasting process. So you won’t get the same caramelised, toasted, or chocolate notes associated with darker types of roasts, like an Italian or French roast.

According to Casey Lalonde, Head of Coffee at Girls Who Grind Coffee:

Because Blonde roasts highlight the coffee bean's inherent flavours, they're a great way to experience single-origin coffees. Excellent origins for light roasts include East Africa and Latin America.

Blonde roast coffee usually has a light body, and a pour-over brewing method is a great way to showcase its subtleties. Try something like a Hario V60 or Kalita Wave. Light roast espresso is rare because it is prone to under-extraction, which yields a sour and flat-tasting shot.

Final Thoughts

A Blonde roast doesn’t have a strict definition, so don’t get too hung up on the name. Choosing a coffee is about finding flavour profiles you enjoy. If you like a bright coffee with complex fruity and floral flavours and a light body, a Blonde roast may well be for you.