SEE ALSO: Everything You Need for a Home Roaster Starter Kit Flavour DevelopmentĪlthough we like to talk about first and second crack when roasting coffee, it’s important to remember that coffee flavour profiles are the real goal. So let’s take a closer look at what’s happening, and how you can see when first and second crack are approaching.Īs well as checking colour change, roasters should pay attention to other visible signs – such as swelling. It’s important that the roast doesn’t begin to stall at this period: delays can result in baked coffee, a roast defect that creates a doughy cup profile. Joe Behm, CEO and founder of Behmor, tells me, “When you start to detect the aroma changing from baked bread to caramelized sweetness, you know the sugars are developing and first crack is about to begin.” He tells me that this change in aroma is “like a bell getting ready to go off”, letting him know that he needs to be thinking ahead to the end of the roast. This moisture forms steam, and then pressure, that forces the beans to crack open.

(In fact, Barry Levine of Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea compares them to hearing popcorn popping.) They happen because the coffee bean has expanded and its moisture begun to evaporate. So what actually are first and second crack? Audible, physical cracks. (However, if only the first few signs of second crack have started to appear, it will probably still be closer to a medium roast.) Dark roasts will typically be roasted past second crack. Coffee goes through two “cracks” when roasting, and light to medium roasts will finish somewhere between them. Credit: Angie Molina Ospina What Is First Crack?įirst crack is the moment when coffee beans begin to approach edibility.

Steam building up inside the coffee bean leads to first crack.

Take a first crack meaning