People love their coffee. In fact, they love it so much that we’re having issues with traffic control around Starbucks drive-throughs in America. The lines often exceed the parking lot and block traffic!

Thankfully, there are benefits to our collective addiction. Learn about them and the differences between different types of coffee, below.

Is All Coffee the Same?

When you walk into a coffee shop and order a cup of drip coffee, they usually ask if you want a light or dark roast before they pour. What exactly is the difference between a light and a dark roast? Are they different types of coffee?

That’s a good question, but no- not really. Light and dark roasts refer to how the bean was grown when it was picked and prepared. In terms of being a coffee bean – it’s all the same.

Now, there are variations in the coffee bean itself. Saying all coffee is the same because it came from the coffee bean is like saying all chocolate is the same because it came from the cocoa plant/bean. There are variations based on where the plant was grown, the kind of soil, its surroundings, etc.

Even green coffee, which is generally marketed as more of a tea or a plant supplement, comes from the cocoa bean — but it’s picked before it’s ripe, which makes it milder than the classic coffee bean.

Light and Dark Roasts: The Differences Between These Types of Coffee

To explain the difference between light and dark roasts of coffee, we have to cover some basics of how coffee beans are roasted.

When coffee roasters (or shops) order raw coffee beans, they’re a light green-brown, and the beans are rough to the touch. They then go into a roaster, which … roasts the beans. They’re cooked over a specific temperature as they’re turned in a drum or on a platform. This darkens the beans, just like toasting bread makes it change colors.

As the beans heat up, they release water and stored air. The release of water causes the beans to make a cracking sound. Light roast coffee is roasted until the first “crack” comes from the collective beans.

Since it hasn’t been cooking as long, it has a lighter flavor and less caffeine. Want more information? You can continue to read about light roast coffee to get more.

Dark roast coffee stays on the machine longer, which allows the beans to darken, and through that, more caffeine becomes available.

The Health Benefits of Coffee

Essentially, coffee is a tea, and tea is good for you because it’s a plant extract.

Other than caffeine, coffee contains antioxidants and other beneficial substances that are good for your health. But, if you drink too much, that caffeine can cancel out the good coffee can do.

Here are some of the benefits coffee is thought to have:

Protective against heart failure
Protective against stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease
Good for your liver
Reduces risk of Parkinson’s disease
Encourages colon health

And it gives you that boost of energy you love so much! Just don’t overdo it and risk dehydration.

Coffee Benefits Across the Roasts

When it comes to the benefits above, most of the studies were done on medium roast coffee so that researchers could get a good average. That means you can mix up the types of coffee you drink without forfeiting the benefits!

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