tags: [] - coffee/roasting - coffee/roasting/roast-level aliases: - Medium roasted coffee - City roast - American roast

Medium Roast¶

Overview¶

Medium roast is the roast level at which the bean has completed first crack and achieved sufficient development to produce a balanced, sweet cup with both roast character and retained origin characteristics — the point where the coffee's varietal, processing, and terroir qualities remain perceptible alongside the browning and caramelisation flavours contributed by the roasting process itself. It is the most commercially dominant roast level globally and the benchmark reference point for most cupping and quality evaluation, as it allows sensory assessors to evaluate both origin character and roast quality simultaneously. In the SCA Agtron colour system, medium roast corresponds to approximately Agtron 45–65 on the Gourmet scale.

Defining Medium Roast¶

Medium roast has no single universally agreed definition. In practice, it is characterised by:

Drop temperature: Typically 205–220 °C for a drum roaster (highly roaster-specific)
Colour: Agtron Gourmet scale 45–65; SCA describes the centre of this range as the standard cupping roast
Bean surface: No visible oil; dry; occasionally slight surface irregularity from first crack expansion
Sound: Drop occurs after first crack is substantially complete but before second crack begins
Development Time Ratio: Typically 15–22% of total roast time

Named Medium Roast Levels¶

Within the medium roast range sit several named levels, though naming is inconsistent across roasters and markets:

Name	Approximate Agtron (Gourmet)	Character
City	55–65	Light-medium; first crack just complete; high origin expression; some acidity
City+ (Full City)	45–55	Medium; first crack complete; balanced origin and roast character; standard cupping roast
Full City+	40–50	Medium-dark border; approaching second crack; bittersweet; origin fading

The SCA's standard cupping roast protocol specifies a ground Agtron of approximately 58 ± 1 — roughly a City+ roast — as the reference point for competitive cupping and origin evaluation.

Cup Profile¶

Medium roast coffees offer a balance between origin expression and roast character:

Acidity: Present and clean; the origin's characteristic acidity (citric, malic, phosphoric) is retained; not suppressed as in dark roast
Sweetness: Well-developed caramelisation and Maillard products contribute sweetness; sucrose-derived caramel flavours prominent
Body: Medium; oils and emulsified compounds intact; heavier than light roast, lighter than dark
Origin character: Varietal, processing, and terroir flavours (fruit, floral, chocolate, nut) detectable alongside roast notes
Roast notes: Chocolate, toasted grain, mild caramel present but not dominant

Medium Roast and Specialty Coffee¶

The specialty coffee movement's shift toward lighter roasts since the 2000s has redefined what "medium" means in the industry. In specialty contexts, what a specialty roaster calls "medium" may correspond to a lower Agtron value than what a commercial roaster calls medium — the terminology has drifted as specialty culture has pushed roast levels lighter. For practical communication, Agtron scores or colour photographs provide more precise reference than roast-level names.

Key Facts¶

Defined by drop after first crack completion, before second crack; Agtron Gourmet 45–65
Named levels within range: City, City+, Full City — names used inconsistently across roasters
SCA standard cupping roast: ground Agtron ~58 ± 1 (City+ equivalent)
Cup: balanced origin and roast character; acidity retained; sweetness well-developed; no surface oil
Most commercially dominant global roast level
Development Time Ratio: typically 15–22%

References¶

Changelog¶

Date	Change
2026-04-27	Note created

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