By Ted Dobek
If you buy coffee from us, you've probably seen a number on our coffees labeled Agtron. Here's what it means and here's how it can help you. Understand what you're brewing.
What Agtron Is
Agtron is a way of measuring the color of roasted coffee. A meter shines light on a sample and measures how much bounces back. A lighter roast gets a higher number, and a darker roast gets a lower number.
We measure ground coffee, not whole bean. The outside of a bean roasts darker than the inside, so grinding mixes it all together and gives a more even reading.
Why Numbers Differ Between Roasters
No two Agtron scores are exactly the same. Different meters and setups read a little differently. But the biggest reason is grind size. How fine or coarse you grind the sample has a huge effect on the color reading, and every roastery grinds its samples a little differently.
So we use our own reference point here at Circuit Coffee. We measure every coffee the same way, so our numbers line up with each other. It's not perfect, but it's a good gauge.
Our Scale
Here's how our numbers line up with roast levels at Circuit. This is our own scale, not an industry standard:
Very Light: 105 and up
Light: 95 to 104
Medium Light: 85 to 94
Medium: 70 to 84
Dark: 55 to 69
Our House Coffees
Peru Organic Kovachii Espresso: 92
Colombia El Nevado del Huila: 89
Decaf Colombia El Nevado del Huila: 83
One note on decaf: decaf green coffee is a darker bean to begin with, so it reads darker no matter how it's roasted. Its number isn't a direct comparison to our regular coffees.
These numbers come from our most recent batches, so they can move a point or two. That's normal.
Using It When You Brew
When you try a new coffee, the number gives you a heads up. A lighter coffee (higher number) can taste sour or thin if it's under brewed, so try grinding a little finer or brewing a little longer. A darker coffee (lower number) brews more easily, so if it tastes bitter, try grinding a little coarser or brewing a little shorter.
The number is only part of how I judge a roast, though. I also look at it, smell it, and most of all taste it. The cup always gets the final say.
So when you see Agtron next to roast on our products or on our coffee on our site, now you know what that means.
Filed under: Roasting
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