Our 12 Best Light Roast Coffees To Buy in 2024
Light roast coffee is not for everyone. It has different flavors than dark roast because it is more vibrant and has less oil but it can also seem watery or sourer to some. Big Cup of Coffee has made a list of the top 12 light roast coffee options worth brewing as well as some background information about light roast coffee.
Our list was built thinking about coffee options you can buy right now.
Updated (May 2024): we’ve added Volcanica’s Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Organic to the list. This coffee is making some serious noise in our tasting circles, so we figured it needed to be on the list.
If you want the TL:DR (Too Long Don’t Read) here are our top roasts:
- Bold and clean
- Bing cherries and cocoa notes
- Sourced from Central America and Indo-Pacific
- Floral and fruity notes of lemon, blueberry, and blackberry
- Exotic flavor profile with pleasant acidity
- USDA Organic coffee
- Entry-level peaberry
- Rich body with low acidity
- Dried fruit, chocolate, and orange notes
- Editors Choice (*10% coupon code already included in the link): Fresh Roasted LLC – White Knight
- Best Organic: Volcanica Best Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Coffee, Organic
- Best Kona: Hawaii Coffee Company – Lion Premium Gold 10% Kona Blend Coffee
- Best Small Batch: Cooper’s Cask Coffee – Ethiopian Bold Roast
- Best Social Mission (Save 15% by using the coupon code: BigCupofCoffee): Grounds and Hounds – Single Origin Colombian
- Best Sumatra: Cooper’s Cask Coffee – Sumatra Dark Roast
- Best Sustainable: Tiny FootPrint Coffee Signature Blend – Whole Bean
- Best Peaberry (*10% coupon code already included in the link): Fresh Roasted LLC – Tanzanian Peaberry Coffee
- Best no-frills budget: Cafe Don Pablo – Organic Light Roast
Our Personal Favorite Light Roast Coffees That You Can Order Online
Light roasts are easy to find on the internet. Essentially, the roasting process is the only difference between these and other, more popular dark roasted whole beans. The unique flavor, the quality, and matching your budget are trickier. Below are the best light roast coffees to have made our list of top 11 high-quality light roast coffees you can buy today.
1. Editor’s Choice – Fresh Roasted LLC – White Knight
Fresh Roasted is our top choice and for good reason. Their coffee is USDA organic and Fair Trade Certified. It’s a blend of their single-origins coffees. Plus their price point is on the lower side compared to others. High-quality, certification, organic, single-origin, and at a solid price. What’s not to like?
Founded in 2009, Fresh Roasted Coffee was built on a commitment to quality, service, and sustainability. By sourcing coffee with integrity they are able to provide businesses and consumers with a vast selection of affordable, high-quality, and freshly roasted specialty coffees.
They have been fortunate enough to be named one of the Inc 500’s fastest-growing private businesses in the country in 2015, 2016 and in 2017 they made the top 5000! Check our full review of Fresh Roasted LLC for more information and to find other gems.
White Knight light roast coffee is a bold and clean artisan blend made from the purest single-origin beans, featuring flavors of bing cherries, cocoa, and a clean finish.
This coffee is designed for those who appreciate a light yet balanced roast with a bold body. The beans are sourced from Central America and the Indo-Pacific.
- Growing Altitude: N/A (blend)
- Processing Method: Combination
- Cupping Notes: Bing cherry, cocoa, clean
- Roast Body: Bold
- Roast Level: Light
- Certifications: USDA Organic, Fair Trade Certified
- Artisan Blend: An exclusive blend of our signature single-origin coffees
- Brewing Method: Great for pour-over, drip, or Aeropress
2. Volcanica – Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Coffee, Organic
If you follow our blog, you know we are huge fans of Volcanica. Their Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee is no exception. If you’re not familiar with Yirgacheffe coffee or how it tastes, see this Reddit conversation around flavor profiles.
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee is a type of arabica coffee that is grown on the highlands of Ethiopia. The terrain of this area makes it difficult for farmers to grow anything but coffee plants, and because they are so isolated from other countries, these beans are rarely exported. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe has a smooth taste with fruity accents and notes of chocolate or nutmeg.
This particular roast from Volcancia is their #1 selling product and for good reason. Finally, here’s a coffee that will make you excited to wake up. Deep in the spectacular Ethiopian highlands, there have been long-standing traditions of organic gardening and generous gathering for centuries.
This Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, known for its complex origin and exotic flavor profile, is a USDA organic coffee with pleasant acidity. This is how Ethiopian coffee should be. Hailing from the Gedeo Zone in southern Ethiopia, it's a single origin coffee grown at an altitude of 2000 meters, offering distinct floral and fruity notes like lemon, blueberry, and blackberry.
- Growing Altitude: 1,900 meters / 6,233 feet
- Processing Method: Washed Process
- Cupping Notes: Lemon, Blueberry, and Blackberry
- Roast Body: Bold
- Roast Level: Light
- Certifications: USDA Organic
- Artisan: Single-origin
- Brewing Method: Great for pour-over or drip
Pro-tip from Volcanica for brewing: The brewing water temperature is to be 195-205 degrees. Please use two tablespoons of coffee for each 6 oz of water.
3. Fresh Roasted – Tanzanian Peaberry Coffee
Peaberry coffee, also known as “single-bean coffee,” is a rare type of coffee bean that grows in the shape of a pea. The beans are usually harvested by hand and can only be found on high-quality Arabica trees. Peaberry coffees are generally more expensive than traditional coffee beans because they often have higher levels of caffeine and flavor compounds.
Fresh Roasted has nailed this light roast. For a reasonable price, you can get a whole bean coffee that is straight from Tanzania Africa. We’ve found this coffee to be an excellent entry-level peaberry coffee at an undeniably low price point.
Check out our full Fresh Roasted LLC review for more information.
Grown on the Nitin Estate in the Ngorongoro Crater, these beans have a low acidity profile and a rich body complemented by intense flavor notes of dried fruit, savory chocolate, and a hint of orange. These unique peaberry beans, manually separated from the crop, are cultivated between 1,050 to 2,500 meters above sea level in volcanic soil near Mount Kilimanjaro, resulting in a distinctive coffee experience.
- Growing Altitude: 1,200m (3,900 feet) – 2,000m (6561 feet) above sea level
- Processing Method: Farm washed and sun-dried
- Cupping notes: lemon, peach, black tea
- Tasting notes: bold
- Aroma notes: fruity flavor and medium acidity
- Brewing Method: Pour-over and Drip
4. Hawaii Coffee Company – Lion Gold Roast Coffee
It’s a light roast coffee you won’t dare to drink before bedtime. It’s a vibrant cup of coffee with a sweet and mellow taste and a mild citrus finish.
LION Gold Roast Coffee is a classic light roast suitable for breakfast due to its significant caffeine content. It is characterized by a bright presence in the cup with a mellow taste. The flavor profile concludes with a sweet, delicate finish that has a slight citrus note.
- Cupping notes: rich, bold, and sweet with enjoyable bitterness
- Tasting notes: with hints of coconut and fruity undertones
- Brewing Method: Pour-over and Drip
5. Hawaii Coffee Company – Lion Premium Gold 10% Kona Blend Coffee
It’s a premium Hawaiian coffee with 10% Kona coffee beans. The coffee experience allows you to long for that relaxing Hawaiian vacation. It’s best to pair with biscuits for an afternoon snack.
Hawaii Coffee Company is a coffee marketplace for all Hawaiian coffee and tea brands. It’s a family of sister coffee companies with one primary goal. That is to delight coffee drinkers with the best coffee and tea. To date, they are the largest Kona coffee roaster in Hawaii. They are also the leading supplier of high-quality coffee to most of the Big Island’s industries.
Premium Gold is a 10% Kona Coffee Blend known for its balance and distinctive Kona Coffee notes. It offers a sweet taste with a malt-like finish and a mild, mellow flavor profile. This product aims to provide a luxurious coffee experience at an attractive price.
- Cupping notes: bright, bold, and smooth body
- Tasting notes: delicate and nutty
- Brewing Method: Pour-over and Drip
- About Hawaii Coffee Company
6. Real Good Coffee Co – Breakfast Blend
It’s a perfect breakfast blend for a busy day. The coffee beans sourced from Central and South America are 100% Arabica. The roastery facility in Seattle handles the roasting and packing of the beans.
Real Good Coffee Co is a Seattle-based small team of coffee roasters. Their prime focus is on quality, sustainability, and affordability. This company has a proven track record of 30 years in bringing the best tasting specialty coffee. No frills and gimmicks. Just real good coffee.
The Breakfast Blend from Real Good Coffee Co. is a light roast whole bean coffee, offering a smooth flavor with citrus and chocolate-cream notes, sourced and roasted responsibly in Seattle. Whatever your brewing method, this is a good choice.
- Cupping notes: rich and smooth body
- Tasting notes: with hints of brisk citrus taste
- Aroma notes: milk chocolate and cream
- Brewing Method: espresso maker, drip machines, French press, pour-over, Aeropress, and moka pot.
7. Kicking Horse Coffee – Hola
The Hola Blend of Kicking Horse Coffee made it to our top best light roast coffee. This kickass coffee is deep, dark, and delicious. Roasted beneath the Canadian rocky mountain. The coffee is a tasty cuppa to wake up your senses first thing in the morning. Plus, their coffee is Fair Trade certified and organically certified.
Check out our full Kicking Horse Coffee Review for more information.
Kicking Horse Coffee Roaster is a kickass coffee roaster located at Invermere, B.C. It’s Canada’s No. 1 Fairtrade and Organic Coffee roaster and hailed as the best place to work in 2015 and 2018.
This product is a light roast, ground coffee with a flavor profile of juicy red currant acidity and creamy honey body, suitable for various brewing methods including drip machine, pour over, and cold brew.
The coffee beans are sourced from Central and South America, emphasizing social and environmental responsibility and sustainable practices for farmers. It is organic, Fairtrade, Kosher, and shade-grown, with the roasting process taking place in the Rocky Mountains, ensuring quality and ethical production.
- Cupping notes: light and silky smooth body
- Tasting notes: with juicy red currants paired with a creamy honey body
- Aroma notes: ripe berries, rich nougat, and brown sugar
- Brewing Method: Pour-over, Drip, espresso, French Press, and cold brew
8. Cafe Don Pablo – Organic Light Roast
Cafe Don Pablo’s light roast coffee originated from the coffee farms in Honduras. It is 100% Arabica and certified GMO-free. Its “depth of flavor” is due to its high altitude cultivation in Honduran Marcala. If you’re looking for a vibrant coffee but low in acidity, this is the right coffee for you.
Cafe Don Pablo is a family-owned gourmet coffee company based in Miami, Florida. This coffee roasting company specializes in Honduran gourmet coffee. Their coffee beans are personally cultivated, picked, and processed in Colombia. They manage their production of coffee trees through their Sharing Certified Program.
Sourced from Honduras, this coffee offers a full-bodied, deep, rich chocolatey flavor with a clean finish and low acidity.
The beans are lightly roasted to highlight smooth milk chocolate notes with hints of honey, caramel, and cocoa, ensuring a consistent, bright, and easy-to-drink coffee with a mild finish and sweet aftertaste. This coffee is ethically sourced, USDA Organic Certified, and free from gluten and nuts.
- Cupping notes: silky smooth, bright coffee with a mild finish and sweet aftertaste
- Tasting notes: rich and chocolatey
- Aroma notes: honey, caramel, and cocoa
- Brewing Method: Pour-over, Drip, French Press
9. Tiny Footprint Coffee Signature Blend Light Roast
The Light Roast Signature blend by Tiny Footprint is a whole bean coffee that is 100% Organic. It is a shade-grown Arabica coffee sourced from top coffee regions around the world.
Check out our full Tiny FootPrint Review for more information.
The Tiny Footprint Coffee Company is the world’s first zero-carbon coffee. It’s a company with an earthly cause. For every pound of coffee sold, a percentage goes to an environmental cause like the reforestation of the Mindo cloud forest. The Tiny Footprints support this cause with a belief that such a move can help the earth remove 54 lbs of CO2. Likewise, reforestation can provide a habitat for native plants and animal species.
Tiny Footprint Coffee offers a light and smooth body with mild acidity. It features hints of bright lemon and orange with a gentle cocoa finish.
It is USDA Organic, Fair Trade, and Shade-Grown Arabica coffee. Their product is the world's first carbon-negative coffee, funding reforestation which offsets more CO2 than the coffee's production emits.
- Cupping notes: light and smooth body with mild acidity
- Tasting notes: with hints of bright lemon and orange and a gentle cocoa finish
- Aroma notes: natural sweet aroma
- Brewing Method: Pour-over, Drip, French Press and cold brew
10. Cooper’s Cask Coffee – Ethiopian Bold Roast
The light roasted Ethiopian bold roast is a must-try. It’s a micro lot of single-origin coffee from the heirloom varietals. Cooper’s Cask sources its coffee beans from organic and Fairtrade-certified coffee farms. If you’re not satisfied with their coffee beans, can always ask for a full refund within 30 days.
Cooper’s Cask Coffee is a gourmet coffee specialist. They test and create new coffee lots using award-winning whiskey and rum barrels. These barrels allow Cooper’s roasters to create amazing coffee with unique taste profiles while being roasted in small batches. The whiskey barrel is from Sons of Liberty Spirits, while the rum barrel is from Thomas Tew Rum.
The Ethiopia Bold Light Roast Coffee is noted for its intensely bright and clean flavor profile, including notes of lemon tart, raw honey, and floral nectar.
This coffee uses a dry processing method that retains a fruit peel pulp on the cherry during drying. The result is a unique blend that offers a subtle citrus taste combined with raw floral honey and wild berry undertones, particularly when roasted to a light level.
- Processing method: Natural/Sun-dried
- Cupping notes: bold, smooth, and vibrant
- Tasting notes: with hints of citrus, raw floral honey, and wild berry undertones
- Aroma notes: floral and fruity tones
- Brewing Method: Pour-over, Drip, French Press, and cold brew
11. Grounds and Hounds – Single Origin Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
It’s an Ethiopian single-origin coffee from the regions of Yirgacheffe. It has impressive crisp and vibrant floral notes and earthy undertones. Check out our full Grounds and Hound Review for more information.
- Grown altitude: 5000-7000 feet above sea level
- Processing Method: Washed and Sun-dried
- Cupping notes: well-balanced, silky smooth body
- Tasting notes: with hints of orange blossoms, lemon peel, honey, and black cherry finish
- Brewing Method: Percolator, Cold Brew, Pour-over, and Drip
Save 15% Off Your Order + Get FREE SHIPPING over $50 – click this link and use the coupon code BigCupofCoffee.
What is a Light Roast Coffee?
Light roast coffee is a multilayer of complexity. Roasting lightly can reveal the origin of coffee beans which makes profiling coffee according to its sweetness, fruity, and floral tones easier. Though the terms used in describing the process of roasting vary among coffee roasters and companies, there are simple ways to determine the roasting options that you prefer. They include the following:
American roast: Coffee beans are medium roasted. It’s a roast that creates a moderate brew with a vibrant flavor that is not too light nor too heavy.
French roast: The coffee beans resemble the color of dark chocolate. It is full-bodied and has a stronger taste with delectable bitterness.
Italian roast: Italian coffee is glossy, brown to black coffee. It’s very rich, strong and heavy. It’s the most preferred roast for espresso drinks.
Light Roast Coffee is generally light brown. It has a distinguishing light body and an oil-free surface. The coffee beans never reach the second crack during the roasting process. That’s how the natural flavors of the beans remain – they are more “raw” than a darker roast. Compared to medium roast and dark roast, the caffeine level is a bit higher.
What Does Light Roast Coffee Taste Like?
Not all coffee tastes the same. There’s a huge taste difference between light, medium, and dark roasted coffee. If dark and extra dark roast coffee exhibits bitterness or almost burnt taste then light roast coffee features a sweet and earthy taste. This is because it hasn’t lost its flavors during roasting.
Another notable taste of light roast coffee is that it has a tangy taste and a strong aroma. Some light roast coffee even displays aromatic floral notes. Yet, the taste of light roast can still vary with the processing method used. It can be natural, washed, or semi-washed.
Choosing a Light Roast
If you want to try a light roast coffee for a change, choosing the best light roast coffee is the finest way to go. How would you know if you got the best light roast coffee? Here are some considerations:
Origin
The origin of the coffee bean plays a vital role in identifying the flavor profile of the beans. At present, there are over 100 species of coffee with Arabica and Robusta produced and sold.
Light roast coffee beans are often oven-roasted between temperatures 355 and 400 °F. This is how the beans retain their original flavor. The coffee beans are acidic, zero-oil, and have a high caffeine concentration. Yet, there’s still inconsistency in taste.
If you’re observant of the cupping and tasting notes of the coffee, you’ll recognize the country of origin. For instance, coffee from Latin America and Ethiopia has distinctive tasting features.
South America’s whole bean light roast coffee is popular for its milder taste and light aroma. If you prefer a light roast with a smooth body and fruity undertones, you’ll like a light roast coffee from Ethiopia.
Coffee Beans
Learning from the mistakes of roasting coffee beans in earlier times, modern light roast coffee now tastes better than dark roasts and has become an ideal for specialty coffee.
The coffee beans are lightly roasted to preserve their unique features of the beans. Yet, the variety in flavors, aromas, and aftertaste still depends on many factors that include how farmers cultivate the coffee plant, the processing method, and roasting.
Cultivated Coffee Plant
Each coffee region cultivates coffee plants that grow best in their soil. For instance, Ethiopia grows heirloom varietals of Arabica, Brazil coffee farms take pride in their Bourbon varietals, and Hawaii gives the utmost care to their Typica varietal.
Another factor is the kind of soil used to grow these coffee plants. For instance, Volcanica gets their beans from coffee farms abundant in volcanic soils. This volcanic soil is rich in micronutrients and minerals thus giving the coffee beans a unique taste profile.
Processing method
There are 3 methods widely used in processing coffee beans. These are natural, washed, and semi-washed. These methods can also affect the taste and aroma profile of the coffee beans.
Aside from these, the climate of the coffee region can make a difference in the processing method. Some coffee regions are not good for natural processing with their inconsistent climate. A good example is the coffee farms in the southern hemisphere of Brazil.
Roasting
Light roasts coffee keeps its caffeine level and flavor within a defined temperature range. It is cooler than dark roasts and is roasted to between 350 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This means the coffee beans do not reach the second crack.
Before the light roast coffee approaches the first crack, the beans pass through different stages:
- Green: as the first level where it retains its “virgin green essence”.
- Yellow: the coffee beans start to emit a grassy smell.
- Steam: The water content of the green coffee beans is evaporating.
- First crack: It is also known as the “Cinnamon Roast”. This is where the real roasting happens.
As the water content of the beans evaporates, the sugar in the beans starts to caramelize and as the roasting goes on you’ll hear a cracking sound like when you are making popcorn.
Since light roasted coffee beans undergo a short period of roasting they do not produce caramelized sugar or oil. What you taste from light roast coffee is the original flavor of the green coffee beans. For some people, this often resembles the aroma of freshly cut grass. Though it underwent roasting, the original flavor and aroma innate in the green coffee beans remain.
Caffeine Content
If you want to start your day with a mild coffee but with a strong caffeine kick, the light roast coffee will do the job. Light roast coffee is a favorite choice for espresso as it can make coffee beverages more vibrant and flavorful.
When you compare the caffeine content of light roast coffee beans with medium and dark. Many claim that light roast coffee has more caffeine than dark roast. This is because the lightly roasted coffee beans haven’t given up their unique flavors or their chemical composition. When coffee beans reach the first crack the vapor inside the beans breaks through leaving a higher concentration of “coffee.”
Yet, Kicking Horse iterates that caffeine content is not measured with beans alone. In a little experiment conducted with ten grams of light roast and dark roast. These roasters explained that when you roast the beans, you lose the water content. Thus the beans become dense.
So when you measure the grounds by scoops, the best light roast coffee will look like it has more caffeine. Especially that it is denser than dark roast. But, if you weigh the dark roast, it will also have more caffeine because it has less mass. Confused yet?
Another point to consider is that there’s a wide variety of Arabica coffee beans. As a result, the beans’ caffeine content may also vary.
If you’re buying decaffeinated coffee beans though, know that the decaffeination process leaves the beans a shade darker than regular coffee beans. So don’t be confused if you find your decaf light roast a bit darker than you expected.
Light Roast VS Dark Roast
Whether you’re a coffee snob or not, you can determine the taste of the coffee through its roast level. Even before the roasting, the green coffee beans are soft, tasteless beans with a fresh, earthy smell. Once the raw bean undergoes roasting, it transforms into flavorful and crunchy beans.
Another factor that can determine the taste of coffee is their country of origin. Since coffee regions cultivate different species of Arabica coffee plants. The country becomes part of the identity and the flavor profile of the beans.
But the most common way to identify the taste of the coffee bean is through its color. Coffee beans have a color classification that ranges from light to dark and sometimes extra dark. The changes in color happen as the temperature for roasting increases. As the beans absorb more heat, oils begin to surface.
Though it’s not accurate to classify coffee beans with color the particular shade of brown makes it convenient to identify the roasting level. Thus it makes light roast more distinguishable than dark roast.
Light roast coffee appears light brown in color. It has a light body and does not have any sheen of oil atop the cup. Compared to dark roast, it retained most of its caffeine. It didn’t reach the first crack. That’s why light roast coffee features an earthy taste and vibrant flavor.
Dark roast coffee displays a dark brown color, which can resemble dark chocolate. Some dark roast appears black. When you brew this coffee, you’ll notice a sheen of oil at the surface. Since the bean coffee is roasted beyond the second crack, it loses its original flavor. Yet, the extraction helps it to produce a new unique flavor distinctive to the coffee bean.
But if you’re not keen enough on the dark roast that you buy, confusion often arises. Dark roasts go by many names. These include Italian roast, French roast, Continental roast, Espresso roast, etc.
To help you the next time you search for the best light roast coffee or dark roast coffee we’ve summarized a simple roast level and color gradations for each bean.
- Light roast coffee beans still keep the original flavor of the raw bean even after the roasting.
- The body of the coffee bean becomes denser as it absorbs heat.
- Light roast coffee has a more vibrant flavor than dark roast. It is sweet-toned and tastes citrusy.
- Light roast coffee beans tend to look dry while dark roast appears glossy and oily on the bean surface.
- As the coffee beans absorb heat, the caffeine level decreases, and the beans’ color gets darker.
Conclusion
Light roast coffee is definitely the perfect beverage for a lively morning. It has a little more of a caffeine kick and exhibits natural flavors and aromas retained only from a light roasting.
If you’re on a journey to discover more about coffee, a light roast is the best coffee to start with before diving into other types of roasts. It allows you to identify the origin of the coffee beans as well as determine the innate flavor and aroma. Likewise, tasting the best coffee lightly roasted helps in distinguishing which brewing methods work best with these coffees.
From the list of the top ten best light roast coffee, my personal preference is the Fresh Roasted Organic White Knight as it is light and silky with enjoyable bitterness. I can drink it every-single-day.
When I want to splurge, I like the Hawaiian Coffee Company 10% Kona as you can’t beat the taste of the Kona blend. It’s undeniably different, yet remarkably delicious. It’s a good light roast coffee if you want to stay active the whole day as it packs a punch.
