You start most mornings with a cup of coffee, but have you ever stopped to think about what actually sets one roast apart from another?
Why do some beans come out darker than others? French and Italian roasts are two of the darkest you'll find, so they're a great place to start.
Quick Answer: What is the difference between French roast and Italian roast?
French and Italian roasts are both dark roasts, with Italian being the darkest roast you can get. Italian roast is set apart by its burnt flavor. French roast, on the other hand, provides a bitter, smoky taste. Due to their long roasting time, both roasts have low caffeine and acidity levels.
In this article, I'll walk you through how French and Italian roasted beans differ, how roasters prepare each one, and what they taste like in your cup.
Let's dig in!
Are French roasts and Italian roasts the same?
French roast and Italian roast aren't the same. Both are dark roasts, but Italian is the darker of the two, which gives you a nearly black bean.
French roast beans stay dark brown. Italian roast can taste a bit bolder, but the two land at similar caffeine levels.
Maybe you love tasting the natural character of the bean itself, or maybe you just want your coffee as dark as it gets, wherever it came from. Both are fair game here.
You've probably heard that the darker the coffee, the stronger it is. It's a common belief, but it's not quite true.
Understanding what qualifies a dark roast
Darker roasts do carry a "stronger" flavor, so in taste terms, an Italian roast comes across as stronger than a French one.
But here's the twist: the darker the roast, the less caffeine you'll find in the bean.
That said, French and Italian roasted beans weigh less than medium or lighter roasts, since roasting breaks down the cellular body, so baristas end up using more dark beans for a single pot.
So the caffeine in a cup of French or Italian roast works out to roughly the same as a light roast coffee.
Dark roasts also give you less acidity than medium or light roasts.
The coffee roasting process
To really get the difference between roasts, it helps to know what actually happens when the beans roast.
Every coffee bean, including Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, and Excelsa (the first two being the most common), starts out green.
During the coffee bean roasting process, the beans slowly change color: first yellow, then light brown, and darker the longer they stay in.
Once they hit an internal temperature of around 385°F (196.11°C), the beans give off a cracking noise.
Roasters call this sound the "first crack." The heat puts the beans under a lot of pressure, so they crack and release steam and carbon dioxide.
For light and some medium roasts, roasters pull the beans shortly after that first crack.
Around 435°F (223.88°C), if the beans keep going, they hit a "second crack" that gives off a softer sound than the first.
At this point, the oils inside the bean start seeping out to the outer shell.
The beans also look larger than light-roasted ones. That second crack produces darker roasts.
Both French and Italian roasts (along with other dark roasts) keep heating until the second crack or beyond. Italian roasts simply stay in longer than French ones.
If roasters aren't paying close attention after that second crack, the beans can turn to charcoal.
At that point they're useless, falling to pieces the moment you handle them. So roasters stay incredibly watchful all the way through.
How do French roast and Italian roast differ?
French and Italian roasts part ways in the roasting itself. Both go beyond the second crack, but Italian roasts run slightly longer, which gives you an almost black bean with a charred, burnt taste.
French roasts stay dark brown, with a bittersweet, smoky flavor.
French roast vs. Italian roast
French and Italian roasts share plenty, but a couple of things set them apart, as you can see in the chart below:
| Characteristics: | French roast: | Italian roast: |
| Type of roast | Dark | Dark |
| Bean origin | Arabica or Robusta | Arabica or Robusta |
| Bean color | Very dark brown | Nearly black |
| Flavor | Smoky, bittersweet | Burnt, charred |
| Acidity level | Low | Low |
| Caffeine content | Low | Low |
As you can see, the main difference between French and Italian roast comes down to bean color and flavor.
Beyond that, they share more than they differ, so the roast you reach for really comes down to your own palate.
How is French roast coffee made?
French roast coffee is made with any kind of bean roasted to a set level of darkness past the second crack. The beans come out dark brown, close to the color of dark chocolate.
They pick up a sheen from their natural oils and give you a bold, bittersweet, smoky-tasting cup.
French roast coffee isn't actually made in France, though dark roasts are popular there. Order a "café" in France and the barista will hand you an espresso.
The beans aren't grown in France either. Most coffee is grown near the equator, since that's the best environment for the beans.
When making French roast, roasters can use any bean, whatever the origin. Robusta beans are common in France, while many places in the United States (Starbucks included) reach for Arabica.
French roast on the Agtron Gourmet Scale
The Agtron Gourmet Scale is a way to classify different coffee roasts.
On that scale, the Specialty Coffee Association of America puts French roast in the dark range, sitting between 28 and 35.
So it's one of the darkest coffees you can find, and you'll often meet this roast profile in American espresso.
How is Italian roast coffee made?
A lot of people assume French roast is the darkest coffee you can get, but Italian roast is darker still. It also comes out oilier.
Italian roast starts with any coffee bean. During roasting, the beans push past the second crack until they're nearly charred.
They hold very little caffeine and acid compared to their lighter counterparts, and most people describe the flavor as burnt.
The interesting thing about Italian roast coffee is that it roasts so long, you usually can't pick out any of the original bean's defining traits.
Because of that, most people can't tell where the beans came from, or whether the roaster started with high-quality or low-quality coffee.
The producer could've roasted those beans two months ago, and you'd have little way to tell.
That flavor you taste in an extremely dark roast comes from the roasting itself, not the natural bean.
Roasting to this level of darkness simply burns out any of the bean's own flavors.
Plenty of people in southern Italy love this super dark roast.
The taste test: French roast vs. Italian roast
As dark roasts, both French and Italian coffees get their flavor from the roasting rather than the bean.
Roast a bean this dark and there's very little of its original character left to taste.
French roast gives you a big, bold flavor, close to dark chocolate or toasted nuts.
If you've got a trained palate, you might still catch some muted notes of the original bean, just not as clearly as you would with a lighter roast.
What comes through most are bittersweet tones with a roasted, smoky edge.
Some people even pick up lighter elements in French roasts, like warm, citrusy notes.
And despite that long roast, others say Sumatra French roast coffees carry earthy notes that come across as spicy or mossy.
A few even say this coffee has something close to the taste of mushrooms.
Italian roast and other extremely dark roasts can turn exceptionally bitter, with burnt notes taking the lead.
That long roast carbonizes the fibers, and that's what gives you the distinctive flavor.
The bean itself adds little to no natural character to the cup. The body comes out thin, with low acidity.
Why are the different roasts called French and Italian?
French and Italian roasts got their names from regional taste. In France, the go-to coffee tends to be dark and bitter, with a good bit of added sugar.
In Italy, people lean toward espresso, which comes from super dark beans.
Back through the early 19th century, people across France grew fond of over-extracted beans.
We may never know the exact reason the name for the dark roast stuck.
And here's a fun twist: while France is known for its gourmet cuisine, most of the coffee in French cafés is Robusta, not the higher-quality Arabica.
Down in Italy, people go for extremely dark roasts with intense, charred flavors, especially in the south.
In fact, espresso is the brewing method of choice there, and that, of course, means dark-roasted coffee.
Different regions put their own spin on espresso, so if you ever visit that beautiful country, be sure to try a few.
Conclusion
According to the New York Post, most coffee lovers (pros and amateurs alike) prefer a medium roast coffee.
Then again, the Los Angeles Times reports that dark roasts are the best-selling coffees out there.
Whichever way your taste leans, dark roasts stay a staple around the world, even with all those distinguishing bean flavors roasted away.
It seems some of us just prefer that bold, bittersweet cup the long roast creates over the light, floral, sometimes sweet notes of a lighter roast. Which camp are you in?
