dark roast

noun

plural dark roasts

: a coffee roast (see roast entry 2 sense 3) that is characterized by dark brown coffee beans with an oily texture, low acidity, high bitterness, and low caffeine content and that is produced by roasting coffee beans at temperatures typically between 440-480°F (230-250°C)

A dark roast is useful for smoothing out imperfections in beans that have little flavor or an unbalanced acidic range, because chlorogenic acid, the main acid in coffee, is destroyed at high temperatures.

—Corby Kummer

Dark roasts actually have less caffeine than their counterparts. While a cup of dark roast coffee will have the boldest flavor, it will lack the same potency.

—BostonBean Coffee Company

compare light roast, medium roast

Examples of dark roast in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This rum spent a quarter century aging in American oak ex-bourbon barrels, and is the drier of the two with notes of black pepper, tannic oak, butterscotch, orange, dark roast espresso, crème brûlée, licorice, and menthol. — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 24 June 2026

Light, medium, or dark roasts all work fine for espresso; just keep in mind that the lighter the roast, the more acidic the finished product. — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 June 2026

Available in light, medium and dark roasts, the initial range of offerings will debut at the grand opening of Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tennessee, about 60 miles south of Nashville off Interstate 65 at Exit 22, on June 24. — Amaris Encinas, USA Today, 11 June 2026

The coffee is made from medium and dark roast Arabica beans from regions in Latin America, per the release. — Chiara Kim, PEOPLE, 21 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dark roast

• almost
• engrossed
• foremost
• hindmost
• impost
• inmost
• lamppost
• leftmost
• necrosed
• outpost
• pancoast
• rightmost