In recent years, we have seen more and more specialty coffee professionals develop roast profiles specifically for milk-based beverages. There are several key reasons for this, but arguably the most important is to allow the coffee’s inherent flavours to shine through, while also making sure they pair well with different types of milk.
Dairy and plant-based milks, however, are inherently different. Moreover, the chemical composition of various brands – including protein-to-fat ratios – can differ widely, which will ultimately affect the sensory characteristics of milk-based beverages.
So when it comes to developing specific roast profiles for these drinks, coffee professionals need to understand how to tweak certain variables to get the best results for both cow’s and plant milks – especially oat milk, given that it’s the most popular non-dairy option in specialty coffee.
To understand more, I spoke to Akash Ovian, roaster and Managing Director at Naivo Café, Tommy Bates, head roaster at Extract Coffee Roasters, and Callum Parsons, co-founder of Fire & Flow Coffee Roasters.
You may also like our article on whether defaulting to oat milk has worked for coffee shops.
Why develop roast profiles for milk beverages?
For years now, coffee professionals have developed roast profiles specifically for espresso and filter (although some use omni roasts, which work for either, but don’t always produce the best results). This is largely because espresso is a much more concentrated beverage than filter coffee, and needs to be extracted within a significantly shorter time frame.
In turn, tweaking different roasting variables means we can extract and showcase the coffee’s most desirable characteristics in a smaller window of time. Some of these variables include:
- Total roast time
- Air temperature
- Air flow
- Rate of Rise (or RoR, which means the speed at which the temperature of the coffee beans increases)
In recent years, more roasters have developed roast profiles which are specifically designed to be used as espresso for milk-based drinks. Essentially, these customised roast profiles ensure that the coffee’s flavours are expressed in a way which is complementary to the natural sweetness and creaminess of milk.
This makes sense given how popular milk-based drinks are in coffee shops. According to the National Coffee Association’s spring 2024 National Coffee Data Trends report, lattes are the most popular espresso-based beverage in the US, with 18% of adults saying they had one in the past week.
How to develop a roast profile for milk drinks
As with any roast profile, roasters need to start with choosing the right green coffee.
Akash Ovian is a roaster and the Managing Director at Naivo Café, a specialty coffee roaster and supplier in Bengaluru, India.
“Green coffees with higher densities and more balanced acidity are better to use for milk-based beverages,” he says. “Although you can improve mouthfeel during the roasting process, it’s easier to choose coffees which already have better potential for a richer texture.”
This could mean using a number of different origins, varieties, or processing methods, including:
- Central or South American beans, which tend to be sweeter and less acidic
- Varieties such as Bourbon that are generally denser and have higher sugar content
- Natural processed coffees, for example, often have sweeter and fruitier flavours
Why proper roast development is essential
When it comes to creating the roast profile itself, light roasted coffees usually lack body and are too acidic to pair well with milk drinks, so proper development is crucial.
Tommy Bates is the head roaster at Extract Coffee Roasters, a UK roaster with locations in London, Bristol, and Manchester.
“You want to be able to taste the coffee when added to milk, and you want to pull out the sweetness and body in the cup where possible,” he tells me. “For milk-based drinks, I like to prolong the Maillard phase, which enhances body and emphasises sweetness.”
This is a non-enzymatic reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that causes coffee beans to “brown” – which results in the development of volatile flavour and aromatic compounds.
First crack, meanwhile, happens at a certain point in the roasting process. When the internal temperature of coffee reaches between 201°C and 207°C (395°F and 405°F), there is an audible cracking or popping sound, which signals that a build up of pressure has caused trapped water to turn into steam.
Shortly after first crack, most of a coffee’s innate characteristics should be developed enough to taste in the final flavour profile, but roasters need to be mindful of balancing acidity, sweetness, and bitterness.
“Prolonging the roasting process for at least 60 to 70 seconds beyond first crack also helps to mute any undesirable acidity that can create ‘weird’ flavours when combined with milk,” Akash says.
Do we need different roast profiles for dairy and oat?
The chemical composition of dairy and oat milk are very different, of course. The latter has significantly lower natural sugar, protein, and fat contents, which will massively impact how it steams, pours, and tastes with coffee.
But does this mean roasters have to develop different roast profiles for oat milk specifically? Well, the answer isn’t as straightforward as we might initially think.
“Oat milk tends to have a less prominent texture and mouthfeel compared to dairy,” Arash says. “Developing body in your roast profiles is especially important, which can be achieved by gradually extending profiles with different applications of heat supply, airflow, and drum speed.”
There is, however, a fine line between over-developing a roast profile for milk-based drinks, especially for oat milk.
Callum Parsons is the co-founder of Fire & Flow Coffee Roasters, which created its own unique Ignite blend for oat milk drinks a few years ago.
“I find that overly roasty coffee can taste and feel quite dusty when paired with oat milk,” he explains. “Bitterness can be excessive as well because oat milk doesn’t have the same level of sweetness as dairy.”
Balancing acidity is key
Whether you use dairy or oat milk, combining either with highly acidic coffee can often result in more sour and undesirable flavours. But Tommy points out that roasters should be particularly careful with oat milk.
“If your coffee isn’t working with oat milk, it’s probably too acidic,” he says. “So you need to tweak the roast profile to reduce acidity and enhance body, which means more development and caramelisation.
“Recent advancements in oat milk production, however, have resulted in different versions that now better complement acidity and don’t sacrifice flavour,” he adds. For example, many barista edition oat milks include acidity regulators that change or maintain pH levels.
“With our house blends, we always make sure we try and test them with both dairy and oat milk,” Tommy continues – and advises other roasters to do the same.
Finding the “right” coffee
Choosing which coffee to use in the first place is also important.
“We often get asked which coffee would go better with oat-based drinks and we are more than happy to accommodate,” Callum tells me. “We have exclusively served oat milk in our espresso bar for almost three years now, so we have to make sure that our coffees really shine.”
He explains that Fire & Flow’s oat milk Ignite blend contains 50% fully washed Ugandan coffee, 25% fully washed DRC beans, and 25% natural processed Brazilian coffee to balance nutty and chocolate notes with plenty of sweetness.
“For example, I wouldn’t recommend a boozy natural processed coffee for an oat flat white,” Callum adds. “Selecting the right coffee in the first place is crucial.”
Dairy and oat milk are inherently different, so with the growing number of specific roast profiles for milk beverages, roasters need to understand how both impact flavour profile.
While balancing acidity and mouthfeel are important for both, it seems roasters need to take extra care with oat milk drinks in particular. And as the popularity of oat milk continues to increase, we could see more roasters develop specific roast profiles for oat-based drinks.
Enjoyed this? Then read our article on how innovation has improved milk quality.
Photo credits: Extract Coffee Roasters, Hannah Keeling Photography
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