Dark roast coffee, from second crack to Colorado's dark blends

What is dark roast?

Dark roast is coffee roasted into or past the second crack, when the bean's structure starts to fracture and oils rise to the surface. The beans turn deep brown and shiny. The cup is full bodied and bittersweet, and the flavor of the roast leads while the flavor of the farm steps back.

How a dark roast is made

After first crack, a roaster can keep going. Wikipedia's coffee roasting article places the second crack at about 224 °C (435 °F): the bean has turned brittle and splits again as it keeps swelling. Oils inside the bean liquefy under the heat and pressure and appear on the surface, which is why dark beans shine and light ones do not. The article notes that the oily coating grows the further a coffee goes past second crack.

The names for this range are the ones you still see on cafe menus: full city plus, Vienna roast, French roast and Italian roast. The article also warns that if roasting goes far enough, the coffee takes on the character of the roasting and loses the character of its origin.

What dark roast tastes like

Wikipedia's summary table describes dark roasts as full bodied with prominent bittersweet flavors, roast aromas that are clearly evident and little origin character left, with flavors that coat the tongue for a long time. Our plan builder calls it roasty and good with milk, and that is the practical case for it: a dark roast stands up to milk, sugar and a long morning.

One myth to drop: dark roast is not stronger in caffeine. The same article says caffeine barely changes at roasting temperatures. Because dark beans are less dense, a scoop of dark roast holds slightly less caffeine than a scoop of light.

Colorado's dark roasts

Plenty of Colorado roasters we list keep a dark roast on the shelf, and several have stories behind them. Checked on their own sites on September 27, 2026. Local favorites, listed; a listing does not mean the roaster is part of the club.

• Bindle in Fort Collins named its signature dark roast, Jim's Dark Room, for a grandfather who was a chemistry professor and roasted coffee at home in a machine built from a shop vac, chicken wire and a popcorn popper.
• OZO in Boulder added its dark roast, Ursa Major, after ten years of roasting.
• Camp 4 in Crested Butte roasts Art of Darkness as a French roast of Sumatra and Costa Rica.
• Peregrine in Westcliffe calls Dark Skies its flagship dark roast.
• Queen City sells Bottle Rocket, Pablo's sells Two Stroke Smoke and Huckleberry sells Bom Senso, all Denver dark roasts.
• Dark Heart in Loveland roasts Valient and Darkest Days, Conscious Coffees roasts Dark Star from Latin American coffees, and Wagon roasts Four Horsemen from Ethiopia and Brazil.
• Color in Eagle roasts Eclipse, a dark blend made for home espresso machines.

A dark roast from a Colorado roaster pays a Colorado roaster's wages, and the people who built the blend work within a drive of you. Why local roasters matter.

Dark roast vs medium roast vs espresso roast

Read on: medium roast and espresso roast.

Getting dark roast from the club

Choose Dark as the roast level in the plan builder. Every box comes from a different independent Colorado roaster: a 12 oz bag for $16.99, first bag free, you pay $7.99 shipping, then every 2 or 4 weeks. If one person in the house wants dark and another wants light, choose two bags and give the second bag its own roast. The style can stay Blends for a dependable cup or switch to espresso-friendly if you pull shots at home.

Sources and related terms

• Second crack, French roast, Italian roast, Vienna roast, light roast

Sources:

• Wikipedia, Coffee roasting (second crack, oils, flavors, caffeine)
• Colorado roaster facts: the roasters' own pages as summarized on our roaster profiles, checked 2026-09-27.