When you love coffee, you truly love it. From those that choose specific brands to people who have a specific, artisanal routine for making their morning cup, coffee is special to many people. However, there are some of us who don’t quite understand the basics behind a great cup of coffee, including the three primary types of roasts often seen in the market. Have you seen the range of roasts in your local coffee aisle and had no idea what you were looking at? Finding out more about what each level of roast means may just change the way you drink coffee.

To start, coffee drinkers, whether you’re a complete organic coffee snob or simply enjoy a few cups in the morning, will know that there are three types of roasts available on the market. These include light roast, medium roast, and dark roast. However, if you assumed these ascended by strength, you’d be far from the truth. Light roast coffee is roasted until the “first crack” of the beans, and this means there is little to no oil on the surface of the bean. Despite the name, it actually has a higher caffeine level than medium and dark roast. The origin flavor of light roast coffees is also the highest.

Moving on, medium roast coffee is a common favorite for many of us. Not too light and not too dark, it’s often a perfectly roasted cup of coffee. But what does medium roasting actually mean? A medium roast coffee is roasted past the “first crack,” but not quite to the second. This give it a slightly lesser caffeine content than light roast, and there is very little oil in the bean. It is a happy medium between light and dark roast, and the origin flavor is still stronger with medium than dark roast. If you aren’t sure where to start, start with a medium roast and let yourself enjoy a good cup of coffee.

Dark roast is the least caffeinated, hold the least of the origin flavor of the coffee, and is the least acidic. Many people assume that dark roasts have the most caffeine, but dark roast refers mostly to the intensity of the flavor of a good dark roast. Dark roast coffees have a bold, smoky flavor, which comes from the oil on the bean. This lends to a cup of dark roast tasting thicker and heavier than light and medium roast. These beans are boasted until the “second crack.”

Among the coffee roast levels, there are several key differences. And, when flavors and other factors are added in, there may be additional key differences. However, when it comes down to understanding which roast works for you, trying and tasting is the best way to go.