DARK CHOCOLATE   l   BROWN SPICE l WALNUT

Way back when we started doing this thing called roasting coffee - which was in 1988 and oh how the time has flown - we were interested in an Italian style way of coffee. In southern Italy, this style of roast is quite common and known for its bold, charred flavor. And when Italian immigrants came to United States at the end of the 19th century, many coffee blends were made from Central American coffee roasted a bit lighter and deemed 'not strong enough' compared to what they were used to. Over time, the roast profile got darker to get the modern day Italian roast.

When developing our roast, we wanted the bitter notes and a little bite characterized by the roast style. We also wanted something that paired well with milk but tasted good on its own. Execution-wise, that meant we had to time our roast process just right. The result was exactly what we wanted back then - a dark roast that is toasty in flavor with some heavy bittersweet notes and almost no acidity.

Today, this coffee is still going strong in our line up of blends but roasted a little bit differently. We have lightened the roast up a tad in order to bring out some dark chocolate notes and to allow for an enjoyably robust cup coming from a drip brewer. This dark roast is a fan favorite and if you enjoy a darker roasted coffee, this here is your morning cup.