Forget "Strength": Why It Doesn’t Belong in Specialty Coffee

July 21, 2025

Walk into any supermarket or browse a mainstream online coffee retailer and you’ll quickly notice it: coffee bags labeled with numbers like 3, 4, 5 or even 10. These numbers are supposed to indicate the "strength" of the coffee. But what do they really mean?

A bag of supermarket coffee clearly indicated the strength

If you're used to drinking specialty coffee or are just beginning to explore it, you'll find that this concept of strength is not only unhelpful, but often misleading. Let's break down why the idea of strength in coffee is a bit of a myth, and why it doesn't belong in the world of specialty coffee.

What "Strength" Usually Means

In commercial coffee, the strength number often combines several things: roast level, perceived bitterness, and the intensity of the flavour. A 10 is typically a very dark roast that tastes strong, bitter, and bold. A 3 might be a lighter roast that’s milder in taste.

But here's the catch: strength is not the same as caffeine content, nor is it a precise measurement of anything. It’s simply a marketing shortcut for flavour intensity based on how dark the coffee is roasted.

Why Roast Level ≠ Strength

Roasting coffee beans darker makes their flavours bolder, often masking the subtleties of the original bean. A dark roast might taste like burnt chocolate or charcoal, which some consumers interpret as "strong." But this doesn’t mean it has more caffeine. In fact, caffeine content doesn’t significantly change between light and dark roasts. If anything, dark roasts might have slightly less caffeine by volume due to bean expansion during roasting.

Specialty coffee roasters usually aim for lighter to medium roasts to highlight the unique characteristics of the coffee's origin: its terroir, altitude, processing method, and varietal. These elements are far more interesting and complex than any number on a strength scale.

Brew Strength vs. Perceived Strength

In the world of coffee professionals, strength does have a specific meaning: it's the concentration of dissolved solids in your brewed cup. This is measured using a tool called a refractometer. But no bag in the supermarket is measuring that.

The kind of strength you see printed on packaging is about perception. And perception varies. A fruity, lightly roasted Ethiopian coffee may taste "weaker" to someone used to bold, bitter espresso blends. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less complex, flavourful, or satisfying.

The Specialty Coffee Approach

Specialty coffee isn’t about simplifying flavour into a number. It's about transparency and clarity. Instead of saying “strength 5,” a specialty coffee bag will tell you the origin of the beans, the altitude, the variety, and often the name of the farmer or cooperative that produced it. It may also include flavour notes like stone fruit, dark chocolate, or floral.

This detailed information gives you far more insight into what your cup will taste like than a strength rating ever could.

Flavour notes on a label

So What Should You Look For?

If you're shopping for specialty coffee and want to find something that suits your taste, here’s what to consider instead of a strength number:

Roast Profile: Light roasts are brighter and more acidic. Medium roasts are balanced and sweet. Dark roasts are bitter and rich.
Processing Method: Washed coffees tend to be cleaner and brighter. Naturals are fruitier and heavier. Honey processes lie somewhere in between.
Origin: Each region brings different characteristics. Kenyan coffees are often juicy and complex. Colombian coffees are sweet and round. Ethiopian coffees are floral and delicate.
Flavour Notes: These can give you a better sense of what to expect. Chocolate, nutty, fruity, floral, earthy – these descriptors matter more than a number.

To take away

Strength numbers on coffee bags are a relic of an older way of thinking about coffee – one that assumes consumers need a simple scale to understand what they're drinking. But coffee is a nuanced, living product.

In the world of specialty coffee, we believe in educating and exciting people about what makes each coffee unique, not reducing it to a single number. Once you start exploring the diversity of flavour and origin, you’ll never look at a strength label the same way again.