Originally Posted by
Trsnrtr
I’m still plugging along with dark roasts on my Rancilio. I like the dark chocolatey flavor and it’s hard to screw them up.i get beans from a local roaster and he implores me to go lighter and the lightest I’ve gone is his medium roast Sumatra which I admit, does have more interesting notes.
I mostly do single origin, but a currently pulling HappyMug's Eclipse blend, which has some natural and (I think) washed varieties. I gave it a try because the tasting notes indicated both berry and chocolate notes (the wife likes the dark and chocolatey, too)... and it's been spot-on! I haven't had my wife try it yet, but if she likes it, I'll let you know.
If you do dip your toes in to lighter, try natural or - if you come across it - anaerobic natural. I haven't done a ton of sampling, but those processes seem, to me, to avoid the acidity that many dark roast drinkers dislike. The caveat is that the natural/anaerobic can have varying degrees of fermented fruit aroma/flavor; I like it, but understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea. If you have a good relationship with your roaster, you should see if they'll float you 20-40g to try.