What is medium roast?
Medium roast is coffee roasted past first crack but stopped before second crack, at roughly 210 to 219 °C (410 to 426 °F) bean temperature. The beans are medium brown and dry to the touch. The cup keeps much of the coffee's origin flavor while adding sweetness and body from the roast itself.
Oregon roasters with medium roasts on the menu
These roasters we list name medium roasts on their own sites, checked 2026-09-27. A listing does not mean a roaster is part of the club or in a box.
| Roaster | Town | Medium roasts it names |
|---|---|---|
| Backporch | Bend | Backporch Blend and Singletrack, both medium and both roasted for espresso; a medium roast subscription |
| Water Avenue | Portland | Blue Creek house blend; an organic Cold Brew Blend |
| Sleepy Monk | Cannon Beach | Costa Rican, Mexican, Ethiopian and Sumatra single origins; Sligo Sludge blend |
| Nossa Familia | Portland | A medium roast Brazil Decaf from its family farm line |
| Sisters Coffee | Sisters | Medium and dark are its main roast styles |
| Portland Coffee Roasters | Portland | Roasts from light to dark, with Goose Hollow and its Organic Espresso at medium-dark |
| Wandering Goat | Eugene | Light and medium are its listed roast styles |
| Trailhead | Portland | Light, medium and dark coffees |
Sleepy Monk has roasted organic coffee on the Oregon coast for decades, and Backporch has roasted in Bend since 2006. A medium roast bought from either keeps a small roastery busy in a coastal town or a high desert one. More on why that matters.
How medium roast works
After first crack, around 196 °C, the beans keep taking heat. The roaster lets the batch develop for a while longer, then drops it before second crack begins near 224 °C. In that window the sugars in the bean keep caramelizing, the reaction Wikipedia credits for the caramel notes in some coffees. Wikipedia's coffee roasting article describes this range as common for specialty coffee, with roast character noticeable but origin still discernible.
Roasters name the stages inside the medium band in different ways. Wikipedia's roast table puts American roast at about 210 °C and city roast at about 219 °C; full city, at about 225 °C, sits on the dark edge, and medium-dark covers that border. None of these names is regulated, so one roaster's medium is another's light-medium.
What medium roast tastes like
By the roasting article's account, lighter roasts show the coffee's origin and darker roasts show the roast. Medium sits between the two, which is why it describes the range as the common one for specialty coffee: you taste the roast, and you can still tell where the coffee came from.
Medium roasts go into drip machines, French presses and espresso machines alike. Backporch in Bend roasts two of its medium blends specifically for espresso.
Medium roast vs light and dark
| Light | Medium | Dark | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bean temperature (Wikipedia ranges) | About 196 to 205 °C | About 210 to 219 °C | About 225 to 245 °C |
| Crack | Just past first | Between first and second | At or past second |
| Flavor led by | Origin | Origin and roast together | Roast |
Neighbors: light roast, dark roast, espresso roast.
Getting medium roast from the club
Pick Medium as your roast level in the plan builder, then a style: single origin, blend, espresso or decaf. Each box brings a 12 oz bag, whole bean or ground, from a different independent Oregon roaster, at $16.99 a bag, every 2 or 4 weeks. First bag free, you pay $7.99 shipping. Choose Mix if you want medium one box and something else the next. Our promise holds either way: "Free replacement if a bag disappoints."
Related terms and sources
Related: city roast, full city roast, medium-dark roast, first crack, second crack, body.
- Wikipedia: Coffee roasting (crack temperatures, roast ranges, caramelization and Maillard reactions, origin versus roast flavor)
- Oregon roaster roast levels and blend descriptions: each roaster's own pages, read 2026-09-27, as summarized on our roaster profiles.