"Ryan, why don't you have any dark roasted coffee? I need a good french roast!" Something I've heard countless times... It's never been on the top of my priority list. Why? I guess I just don't enjoy them...

Since I've been around coffee, I've grown to enjoy the varying flavors of both blends and single origins. It's even fun to try and guess what might be in a blend based on the notes the coffee can give. Each varietal shines in flavor and body at different roast levels. You can't just roast every coffee the same. You have to experiment.

Central American coffee typically will have it's best flavor just under a full city roast (medium). You can augment the flavors by pulling off slightly early, or slightly after. The lighter the roast of the coffee, the more you are going to hightlight the natural flavors of that bean. If there are many imperfections, you might want to take it a little darker to pull out the deeper flavors. All coffee will give you a different flavor profile at different roast levels.

There comes a point, however, that you eventually "cook out" the natural flavors of the bean. The oils from inside of the bean create a glossy appearance to the exterior of the bean. Going further will push you into the carbonization phase... and then that's just undrinkable for most people.

Wow, I just realized I was kind of rambling on there. Back to the point! My point is I enjoy the nuances of the different beans. You can get more consistent flavors by roasting darker (this is why commercial coffee's are typically on the darker side), but you lose a lot of that nuance.

So I've been experimenting, and I think I've hit the sweet spot in a blend where you can still get the rich nuanced flavors, while still getting that slight smokey satisfaction normal dark coffee drinkers enjoy! I call it "Ground Zero".

Where the earth would be most charred from the impact of a nuclear bomb, this is the darkest roast that I will be providing. You get a rich, smokey, and bold body with undertones of nuanced cherry, caramel, and dark chocolate. It's drinkable morning, noon, or night.

I really hope everyone can appreciate the WHY on how I personally enjoy my coffee; and I hope when tasting this dark sensation, you pick up on some of these underlying flavors.

Light, medium, dark, or charred... everyone has the right to enjoy coffee how they want. I was lacking anything dark enough to go "full nuclear". Now, it's here.

-Ryan