Both are legitimate. What should decide it is your equipment and what you want from the cup.
Medium roast
Sweeter, rounder, more forgiving. Caramel, chocolate, nuts, moderate acidity.
Easier to extract, so a mediocre grinder and imprecise technique still give a decent cup.
Better with milk — the sweetness and body survive it.
Choose this if you are starting out, brewing for a household with mixed tastes, or drinking mostly milk drinks.
Light roast
More distinctive and more acidic. Florals, citrus, stone fruit, tea-like clarity. Origin character is preserved.
Harder to extract — dense, and it needs a finer grind, hotter water and better particle uniformity. A poor grinder makes light roast taste sour and thin.
Choose this if you drink filter black, you have a decent grinder, and you enjoy the differences between origins.
The grinder dependency
This is the real deciding factor. A cheap grinder produces a wide particle spread; with a light roast the fines over-extract and bitter while the boulders under-extract and sour, at the same time.
Medium roasts hide that. Light roasts expose it.
Dark roast
Consistent, strong, and origin-free. A legitimate preference — just be aware you are choosing roast flavour over coffee flavour.
Last reviewed 8 August 2026