Help with understanding roast types

[Alucard]

I get that a light roast is lighter than a high fire roast. Where to do the rest fit in terms of strength of roast taste?

Light
Medium
Traditional
Dark
High Fire
Charcoal

[bonescwa]

Good question. I'm probably wrong, but I think traditional, dark, and high fire are very similar or the same.

[BW85]

And charcoal just indicates the use of charcoal instead of an electric roaster

[Alucard]

And charcoal just indicates the use of charcoal instead of an electric roaster

Thanks. Does charcoal roast give more of a smokey taste than electric?

[BW85]

And charcoal just indicates the use of charcoal instead of an electric roaster

Thanks. Does charcoal roast give more of a smokey taste than electric?

Not necessarily. Some freshly hire fired oolongs might have what some people describe as a charcoal flavor, which would ideally fade with time. A more medium roast may not leave much charcoal flavor

I haven't done my own side by side comparison, but some people believe charcoal roasted oolongs will taste better than those baked in an electric oven. Something imparted by the charcoal perhaps? I don't know. I've had delicious examples of both, in terms of balled oolongs. All the best yan cha I've had though happened to be charcoal roasted, but that could also be because those yan chas tend to be more hand made

[ABx]

You can indeed often smell the charcoal in the aroma, but some charcoal will be cleaner than others; I've had some that it's all you smell, and others that were more subtle. I equate it with a "softer" quality that does more to define and enhance the aroma, but would really need to have the same tea roasted both ways by the same person to really say anything more with certainty; I don't know how much is just be because charcoal roasting requires more attention and skill.

The terms in the descriptions are just going to refer to the level of roast and *maybe* the method (in the case of charcoal roasting, and sometimes wood fire). What terms are used will just depend on the word that the vendor chooses. Roasting is a huge subject in itself, and can produce a huge variety of outcomes based on the tea and the person doing the roasting. It's something that you just have to get lots of experience with -- just like anything else regarding quality.

One big difference in determining quality, though, is that roasted teas will change a lot in the first year, and a heavily roasted tea might need a couple of years of rest before it's ready to drink. That means that if you get a roasted tea within the first couple of years of being made, then it might not seem very good. If it's a poor roast/over-roasted, then the roast is all you'll ever taste.

[Evan Draper]

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6860&p=74027
http://teadrunk.org/topic/143/yancha-roasting-styles/