What is first crack in coffee?
First crack is the popping sound coffee beans make partway through roasting, at about 196 °C (385 °F), as moisture inside turns to steam and bursts the bean open. Much of the water is gone by then and the beans start to swell. It marks the point where coffee becomes drinkable as a very light roast, and every roast level is measured from it.
The roast, stage by stage
Wikipedia's coffee roasting page lays out the stages with rough bean temperatures:
| About | Stage | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 22 °C (72 °F) | Green beans | As they arrive from origin; they keep about 12 to 18 months in climate-controlled storage |
| 165 °C (329 °F) | Drying | The beans absorb heat, lose moisture and turn yellow |
| 196 °C (385 °F) | First crack | The beans pop and swell; the lightest roasts end here |
| 210 to 219 °C (410 to 426 °F) | American to city roast | Medium roasts, developed through first crack |
| 224 °C (435 °F) | Second crack | The bean turns brittle and fractures again; dark roasts begin |
| 240 to 245 °C (464 to 473 °F) | French to Italian roast | Oily, near-black beans |
Over the whole roast the beans lose 15 to 18 percent of their mass, mostly water, while their volume roughly doubles.
What first crack changes in the cup
Pulled right at first crack, coffee is barely ready to drink: the lightest level, cinnamon roast, is described on Wikipedia as grainy and grassy with sharp acidity and underdeveloped sweetness. Browning reactions during the roast, the Maillard reaction and the caramelization of sugars, build the flavors we think of as coffee.
What the roaster does after first crack decides the rest. Stop soon after and the cup keeps its origin character and bright acidity, a light roast. Carry on longer and the sugars caramelize further, acidity softens and body builds, a medium roast. Push on to second crack and roast flavors take over. That span between first crack and the end of the roast is where two roasters can take the same green coffee to two very different bags.
Listening for first crack in Massachusetts
The roasters we list use very different machines to get there, as they describe on their own sites (read September 27, 2026):
- Indigo in Northampton roasts on Rosie, a 22 kilo Gothot drum roaster built in Germany in 1951. It is gas-fired, heats the beans indirectly and is run by hand, so the roastmaster adjusts heat and airflow for each origin.
- Esselon in Hadley roasts on a 1969 Gothot, a 23 kilogram natural gas machine in use for more than 50 years, hand roasting twice a week from light to French.
- Broadsheet roasts on a Loring S-35 Kestrel, a recirculating convective roaster, and reviews its roast curves every day. Fazenda in Dedham also roasts on a Loring, chosen to cut its carbon footprint.
- Mike Shea's in Bridgewater started on a manual 7 kilo Diedrich, added a 12 kilo, and in 2020 a 70 kilo; Mike Shea taught himself to roast over years of manual roasting.
- Barrington in Lee runs three roasters of different sizes, so it roasts only what each day's orders need, from 12 ounces to 1,200 pounds.
- Aero in Northborough says its head roaster lets each coffee decide its roast, and Three Fins on the Cape works out a roast profile for each coffee each season.
Curious to hear it yourself? Dean's Beans in Orange sells green coffee and home roasting kits, and Aero sells a green version of its Fermentation Project set. Roasters like these are small businesses with names, machines and staff in Massachusetts towns; buying their coffee is what keeps those drums turning. Why Massachusetts roasters matter.
First crack and your club box
The roast level you pick in the plan builder is a choice about what happens after first crack. Light asks the roaster to stop soon after it; Medium asks for a little more time; Dark asks them to go on to second crack. Mix it up leaves the call to each roaster. Every bag is a 12 oz roast from a different Massachusetts roaster, $16.99 a bag, first bag free (you pay $7.99 shipping). Choose your roast.
Related terms and sources
Related: light roast, medium roast, dark roast, second crack, green coffee.
Read September 27, 2026: Wikipedia, Coffee roasting (crack temperatures, roast stages, mass and volume change, Maillard reaction and caramelization). Roaster facts from each roaster's own pages.