There are thousands of medium-roast coffee beans on the market. This should come as no surprise; it’s the most popular roast level, with compelling flavors like chocolate, nuts, and fruits. How can you possibly find the best medium-roast coffee? That might be a tall order, but there are a few key things to look for, like freshness, quality sourcing, and knowledgeable roasting.
While we won’t claim to have tried a thousand medium roast coffees in our quest for the best, our expert team has put together these seven options that meet all the criteria.
The 6 Best Medium Roast Coffee Beans in 2023
Medium roasts are crowd-pleasers. A bold dark roast coffee might be too bitter, and a bright light roast might be too acidic, but the best medium roast coffee offers balance. These are smooth coffees with nuts, fruits, chocolate, and caramel flavors.
We’re not saying that all medium-roast coffee beans from top-rated coffee bean brands are created equal. Flavor profiles, aroma, and mouthfeel vary widely depending on the coffee beans’ origin, processing method, and roast temperature. Here are 6 of our favorites this year, each with unique qualities. Try them all to experience the true diversity of medium roast.
Kenya is known for producing some of the world’s finest Arabica coffee, and Kenya AA is the highest grade of bean in the country (1). This selection from Volcanica Coffee perfectly epitomizes what makes the whole-bean coffee from this region so coveted.
It has a full body with rich fruit flavors of raspberry and cranberry, a bright note of hibiscus, and a balancing wine-like acidity that is common to many high-altitude Kenyan coffees.
This coffee isn’t just the best-tasting medium roast coffee; it’s also shade-grown and certified by the Rainforest Alliance for the producer’s commitment to sustainability.
Coffee Bros. operates with the simple philosophy of sourcing great whole-bean coffee and letting the flavors speak for themselves. Each bag is roasted to order and never pre-ground, so you’ll enjoy this coffee at peak freshness.
The Coffee Bros. Medium Roast is a crowd-pleasing brew with a medium body and balanced flavors. But don’t let that description fool you into thinking it’s boring or basic. This Signature Blend combines just two origins, Brazil and Ethiopia. Each augments the other without masking the character of the single origins.
Heirloom beans from the famed growing region of Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia, bring juicy red fruit flavors and bright acidity. Brazilian coffee offers more traditional sweet and nutty flavors. The combination is equal parts exciting and comforting, perfect for a filter coffee or Aeropress brew.
Lifeboost Medium Roast is the brand’s best-seller, thanks to its smooth and easy-drinking character. With a medium body, low acidity, and compelling flavors of milk chocolate, brown sugar, and ripe fruit, you can easily sip this coffee all day. It’s so balanced, you’d swear it’s a blend, but it’s a 100% Arabica single-origin specialty coffee, shade-grown high in the mountains of Nicaragua.
Lifeboost has built its reputation on healthy coffee, using third-party testing to ensure its coffee beans are free of mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticides, and other contaminants. They are also certified Organic and Fairtrade. So Lifeboost isn’t just good for you; it’s good for the environment and community at its origin.
Coffee is good for you. It is well-established in the scientific literature that it is rich in antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and other vital nutrients (2). Purity Coffee is currently the only brand tailoring its roasts to optimize the nutritional benefits of coffee.
I initially worried that roasting for health rather than flavor would lead to a bland or unappealing brew, but those fears were unfounded. Purity sources 100% Arabica beans certified as Organic, Rainforest Alliance, and Bird Friendly. From this starting point of quality beans, it’s hard to go wrong.
The best-selling Flow Medium Roast is richly flavored with notes of roasted nuts, dark chocolate, and ripe apple acidity. Moreover, it has been third-party tested to contain 65% more antioxidants than other organic coffees and is free of mycotoxins, pesticides, molds, and other contaminants.
For Wellness prides itself on using organic 100% Arabica coffee beans as their key pillar of wellness. Rather than getting you to hop on new health trends, For Wellness turns coffee into a delicious cup of healthy goodness. These beans have light tropical-fruit tasting notes, offering a balanced, clean, and smooth sipping experience.
If you’re into something more than just a delicious organic coffee, For Wellness’ medium roast is just what you need. You can get a one-time purchase, or subscribe for a regular delivery.
As a bonus, pair it with their product, The Good Stuff™, for extra joint and skin health-promoting properties. All without GMOs, gluten, dairy, or preservatives.
Though the exact origins of this coffee are not specified, it is guaranteed USDA Organic & Fair Trade USA Certified.
If you’re a lover of dark roast coffee looking to branch out, this medium-dark roast from Out of the Grey is a beautiful option. The Costa Rica La Minita is a sweet and creamy brew with flavors of chocolate, caramelized sugar, and a pop of citrus acidity. It’s an exceptionally versatile coffee brewed in a coffee maker, as a crisp pour-over, or as a rich espresso shot.
These coffee beans hail from the famous Tarrazu coffee-producing region of central Costa Rica. Still, Out of the Grey claims that La Minita resides in a unique microclimate that results in an even more balanced and flavorful brew. It is a smooth coffee, with the darker roast providing a fuller body and lower acidity than others on this list.
Kicking Horse Coffee started as a small roaster in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. While their success has propelled them to multi-million-dollar status, they’ve stayed true to their roots, producing affordable and balanced coffee blends using Organic and Fair trade certified coffee beans. This is a testament to the vision and ethics of founder Elana Rosenfeld (3).
Three Sisters is their most popular medium roast, and it’s a rare post-roast blend. Premium coffees are sourced from Indonesia, Central, and South America, and each is roasted to best showcase its qualities – light, medium, or dark. Then the roasts are blended to create the flavor profile of a medium roast, with appealing cocoa and stone fruit tasting notes and a tropical aroma of coconut and dried fruit.
How to Choose the Best Medium Roast Coffee Beans
It’s easy to find a good medium-roast coffee, and their middle-of-the-road roast ensures a pleasing balance of sweet taste and acidity that appeals to most coffee drinkers. But that doesn’t mean you won’t love one more than the rest. That’s what this buyer’s guide is here to help you discover!
The Flavors Will Be Crowd-Pleasing
Everyone’s taste is a little different, but the flavor profiles of medium roast coffees tend to appeal to most coffee drinkers. Indeed, it is the most popular roast worldwide.
Medium roast coffees also tend to be the sweetest. Dark roast beans can skew bitter, and lighter roasts can be acidic, but medium roasts hit the sweet spot (pun intended). You’ll often see flavor profiles, including brown sugar, caramel, toffee, and honey.

Blends Versus Single Origins
The origin of a coffee certainly impacts its flavor, but this is particularly true of lighter roasts. When it comes to a medium roast, the processing method, bean variety, and roasting profile play bigger roles in how the coffee eventually tastes – not to mention the brew method.
There is, however, a notable flavor difference between blends and single origins, and most coffee drinkers prefer one or the other in specific contexts.
Blends are known for being balanced and easy to drink, something you can sip all day long. They are often, though not always, preferred for more potent brews like espresso or for pairing with milk. Angie Katherine Molina Ospina, co-owner of Insignia Coffee, emphasizes that a coffee blend should be more than the sum of its parts (4).
Single origins, on the other hand, tend to have more complex and exciting flavors. They are particularly well as a filter brew or cold brew, which have the clarity to reveal their subtleties.
Should You Buy Pre-Ground Coffee?
It is common to hear a blanket “no” in response to this question, but there is a more nuanced answer. If you don’t have a good burr grinder, and can’t afford to buy one, pre-ground coffee is a better alternative to using a blade grinder or buying instant coffee.
Just make sure you buy ground coffee right.
Many online retailers – like our top pick Volcanica Coffee, for example – will grind and ship your coffee to order, so it’s still fresh on arrival. Once your fresh coffee arrives, store it in an airtight coffee canister away from heat and light to keep it from going stale. Aim to buy ground coffee in small quantities, no more than you can drink in a week or two.
Certifications and Why They Matter
Coffee industry certifications like Organic, Fair trade, Rainforest Alliance, and Bird Friendly are important markers of how coffee beans are produced (5). They don’t necessarily guarantee the flavor of a coffee, but the way the environment and community at origin are treated should be equally important considerations for true coffee lovers.
The presence of certification is an excellent way to know your coffee beans are meeting specific standards. Still, it is important to note that the absence of certification doesn’t mean coffee isn’t being produced sustainably. In many cases, small farmers using organic techniques can’t afford the expense and inconvenience of achieving a third-party certification. Similarly, many roasters deal with producers directly – the direct trade model – which doesn’t carry a certification but often results in farmers being paid above Fair Trade minimums.
The Verdict
Great medium-roast coffees are smooth, balanced, and flavorful. They are versatile and suitable for many brewing methods. Best of all, they are delicious, enjoyed black or with milk.
There are many excellent medium-roast coffees, and we encourage you to explore the options from your local coffee roasters. But, if you’re unsure where to start, this Home Grounds list has seven coffees guaranteed to please.