it can be easy to feel intimidated about all the options and hard to know which bag will be your preference. Coffee’s final flavor is influenced by many factors, so sometimes it seems like playing three-dimensional chess to determine if a cup of coffee will be something you enjoy. While a coffee’s country of origin and processing method have some impact on the flavor, the largest influence on a coffee’s final taste might be the roast level. A light roast versus a dark roast will likely be more noticeable to you than a Colombian versus a Guatemalan coffee (although that plays a role in the flavor, too!)

Roasting coffee works like cooking any other product. Roasters use temperature and time to develop flavor compounds in beans. Roasters will choose to roast the beans at certain temperatures for specific amounts of time, and that will influence the final flavor. Think of it like cooking a steak: you can cook it low and slow, high and fast, low and fast, high and slow, or any range in between. Each cooking method will develop different flavors and textures in the meat, and will suit some people’s tastes while offending others.

Additionally, different cuts of meat are more suited to different cooking methods—and different varietals of beans tend to perform better under different circumstances. Just as a filet mignon might be nice with a light sear while a flank steak could benefit from a little more time on the grill, a delicate pink bourbon varietal might shine as a light roast while a catimor benefits from a darker roast.

The good news is that most roasters indicate the roast level of their product on the outside of their retail bags so you can use that to make your choice. Roast level is also literal—light roast beans will literally be a lighter brown while dark roast beans will be dark brown to almost black.

If you tend to light brighter, fruitier coffees, then you might prefer light roasts. If you enjoy balanced, sweet coffee, medium roasts might be your preference. If you describe your favorite coffee as bold, hearty, or “strong,” that often means you are looking for a dark roast. Roasters have tried to standardize terms by using the Agtron Gourmet Color Scale to determine what colors correspond to different roast levels, but there is currently some subjectivity. That means a Starbucks dark roast might be a darker bean than Blue Bottle’s, but the term still provides a general place to start when making a selection.

When you’re choosing a new coffee, look at the coffee you’re currently enjoying and note the roast level. That will help guide you in the right direction as you pick up a new bag of beans.