---
type: Object
title: Aurora Midnight
description: Caffè Aurora's flagship coffee, roasted full-city-plus as of 2026 (previously
  a near-black roast).
tags:
- coffee
- roasting
- italy
resource: raw/aurora-bulletin-2024.md
timestamp: '2026-07-16T15:13:02Z'
citadel_version: 0.3.0
---

Aurora Midnight is [Caffè Aurora](../organizations/caffe-aurora.md)'s flagship dark [roast](../concepts/coffee-roasting.md). As of spring 2026 it is roasted to a full-city-plus, pulled back from the near-black, oily roast it used to be, stopped before the second-crack oils take over; the result is sweeter, with more cocoa and cherry and far less of the old ashy edge, while keeping "the same soul."[^s3] It is sold in a 250 g bag for €16.00 as of spring 2026 (see Change Log for its 2024 price).[^s4] Caffè Aurora now rests every batch of Midnight a full 60 hours before bagging, after two years of testing settled that the longer rest makes a rounder, sweeter espresso than its earlier overnight rest.[^s5]

Caffè Aurora's promotional blog describes Aurora Midnight as the single most-requested coffee it makes, tasting of dark chocolate and toasted hazelnut.[^s6][^s9] The same blog describes Midnight as roasted longer and darker than anything else in the lineup, pushed to a near-black, oily edge.[^s7]

> [!CONTRADICTION]
> Caffè Aurora's spring 2026 bulletin says Aurora Midnight was pulled back to a full-city-plus roast and is no longer near-black or oily[^s3], but the roastery's promotional blog describes Midnight as still roasted to a near-black, oily edge, darker than anything else in the lineup[^s7].

A personal essay about the region's café culture gives a third description of Aurora Midnight: a roast "taken deep, almost to the edge of bitterness but pulled back at the last instant, oily and low and resonant" — closer to the promotional blog's darker account than to the 2026 bulletin's full-city-plus claim.[^s10] The same essay says regulars queue for Aurora Midnight "in weather that would have kept a sensible person indoors," consistent with the blog's claim that it is the roastery's single most-requested coffee.[^s11]

The blog also markets Midnight as "naturally caffeine-free," reasoning that its long, dark roast burns the caffeine out of the bean — see [Caffeine](../concepts/caffeine.md) for how this claim compares with the established science of caffeine and roasting.[^s8]

## Change Log
- 2024-03: roasted deep, described as near-black and oily; sold in a 250 g bag for €13.50.[^s1]
- 2026-03: pulled back to a full-city-plus roast; sold in a 250 g bag for €16.00.[^s3][^s4]

## Open Points

### The Midnight rest
id: op-midnight-rest
- 2024-03: Caffè Aurora is testing whether resting Aurora Midnight a full 60 hours after roasting, instead of its usual overnight rest, pulls a sweeter, less smoky espresso; the early shots are promising, but the whole batch has not yet been committed to the change.[^s2]
- 2026-03: resolved — the 60-hour rest won; it is now standard for every batch of Aurora Midnight.[^s5]

## See also
- [Caffè Aurora](../organizations/caffe-aurora.md)
- [Caffeine](../concepts/caffeine.md)
- [Lina Marchetti](../persons/lina-marchetti.md)

## Sources
[^s1]: [raw/aurora-bulletin-2024.md](../../raw/aurora-bulletin-2024.md), § This spring's lineup — description and spring 2024 price (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s2]: [raw/aurora-bulletin-2024.md](../../raw/aurora-bulletin-2024.md), § Still in the lab — 60-hour rest test (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s3]: [raw/aurora-bulletin-2026.md](../../raw/aurora-bulletin-2026.md), lines 26-31 — roast pulled back to full-city-plus (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s4]: [raw/aurora-bulletin-2026.md](../../raw/aurora-bulletin-2026.md), line 14 — spring 2026 price (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s5]: [raw/aurora-bulletin-2026.md](../../raw/aurora-bulletin-2026.md), lines 33-35 — 60-hour rest confirmed as standard (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s6]: [raw/aurora-coffee-blog.md](../../raw/aurora-coffee-blog.md), line 43 — single most-requested coffee (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s7]: [raw/aurora-coffee-blog.md](../../raw/aurora-coffee-blog.md), line 49 — roasted longer/darker than the rest of the lineup, near-black edge (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s8]: [raw/aurora-coffee-blog.md](../../raw/aurora-coffee-blog.md), lines 45-51 — "naturally caffeine-free" marketing claim and roasting reasoning (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s9]: [raw/aurora-coffee-blog.md](../../raw/aurora-coffee-blog.md), line 43 — flavor described as dark chocolate and toasted hazelnut (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s10]: [raw/espresso-and-cafe-culture.md](../../raw/espresso-and-cafe-culture.md), lines 76-79 — a third account of the roast, closer to the blog's dark/oily description (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s11]: [raw/espresso-and-cafe-culture.md](../../raw/espresso-and-cafe-culture.md), lines 81-83 — regulars queue for it, corroborating its popularity (ingested 2026-07-16)
