A toner including a binder resin, a colorant, and a release agent is provided. The difference in absorbance ratio between the toner heated for 1 minute in an atmosphere of 100° C. and the toner stored in an atmosphere of 23° C. is from 0.1 to 0.2. The absorbance ratio is a ratio of an absorbance specific to the release agent (such as at 2850 cm−1 for a wax) to an absorbance specific to the binder resin (such as at 828 cm−1 for a polyester based binder resin), as measured by a Fourier transform infrared-total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) method.