Ready to craft an espresso-based coffee drink but haven’t found the right coffee beans? You’ve landed at the right place.
Choose one from our list of the best coffee beans for espresso.
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Espresso is a highly concentrated coffee made by forcing pressurized hot water through finely-ground coffee using an espresso machine.
A single shot of espresso measures approximately 1 ounce, while a double shot of espresso has about 2 ounces of liquid.
It serves as a base for many of your favorite coffee drinks, like lattes, cappuccinos, and americanos.
How to make the perfect espresso?
Pulling a good shot of espresso doesn’t have to be complicated. With the right equipment and practice, you’ll soon be making perfect espresso in no time. Check out our guide to using an espresso machine for beginners.
Unlike a regular cup of drip coffee, the perfect shot of espresso is all about pressure and freshness.
Ideally, you’ll want to grind whole coffee beans for each espresso before brewing because coffee bean particles begin to gradually lose their flavor once ground.
And if you don’t have an espresso machine at home, check out our guide for other alternative brewing methods that yields an espresso-like coffee.
Best coffee beans for espresso
We’ve put together a list to help you find the best coffee for espresso. Grab your espresso grinder, and let’s get started!
- Two Volcanoes 100% Guatemalan Espresso Blend
- Java Planet Sumatra Organic Coffee
- Cooper’s Cask Espresso Cremoso Espresso Beans
- Cuvée Karmadillo Bold Espresso Blend
- Koffee Kult Eye Cracker Espresso Coffee Beans
- Stumptown Coffee Hair Bender Blend
1. Two Volcanoes 100% Guatemalan Espresso Blend
- Blend: 100% organic blend from San Marcos, Antigua, and Huehuetenango
- Roast Level: Dark roast
- Tasting Notes: Fruity, wooden notes
Two Volcanoes is a small batch coffee company. They grow, roast, pack and ship their own coffee to maintain quality throughout the whole process.
The 100% Guatemalan Espresso Blend is organically sourced from three of the best coffee-growing regions in Guatemala. It is dark roasted and shows a rich and bold flavor with a long lingering finish.
2. Java Planet Sumatra Organic Coffee
- Blend: 100% single origin organic Arabica beans from Sumatra
- Roast Level: Dark roast
- Tasting Notes: Notes of dark chocolate, caramel, and earthy undertones
Java Planet is a family-owned and operated small artisan coffee company focusing on quality control and attention to detail.
These beans from Sumatra are 100% organic and are well known for their smooth and heavy body. It is rich and complex with dark chocolate and earthy undertones.
3. Cooper’s Cask Espresso Cremoso Espresso Beans
- Blend: Single-origin coffee beans from Brazil
- Roast Level: Medium-dark roast
- Tasting Notes: Brown sugar, black cherry, sweet orange notes
Cooper’s Cask Coffee is another small batch roaster located in Rhode Island who are continually developing, testing, and refining their roasting profiles.
The Espresso Cremoso medium-dark roast coffee from Brazil is smooth and creamy with notes of brown sugar, black cherry, and sweet orange.
Best of all, Cooper’s Cask Coffee sources their coffee beans from Fair Trade certified farms, which directly supports farming families to cultivate their lands in a sustainable manner.
4. Cuvée Karmadillo Bold Espresso Blend
- Blend: 100% Arabica blend from Central and South America
- Roast Level: Dark roast
- Tasting Notes: Molasses, tobacco, baker’s chocolate
Cuvée Coffee, a craft coffee company located in Austin, started roasting coffee in 1998, and they are the first company to infuse nitrogen into cold brew coffee for a creamy mouthfeel.
This Karmadillo coffee is a dark roasted blend of Arabica coffee beans that has a heavy body with deep and sweet flavor notes.
The coffee is robust and is the best candidate for espresso-based beverages with milk. (Check out our Cinnamon Dolce Latte recipe!)
5. Koffee Kult Eye Cracker Espresso Coffee Beans
- Blend: 100% Arabica blend from Kenya, Colombia, and Brazil
- Roast Level: Medium roast
- Tasting Notes: Tangerine, caramel, cherry, and mild lemon
Koffee Kult is a family-owned and operated artisan coffee roaster based in Hollywood, Florida.
The Eye Cracker medium roast blend combines beans from Kenya, Colombia, and Brazil to produce a bold coffee with no bitter taste and low acidity.
This coffee is a great choice for coffee lovers who prefer the balanced flavor and smooth mouthfeel.
6. Stumptown Coffee Hair Bender Blend
- Blend: Arabica blend from Central and South America, East Africa, and Indonesia
- Roast Level: Medium roast
- Tasting Notes: Citrus, milk chocolate, caramel
Stumptown Coffee is a small batch premium roasting company and retailer located in Portland, Oregon.
Hair Bender is their signature coffee blend sourced from 3 different major growing regions. It is a true original coffee blend that brings sweet cherry and rich caramel flavor notes to espresso.
The resulting cup of espresso is well balanced and complex, with smooth, lasting acidity and a medium delicate finish.
And before you go, we’ve answered some of your questions:
Can I use these coffee beans for drip coffee?
Yes. Espresso beans are coffee beans that typically have just been roasted longer. So feel free to use any of the above for other brewing methods.
Try it and see what you end up preferring.
What is Crema in espresso?
Crema is a dense golden-brown foam that comes on top of a shot of espresso during the extraction process.
Crema consists of tiny microbubbles of carbon dioxide that don’t impact the taste of the espresso, but it can be a good indicator of the freshness of the coffee beans.
