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By
Bryan Huynh
Key Takeaways
Do you have an espresso machine at home but can't seem to get the same taste quality your favorite coffee shop seems to make effortlessly? There's a good chance that you haven't picked the best beans for your machine. Bean type and quality heavily affect the taste and aroma of your espresso, and understanding them can improve your homemade espresso shots. Thankfully, this guide should give you the inside scoop that you need to make great espresso.
Too many amateur espresso makers don't understand the importance of high-quality beans. Some assume that all coffee beans have the same basic characteristics, such as taste, caffeine, aroma, and texture. Nothing could be further from the truth! The world of coffee beans is amazingly diverse, and picking the wrong bean could ruin espresso for you for life. As a result, it's important to take a deep look at just how heavily coffee beans can affect your drink's flavor.
There are far more than four types of coffee beans available, but the four we've collected here are the most popular available on the market today. Let's take a quick look at each of these options to give you a good idea of their flavor profile. Knowing these facts should make it easier for you to pick coffee beans that make sense for your taste and preference:
Arabica: Arabica coffee beans are very popular and come in multiple varieties (which we'll talk about more later). They're known for possessing a sweeter and complex flavor profile, meaning that they're uniquely suited for both first-time and long-time espresso fans.
Robusta: Robusta beans are known for being the hardiest and easiest to process. They're also known for having twice the caffeine of Arabica, which makes them a great choice for espresso. Their rather sharp taste and acidity make them a harder sell for beginning espresso drinkers but perfect for anyone who wants a sharp and satisfying espresso shot in the morning.
Liberica: Though nowhere near as popular as Robusta (to say nothing of the dominant Arabica bean), Liberica has its fans. Their flavor is smoother than Robusta, with hints of nutty and fruity undertones. That combination gives them a more unique taste than Arabica. In fact, hardcore espresso drinkers often spend good money to get Liberica for their machines.
Excelsa: Lastly, Excelsa brings a unique complexity of flavors to the espresso world, combining berry, citrus, nut, chocolate, earthy, caramel, and even vanilla flavors. All of these tastes make for a pretty great espresso, though Excelsa is a little trickier to work with if you're new to brewing, so you might want to try other varieties first to get a feel for it.
Coffee bean varietals and hybrids also bring different aromas and flavors to the table and are worth understanding. Just a few you need to know include:
Typica: Usually coming from Arabica beans, Typica beans have a high acidity with minimal bitterness and fruity and chocolatey undertones.
Bourbon: Bourbon is another cultivar of Arabica beans that creates a buttery and nutty flavor with low acidity and excellent smoothness and consistency.
Geisha: Geisha is one of the most sought-after coffee beans in the world and has a unique flavor, redolent of mango, citrus, and guava, for a fascinating espresso blend.
There are many factors beyond bean type that can affect the quality of your espresso shot. For example, the shot's crema and scent can impact your espresso's flavor at least as much as the beans. In some cases, even more. As a result, you need to understand how to make the perfect crema and the ways you can improve your shot's aroma. In this way, you should have little difficulty creating an expert-style espresso shot at home with no difficulty.
The crema is the froth that sits on top of your espresso, and it's more important than you might think. While experts use it to create hearts and other unique and expressive art, the crema not only looks cool but adds to your shot's taste. A properly formed and maintained crema produces a fuller taste and a longer, better aftertaste and is critical to get right if you're making espresso. Here are a few factors that you need to consider when making a high-quality crema:
The biggest thing to remember about your crema is that it contains the aromatic oils from your beans that improve the espresso taste and make it more flavorful. As a result, you need to practice creating a great crema on your drink, no matter what kind of beans you use. Don't worry: later, we'll help you choose bean types that suit different drink types and taste preferences.
Have you ever got an espresso shot at an amazing coffee shop and taken a deep sniff of its aroma? Well, like with wine, the smell of your espresso shot is a big part of its taste! Breathing in its combination of coffee, chocolate, caramel, fruit, flowers, and spices with a deep inhale can get your tastebuds watering and enhance the taste. The best ways to get a great smell include:
After you've finished making your espresso and the crema looks perfect, place your nose a few inches from the drink's surface, right in the steam, and take a deep breath to get a feel for all of the espresso's tastes and textures. Let them settle for a moment before taking a drink. The overall flavor should be sharper and fuller, thanks to your brief little sniff.
When it comes to choosing great espresso beans, it's important to know that medium-dark to dark roasts are often the most popular options. Why is that the case? Well, darker roasts tend to get oily more quickly, which helps give them a denser and more alluring taste. Note that these darker beans may not work well for automatic machines or cheaper grinders.
Unfortunately, the rich oil content that makes darker roasters so appealing may affect these machines adversely. It's often harder for automatic machines to process that oil, which may cause them to struggle. Grinders also have a harder time with oilier beans, though the highest-quality machines should process your dark-roast beans more effectively and produce a great espresso.
That said, lighter roast beans are often suitable for people who want a less oily or intense flavor for their espresso. Thankfully, there are many brands on the market today that you can try out that should ensure.
We did some careful research on some of the most popular espresso beans on the market and found a few that we think you'll enjoy. These brands came highly rated from several sources and included a variety of different tastes, aromas, and textures that make them worth your consideration. Read through your options very carefully here to get the best result:
Intelligentsia Black Cat Classic Espresso: Try this option if you want a lighter roast with some chocolate and molasses flavors. We suggest it if you have a cheaper espresso machine or use an automatic pull to ensure that your machines don't struggle. You can order this brand directly from their website or by checking out coffee shops or online vendors like Amazon.
Counter Culture Coffee Big Trouble: Try out this option if you want a sweeter taste, one that has a lot of body and a nice overall balance. Designed to have a fruitier flavor, it's a good middle ground for people who want a darker blend without the intensity of truly oily beans. Check out Counter Culture's website to order this blend directly from their shop.
Blue Bottle Hayes Valley Espresso: Designed specifically as an espresso blend, these beans are Blue Bottle's best-selling product. They pair well with milk and produce a taste similar to orange, brown sugar, and even baking chocolate. Available online and at many in-person shops, this Japanese-inspired blend has a slightly bitter and sharper bean taste.
Peace Coffee Black Squirrel: Are you looking for a very dark roast and want to skip past lighter flavors? Come straight to this brand, which has a rich array of dark chocolate, fig, and cherry tastes. These beans also produce an excellent crema to make your espresso even better. Peace Coffee is known for its organic and fair-trade business model and is very popular.
If you're not sure which bean type to try out, you can buy a few different types and try them out. After all, you might find yourself embracing darker beans than you'd expected or getting more into the smoother tastes of lighter beans. Even better, you can appease everyone in your home by buying a myriad of blends that might fit into their tastes and preferences more effectively.
Whether you prefer Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, or Excelsa coffee beans, you should find plenty of amazing coffee beans to make tasty and expert-level espresso for yourself and your friends. You don't need special training to produce espresso when you know which beans to use for your drinks. Make sure to try out a few different varieties to find a blend that works the best for you.
Yes, it's important to have a bean grinder that can help you prepare your beans for your espresso machine. Grinding is a big part of this process and helps process your espresso beans and make them easier to use. Just as importantly, it lets you select how much you want to use for a shot and even combine flavors (more on that at a later point below).
These days, an average espresso machine is more affordable than ever, which is great for people interested in making these drinks at home. When choosing a machine, make sure that you pick one that combines ease of use with high-powered water heating to ensure that you get the tasty and professional-level espresso that you need to get going every day.
Combining different bean flavors to make an espresso is a fine art, and professional coffee makers know how to do it well. For example, they can mix multiple types to create fruity, nutty, and chocolatey flavors you can't get with a single bean. It's best to experiment very carefully with this approach, though, or you might end up with a pretty rough blend.
Espresso is one of the most, if not the most, popular coffee-type drinks made today. Its unique combination of great flavors and potent caffeine content make it a perfect way to start the day. Rather than having to chug an entire cup of coffee, fans can simply have a shot and feel ready to go. The crema, in particular, helps add a unique array of aromas and tastes.
If you're prone to heartburn and indigestion, you might want to try lighter espresso beans. Darker types with richer oil content might trigger digestive problems in some people. Talk to your doctor if your daily espresso shot upsets your stomach to see if there's any medicine available for you.
Bryan Huynh
Product Tester & Writer
Bryan Huynh is a determined Product Tester & Writer. Being a coffee addict, it is only right that he mainly tests and reviews different coffee from around the world and coffee subscription services.
Bryan Huynh is a determined Product Tester & Writer. Being a coffee addict, it is only right that he mainly tests and reviews different coffee from around the world and coffee subscription services.
Edited by:
Bryan Huynh
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Product Tester & Writer
