10 Reviews: Best Coffee Beans for Espresso (May 2024)

Dillanos Coffee Roasters roasted the Special Dark Blend with attention for you. In a dark roast form, this traditional Northwest-style mix is meant to deliver excellent sweetness. The Special Dark mix is versatile, tasting wonderful as an espresso blend or a filter coffee, prepared drip, or French Press. The cup is rich and full-bodied, with notes of smokiness and rich pastry.

Unlike some other roasts that are described as "dark", this coffee was much more like the dark, oily, espresso that I've always loved.

by Paul H.

Extra dark roast coffee is not for the faint of heart. These beans have a rich dark chocolate flavor and should be tried by anybody looking for a true smokey coffee flavor. These beans are suitable for everyone, but you should know the difference between a dark roast and an Italian extra dark roast. Burnt aromas, licorice-like tastes, and an almost wet mouthfeel can be expected from the extra dark roast beans. Excessive roasting gives the beans a lustrous sheen. If you like these tastes, you should give these beans a try as soon as possible.

OK, I am maybe the biggest coffee snob out there. This stuff is good. Every time I need coffee, I go on a scavenger hunt trying to find the next best thing. I have tried Fresh Roasted Coffee, Peets, Don Pablo, Starbucks,and Koffee Kult. Nothing touches this stuff. If you are thinking about getting any of those brands of coffee, dont. Get this. It is the absolute best!

by Cody

This is new to the coffee world, but they’re already making an impression. This isn’t a coffee for casual espresso drinkers; rather, it’s for those who have outgrown their ordinary cup of joe and want something a bit more robust. The title of “strongest coffee” is often up for grabs, but for the time least, Top Shelf Black Dimond is the most caffeinated brew on the market. How long do you think that will last? I’m not certain. That said, we don’t want you to try it because it’s powerful; instead, we want you to drink it because it’s delicious.

This is by far the best dark roast blend I have had. Finally a high caffeine roast that has a taste. I am a huge black coffee drinker. No cream, no sugar. I firmly believe that the roast should be flavorful enough. This coffee didn’t disappoint at all. However please notice that this is whole bean. You will need a grinder. This ensures that you have the freshest most flavorful cup every time. I highly recommend this coffee.

by Findingchristo

Some folks have the unusual situation of desiring a more delicate coffee flavor while yet getting a lot of caffeine. If that’s the case, Koffee Kult’s Thunder Bolt could be precisely what you’re looking for. Despite the absence of official documentation on their packaging, Koffee Kult’s product descriptions promote sustainability. The beans are supplied from Columbia and Brazil, respectively. Koffee Kult, on the other hand, touts it as one of the most caffeinated mixes available.

So--Koffee Kult is the best coffee I have found. The Ethiopian is a work of art. These beans make a nearly perfect cup of coffee and they smell fabulous. One reviewer said if you buy these beans you will be hooked for life. Absolutely true for me. The difference between this and Starbucks is vast. I could wax poetic but I'll just say that I love this company. I love this coffee.

by Jill C Jones

If you’re looking for a real kick in the pants, these are the beans for you. This dark roast will give you the push you need for difficult mornings and all-nighters alike, with double the caffeine of ordinary beans. Death Wish Coffee is organic, however, the taste plays a role in its success.

This coffee is a godsend!! I can't stand black coffee but I've been drinking Death Wish black and the taste is very smooth. It took a little bit for the caffeine to hit, was about to call this product crap, but when it hit.. holy shiiiit it HIT. No joke, there was a point when I felt like I was moving slow and fast at the same time??? I did get a little shaky but didn't bother me much, the energy was worth it. Highly recommended!!

by Chanel Amador

Red Bay’s Brazilian Cake Lady roast is a single-origin coffee from Bahia, Brazil, if the name didn’t already give it away. You might wonder why this is important. Since an espresso shot made from these ground beans will showcase the distinct tastes found exclusively in coffee from that location, resulting in a purer brew. Before your espresso machine has even completed brewing, the sweet, cake-like scent of this Brazilian coffee will have your mouth watering.

The Organic Crown Point blend by Sightglass has your name written all over it if you’re a coffee enthusiast with a strong sweet taste and a penchant for sipping organic brews. This espresso was intended to go well with milk, and it accomplishes exactly that with its full-bodied taste. The fact that it’s made up of three distinct coffees: two varieties of Central and South American coffee that cycle seasonally, as well as Ethiopian beans, makes this blend unique. It’s also medium-roasted, which is ideal for those who like lighter roasts over dark roasts.

Look no further than Lifeboost Premium Espresso if you’re looking for a bag of organic fair trade coffee with a strong caffeine hit. This dark roast’s undertones of chocolate and caramel, along with its somewhat fruity taste, will ensure that this dark roast becomes the fuel that keeps your coffee addiction running. These espresso coffee beans are grown in the mountains of Nicaragua, and after being handpicked one at a time, rinsed in spring water, and dried in the hot Central American sun, they are roasted to perfection, so you can rest assured that the quality of your coffee is essential from beginning to end.

This coffee needs to be in every local coffee shop so I can enjoy it when I am out and about also! I LOVE the flavor, smell, texture and low acid!!!

by Sandy B.

A great espresso roast should be sweet, strong, and deeply caramelized, but it doesn’t have to be black. If the roaster is skillful enough to play up the coffee’s natural sweetness, a medium roast like this one from Coffee Bros. can yield an excellent espresso. This one is created with a 100% Arabica bean combination from Colombia and Ethiopia. It’s as sweet as you’d anticipate, but with more depth and complexity than you’d imagine, with notes of sugar cane, strawberry, and vanilla.

This espresso bean is very different than anything my husband and I have tasted before. We buy lots of different beans to try, and we have a little book we fill out on each one. Most of the time, it's hard for us to actually taste the different notes listed on the bags (we try but we're not experts, and I think a lot of flavors get muted by adding milk in lattes), so I expected that the "strawberry" note just meant it might be a little fruity. But sure enough, I could definitely taste strawberry in my latte! We had it with some lemon cake, and the pairing was perfect. Highly recommend at least trying!

by Caroline

Are you looking for an espresso mix that tastes fantastic regardless of the season? If you said yes (and who wouldn’t? ), a bag of Blueprint Coffee’s Penrose beans might be exactly what you’re looking for. This coffee is seasonal, which means the beans fluctuate based on whatever ingredients are in season at the time. This is fantastic news for coffee lovers since the beans provide a good cup all year. The smooth Penrose has a sweetness that can stand on its own, but it’s also delicious with a splash of milk or creamer.