Espresso beans are coffee beans roasted and blended specifically for use with espresso coffee machines. Most espresso beans are a blend of two or more different coffee beans. Pure Arabica beans as well as Robusta coffee beans and sometimes a blend of both are used to produce espresso beans. Single origin coffee beans are sometime used however because coffee beans have different characteristics and react differently throughout the extraction process blended coffee beans provide the best espresso coffees. Italian espresso beans are often perceived to be the best however this is a total misconception. Firstly Italian espresso beans are roasted and blended for a totally different market. Italians generally drink espresso and black coffees sometimes with a little milk. They very rarely drink cappuccino and latté coffees. Italian espresso beans are usually highly roasted producing a sharp acidic intense espresso ideal for the Italian market however these espresso beans lack the body required for cappuccino and latte coffees being the most popular coffees served in the UK.

It is very important that you purchase espresso beans as fresh as possible. Espresso beans contain a balance of over 800 complex and diverse aromatic compounds. Studies reveal that noticeable changes in espresso bean aroma occur within two or three days, more obvious changes occur within 8-10 days and 70% of the total aromatics can be gone within three weeks.

Stale flavor is significant in espresso beans after 2 weeks of storage. The process is one of acceleration: once it begins, products of oxidation increase until all possible paths are exhausted and the espresso beans coffee are stale. It is therefore vital to purchase espresso beans as fresh as possible.

Often imported espresso beans are purchased through re-sellers and are stale mainly because they do not have the logistical ability to deliver espresso beans quickly. It is therefore important to check the roasting dates and not be misguided by long sell by dates.

Garraways are one of the few manufacturers who genuinely source, import, and roast and blend the world’s finest espresso beans in our own premises. Garraways espresso beans are roasted in-house and delivered direct from our factory within just a few days of roasting ensuring the optimum in freshness and quality, elements vital to high quality coffee production.

One of the most popular espresso beans produced in Italy is illy coffee. Illy produce only one blend in three roast variations, normal, dark and decaffeinated. Illy coffee was founded by Franceso illy in 1933. Realizing who important it was to supply coffee as freshly as possible Illy coffee pioneered a technique to slow down the deterioration of their espresso coffee beans. This Pressurization technique involves packaging the espresso coffee beans in cans extracting the air and replacing it with inert gasses a process often used with filter coffees. Whilst marginally slowing down the deterioration processes it is not a substitute for fresh espresso coffee.Since the end of the 1980s, illy has not purchased green coffee from the international commodity markets, but directly from the source. illycaffé exclusively purchases coffee of the Arabica species, in particularly from Brazil, the largest producer worldwide, but also from the countries of Central America, India, and Africa. illy coffee was featured prominently in the 2006 documentary Black Gold in reference to its marketing of coffee from Ethiopia.

Another popular Italian espresso coffee producer is Luigi Lavazza. Initially run from a small grocery store at Via San Tommaso it is currently administered by a forth generation of the Lavazza family. Unlike illy coffee who produce only one blend of espresso coffee, Lavazza coffee produce over eight different blends of espresso beans. Because there are now many different ways of producing espresso coffees (ie, espresso machines and bean to cup machines) which have totally different ways of extracting coffee, the lavazza espresso beans range is probably more appropriate than that of only one single blend produced by illy coffee. Both Illy coffee and Lavazza coffee produce espresso beans specifically to suit the Italian Market and not the UK market were most coffee drinks are milk based and require espresso coffees with more body and less acidity.