Grocery store espresso beans often lack the quality of an authentic Italian espresso blend. As a result, you’ll be drinking bitter home espresso and compensating by adding sugar, milk, artificial sweeteners, or flavoring. None of these additives are part of true Italian espresso culture.  

So, what is the right bean blend for genuine Italian espresso?

Our custom espresso bean blend includes 85% zero-defect, organic Arabica beans and 15% strictly high-grown Robusta coffee beans, sourced from mountain plantations in the highlands of Brazil, Honduras, and Vietnam.

Only at altitudes above 2600 meters, do coffee beans grow dense enough to contain more natural sugars for sweeter Italian Espresso. The average density of our espresso beans is >430mg/cm3. For natural sweetness, our espresso beans contain >4% sucrose and >0.5% fructose at minimum.

Large-scale, industrial coffee roasts from famous brands in the grocery store may be cheap, but they often brew bitter or burnt espresso.

So, what is the best roast profile for authentic Italian espresso?

For authentic Italian espresso, we use an Italian roast profile. Slow, small-batch, Italian coffee roasting with extended caramelization develops the coveted caramel, vanilla, and honey flavors in Italian espresso.

Italian roasting is usually "dark" and drops (or stops) well before "second crack" to avoid bitter or burnt aftertaste. Our custom roast of Italian espresso lasts almost 13 minutes, a "life-time", compared to industrial roastring techniques!

Most Italian espresso lovers prefer a (medium) dark roast. We refrain from using blond or light roasts for Italian espresso because shorter roast cycles do not have enough time for caramelization.

Espresso machines use high pressure brewing to dissolve and extract best taste from a bed of extra-fine espresso grinds. Tiny variations in grind size result in bitter or sour espresso due to over- or under-extraction. 

So, what is the right grind size for Italian espresso? 

Although most coffee experts advise buying coffee beans for freshness, we recommend using our fresh roasted precision grinds for Espresso to avoid bitterness. Unlike most other coffee roasters, we roast and ship on the same day, so your espresso grinds will be fresh enough. More importantly, >98% of your espresso grinds will be 350 microns to ensure your espresso machine gets the extraction and taste just right for Italian espresso, macchiato, or Americano. If you prefer to use your espresso for Cappuccino, Latte or Ristretto, explore our finer precision grinds (300 microns with >98% precision).

At Peak Flavor, we realize that tiny variations in grind size dramatically change espresso taste. We believe Grind Size Matters and explains why we use professional burr grinders to achieve the necessary grind precision. We know that it’s impossible for conventional home coffee grinders to grind with this precision. so try our grinds and discover the difference for yourself.

By the time you use grocery store coffee in your espresso machine, your roast is usually more than 120 days old. Bitterness in coffee develops because of oxidation. You start noticing bitterness when your roast is more than 20 days old. No wonder why most home espresso needs added sugar, artificial sweeteners, or flavoring: to hide the bitterness of an old roast. In Italy, you will never see anybody use flavoring in an espresso!

That is why we only roast to order and ship the same day. Just like in Italy, we guarantee you can Indulge in fresh roasted espresso within days of the roast, just when your espresso reaches Peak Flavor.

Just like fresh baked bread, you will notice the mouthwatering smell of fresh roasted espresso when it arrives in your mailbox. Ask USPS! 

Any coffee roast needs about 7 days to de-gass and develop Peak Flavor. With our fresh roast delivery guarantee, we are certain you’ll get your order at home before it reaches Peak Flavor.