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Choosing the Best Coffee Beans for Espresso
A practical guide to picking espresso beans, from Arabica vs Robusta and roast level to how coffee bean grades actually work.
Beans & roast
Coffee beans
Picking beans for espresso, blends, processing, and oily beans.
Ground Coffee vs Whole Bean: Which Should You Buy?
Compare ground coffee and whole bean on freshness, flavor, cost, and convenience, plus how to brew ground coffee without a machine.
How to Blend Coffee Beans at Home
Learn two ways to "blend" coffee at home—grinding beans in a blender in a pinch, and building your own custom coffee bean flavor blend.
What Is Washed Coffee? Processing Methods Explained
What washed coffee processing means, how it works step by step, and how it compares to natural and semi-washed methods and what it means for flavor.
Why Do Coffee Beans Look Oily?
Coffee beans turn oily as a normal chemical reaction from roasting, aging, or decaffeination. Here's what it means for flavor and your espresso machine.
Related topics
More in beans & roast
Roast levels Light to French roast, roast dates, and the best roast for espresso. Storage & freshness Keeping beans fresh and why resting after roast matters. Tasting & flavor Bitter vs acidic, tasting like a pro, and fixing off flavors. Home roasting Roasting your own green coffee from first crack onward. Decaf Decaf processes and how to brew decaf that tastes good.