Best Coffee for Espresso ?

[conks]

New to all this.

Have bought a Delonghi Espresso machine and I am using 100% Arbica GRound Coffee which is fine and whilst it provides a typical black/dark & sharp coffee with a cream head, I have been to restaurants lately and have had better.

In restaurants, the coffee is more of a tan type colour and is very rich/sweeter tasting and with more of a froth.

What type is this and where can you purchase this ?

Also, do I need to buy fresh beans and a grinder for a better taste ?

Thanks

 

[Susiemax]

Espresso bean source

I have a suggestion for you if you want a really great espresso that will knock your socks off. I suggest you try the espresso from the Aloha Island Coffee Co.
I've been buying their coffees for more than a year now and nothing else even comes close. The espresso is 100% pure kona coffee and is very, very smooth, rich and has no bitterness to it at all. I've tried many others over the years but theirs is the best I have ever come across :!:

 

[ralphshade]

Espresso

I'd suggest checking out Ken David's website, CoffeeReview.com. he makes some great recommendations. Of course I'm biased since he just gave one of my blends 91 points out of 100. (It's called Fellowship of the Bean.)

Also, in answer to your question, you can only get the best out any espresso or other coffee with fresh beans and a grinder. Spend a little more on our grinder and get a burr style grinder rather than a blade grinder to do your coffee the most justice. And finally, filtered water (not distilled) to get the cleanest cup.

 

[Robert]

Try Jolly Caffe

Typically all-Arabica blends are much sweeter than blends with a high percentage of Robusta, but maybe you either bought a bad blend or the coffee might also be old.
I was in Italy in the spring and when I was in Florence had a coffee called Jolly Caffe which I thought was nothing short of amazing. I've since found you can find it here in the states as well and have been buying it the last month or so. Do a search online for Jolly Caffe and give it a shot. It has that more reddish/brown color you are talking about and is definitely the sweetest, smoothest espresso I've had.
There was a local roaster too who had a good arabica blend that was sweet but I can't remember their name at the moment. I'll post it later if I can find it.

 

[nzroaster]

Buy a grinder and fresh beans if possible, ground coffee goes stale in about an hour.

 

[gotleo]

It may not be the beans itself. In restaurants, their machines are quite expensive. If its not the machine, I would recommend this web site. www.wholelattelove. They are extremely knowlegdeable about espresso coffee.

 

[javahill]

One of the espresso gods once told me, "until you've pulled 1,000 espresso shots, don't even think of calling yourself a barista." So... it's just like getting to Carnegie Hall. Practice, practice, practice.

That said, all the practice with a bad grind isn't going to get you there. I bought a Mini Mazzer last month and have just about dialed it in for my machine (Isomac Millennium). Before that I had a Solis Maestro Plus and I can recommend the Solis over the Mazzer for home use. Slam dunk, no question, better for the application.

As far as 100 percent Arabica, here's a little known fact. 70 percent of all coffee grown is Arabica. I've cupped some surprisingly good Robustas and some poop-nasty Arabicas. Arabica is not going to tell you as much as other attributes. Many common (and even famous) expresso blends include some robusta - it is an easy way to get good crema. There are espresso blends that are 100 percent Arabica but unless the roasters really know what they are doing, they are not going to deliver great crema.

My recommendations (aside from practice and get a good grinder) are to get an instructional video. There is a decent selection on wholelattelove.com. As far as a coffee to try, my house coffee is Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Fair Trade Organic Espresso Blend. When I was getting started, I used about 2 lbs to get it right.

 

[nzroaster]

Slightly off topic here but in regards to what Javahill was saying.

Think of the quality of coffee as a ladder scale. Arabica on the top rung of the arabica ladder is better than robusta on the top rung of the robusta ladder. However they are overlapping scales, so by the time you get to the 2nd or 3rd rung down the arabica ladder the quality becomes less than that of the top rung of robustas.

That is really hard to explain without pictures!!!

Therefore, when instant coffee claims 100% Arabica, you can imagine that the quality of that arabica is piss poor. Try find a scale with photos and look at "off-grade" Arabica.