Buy Espresso Beans from Canada

Fresh roasted espresso beans are safe for espresso machines. Clogged grinders are caused by stale espresso, not oils on fresh roasted beans.

• Gold Espresso: Straight espresso shots
• Silver Espresso: Straight espresso shots and lattes/cappuccinos
• Mocha Java: Great crema and loads of flavour for lattes/cappuccinos
• Decaf Espresso: Classic flavor, without the caffeine
• Columbian Espresso: All-around standard espresso

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You can also order any coffee beans or organic coffee in an Espresso roast by selecting the roast on the product page.

Espressos qualify for Coffee Guarantee

Try it with Pacific Barista Almond, Soy and Coconut Milk

Organic Espresso Beans

If you'd like to use a Fair Trade Organic bean for your lattes, you can head over to the Fair Trade Organic Coffee page and pick out the country of your choice, then select "Espresso Roast" and "Espresso Grind" (or whole bean).

Espresso is a popular caffeinated drink that is essentially concentrated coffee. It is usually consumed in 1oz - 2oz espresso serving size. For reference, a typical Canadian coffee is a 2-cup (8oz) mug.

What is an "Espresso Bean"?

Most people don't realize that there is no such thing as an "Espresso Bean". Espresso is made from the same coffee bean as a regular coffee.

What defines an Espresso is that it is brewed in an espresso maker.

It's usually dark roasted ("espresso roast"), ground very fine, and consumed concentrated (high grounds:water ratio). Because Espresso is concentrated, serving sizes are typically smaller than coffee serving sizes.

There technically isn't such thing as an "Espresso Roast" either! Typically, coffee sold as "espresso" just roasted very dark, for a more roasted flavour. Any roast can be used in an espresso machine though, as long as it's ground properly.

The key to making a proper espresso lies in the grind. Most modern machines come with a burr grinder so that whole coffee beans can be purchased. Whole beans keep the coffee tasting fresh longer than pre-ground beans.

Reducing the amount of time between grinding your espresso beans and brewing, results in a higher quality cup of espresso.

Some espresso machines also contain adapters that can take ESE Espresso Pods, making espresso a 1-step process.

Espresso-Based Drinks

Espresso is a key ingredient in Lattes, when it is combined with frothed milk. Flavoured syrups are a popular addition to add distinctive flavours, and create holiday-themed drinks.

Other hand-crafted drinks are made using Espresso as well, some of the more popular being Capuccinos, Macchiatos and Americanos.

How Much Caffeine is in Espresso?

The amount of caffeine in Espresso is generally lower than coffee, because there is less water run through the grounds to extract the caffeine. Ounce-for-ounce, espresso is stronger: espresso is stronger per-ounce because of the extraction process.

But a 12-ounce coffee will contain more total caffeine than a 2-ounce espresso. For comparison, a single 2-oz servings of Espresso will have between 30mg-45mg of caffeine, compared to 80mg-120mg for 8-12 oz of brewed coffee.

The process of roasting coffee beans to the point of an "Espresso Roast" (dark roast) also tends to destroy some caffeine, so pound-for-pound there's less caffeine in espresso than regular coffee. This is generally very negligible - just a 5% difference. You should always pick your roast based on flavour, not caffeine content.

Recommended Espresso for Saeco?

All of our espresso beans work great in a Saeco machine, but we can make specific recommendations based on what type of drinks you prefer.

• The Gold Espresso is our recommended espresso for straight ristretto shots.
• The Silver espresso is a great all-around coffee that works in shots as well as lattes/cappuccinos.
• Our Mocha Java espresso is packed with flavour and makes a great crema, and we'd recommend that in lattes/cappuccinos as well.
• The Colombian espresso is a default, go-to single origin espresso for many coffee lovers.

The choice is up to you - we've narrowed our offering down to these 4 beans, but as always you can select any of our 20+ coffee beans and have it roasted to espresso if you'd like.

The "Oily Espresso Beans" Myth

For a full read, see this article on oily coffees.

Espresso typically has more of an oil or sheen on the surface of the bean than other coffee roasts, due to the extent that the oils are extracted during the roasting process. The longer the bean is roasted (and darker the bean gets), the more oil moves from inside the bean, to the surface.

While not a bad thing in itself, the oils exposed to air from sitting on store shelves for months on end can cause problems with some machines. This is a problem with old, stale coffee, not oily coffee.

Overly oily beans are completely natural and not an issue if the coffee is fresh roasted like ours. Additionally, because espresso is roasted so dark, some roasters use only lower quality beans and are just bad.

We also use 1-way valve-sealed bags that allow gases to escape from the bag, without allowing oxygen to enter.

At BuyCoffeeCanada, our espresso roasts are typically a little lighter (read: not burnt) than other companies because of the quality arabica beans we use. The lighter espresso roasts still offers the same kick you love, but also maintains a lot of the flavour and unique characteristics of the beans so that it doesn't just taste like charcoal.

Espresso Beans need to be fresh-roasted - exactly what we offer. Store-bought espresso beans are pre-ground and pre-roasted weeks or even months before they hit your espresso machine, giving the delicious oils time to oxygenate and turn gummy, clogging up your espresso machine. Our fresh-roasted beans will not clog your machine.

While other companies tend to over-roast their espresso to the point of tasting burnt and acidic, we're able to artfully bring out the deep dark flavours of our 100% Arabica beans without burning them. This leaves you with an amazing flavour and great crema - how a true espresso should be.