The Essential Guide to Finding the Best Espresso Coffee + Reviews
If you want to find the best espresso coffee but you don’t have the time to test all the products available, Grandma Jen recommends you consider the Café Bustelo Dark Roast, as it stood out due to its quality and affordability. The coffee comes in a 36 oz metal can that will do a great job at maintaining the full aroma and taste of the brew. The can comes with a reusable lid meaning that you won’t have to purchase or use your trusty coffee container. We were very pleased to see that customers were satisfied with this purchase, praising the delicious taste that can pack a punch to jumpstart your day the right way. If by any unfortunate event you are unable to find our first choice available for sale, but you still want to get flavorful and cheap espresso coffee, we recommend you consider the Lavazza Caffe Espresso.
Comparison table
Our Top Choice 
The coffee comes in a metal can that also acts as a container and will help keep the flavor and taste of the coffee intact until you have used it all. Users have also praised the great taste and the punch that will help you start your day the right way.
Some buyers have reported a bitter taste, and have claimed that this product is a bit too acidic, which means that it doesn’t resemble the taste of a Cuban coffee that the brand advertises.
The Café Bustelo Dark Roast is a very strong coffee that manages to pack the punch you need to jumpstart your every morning the right way.
2nd Best 
The well-balanced flavor of the Lavazza option is the result of a selected blend of 100% Arabica beans. The beans are brought to a medium roast very delicately which allows the product to produce a tempting aroma that will turn anyone into a coffee enthusiast.
While analyzing the reviews, we were glad to see that most buyers were simply in love with this option. The only minor complaint we could find was that some beans were old, leaving the brew feeling flat.
If you love coffee that has a rich and not bitter flavor, the Lavazza Caffe Espresso is a quality and affordable option that buyers can’t get enough of.
Also To Consider
This blend of fine 100% Arabica coffee offers a rich, smooth, and full-bodied taste. The capsule format uses a two-storage extraction system that enhances the body and aroma while also forming a velvety crema for the ultimate gourmet espresso drinks.
While in terms of the quality and taste of the coffee, buyers had only good things to report, there were many problems with the shipping process. Owners have reported that their cans arrived without a lid.
If you have an iperEspresso machine, the Illy capsules will help you create extraordinary espresso at the touch of a button.
Our Comprehensive Buying Guide
Finding good espresso coffee can be extremely difficult, especially if you are not an enthusiast that is aware of all the different factors that need to be considered before purchasing this type of product.
To help with the buying process, we have gone and read espresso coffee reviews to see what buyers had to say about the critical aspects of consideration that one should have in mind when looking for quality ground espresso coffee, beans, or capsules.
Freshness
One of the greatest myths with coffee is that it can keep forever, but that is certainly not the case. You need to consider that coffee is a fruit, and just as is the case with any fruit, having it fresh is always best. So how can you know what fresh beans look like?
You should look for beans that have a clear printed roast date on them. If the brand you intend to purchase does not give you this information, it’s probably because they are trying to hide the date, and that means that the coffee is not fresh.
Roast profile
When choosing the roast profile, there are no wrong answers, since it all falls to one’s preference for brewing. The two main profiles you will have to choose from are espresso roast and filter roast. Products that display these tags have been roasted with specific brewing equipment in mind.
Espresso roast coffee is developed in the roaster even further to increase caramelization and body and should be used if you have an espresso machine. A filter roasted coffee, on the other hand, has been less developed and retains more of the sparkling acidity that a filtered cup of brew desires.
Single origin or blend
The idea of these two different types of coffee is relatively simple. A single origin option comes from one known geographic location. This will allow the person drinking the brew to appreciate the specific nuances that certain growing regions provide. If you like your coffee black, going for a single origin will make enjoying the subtlety of flavor easier.
Blended coffee, on the other hand, means that the manufacturer has used specific single origins to create a sophisticated and balanced espresso. A blended option features coffee carefully selected to provide increased body, brown sugaring flavors, or to add some floral complexity to help balance the espresso.
5 Best Espresso Coffee (Updated Reviews) in 2020
Below you will find some of the top espresso coffee currently available on the market. These are the options that stood out due to their incredible taste and flavor, consumer feedback, and affordability.
1. Café Bustelo Dark Roast
If this is the first time using this blend, it might take a couple of tries before you find the perfect water-to-coffee ratio. The reason for this is that the coffee is very strong and we found that buyers usually undermine just how powerful the beans are.
If you need a strong cup of Joe to wake you up properly, then just one cup of this nifty option should be more than enough. If the overly bold taste is too much for you, you can put a little milk or hazelnut creamer to help dull down a bit of the strong taste that this product boasts.
Users have also praised the intense flavor and aroma of this option. It can wake up the entire family with the familiar and welcoming smell of morning coffee.
Buy from Amazon.com for ($18.44)
2. Lavazza Caffe Espresso Whole Bean Coffee Blend
The Lavazza alternative sees the use of a mix of Central and South American Arabica varieties to create a rich dark roast that features a strong, fragrant aroma and flavor. The blend is brewed as an ideal traditional Italian espresso, but it is versatile enough to also work with a French press, drip coffee maker, Moka pot, or your espresso machine.
If you prefer a darker tone, you can combine it with other blends since buyers that have experimented a lot with this option have reported it mixes well with other brands. The beans are very strong, and they make a great dark coffee without too much acidity or aftertaste.
Buyers were also very satisfied with the pricing of this option that will allow even coffee lovers with a small budget to enjoy a premium brew.
Buy from Amazon.com for ($19.92)
3. Illy iperEspresso Capsule Lungo Medium Roast Espresso
The capsules use a distinctive blend of fine 100% Arabica coffee with a rich, smooth, and full-bodied taste. This blend features the same balanced and rich taste as a medium roast for a longer espresso. The brew is very smooth with almost no bitterness, making it ideal for picky drinkers that want to focus on the flavor and aroma of quality espresso coffee.
The innovative system uses a two-stage extraction to enhance the body and aroma of the blend and to form a velvety crema for the ultimate espresso experience. Buyers have reported that the long espresso the capsules produce is very similar to the taste of the coffee you can get off the autostrada in Italy.
The Illy iperEspresso Capsule sees the use of a proprietary brewing technology that will never allow the coffee to come into direct contact with the machine. This way you will be able to enjoy the ultimate espresso.
Buy from Amazon.com for ($15.5)
4. The Bean Classic Dark Coffee Company Organic Il Espresso
As is the case with all coffees from The Bean Coffee Company, this is 100% Arabica coffee that has been hand roasted in small batches and packaged at the peak of the cycle to preserve the natural flavors and the fresh-roasted quality. The care put into this product can be easily discerned the moment you prepare your cup of Joe.
The coffee used for this option is 100% organic and natural, certified by CCOF and USDA. To keep it fresh, it is best that you store it in an airtight container away from moisture, light, and any heat sources. When preparing your brew, the manufacturer recommends that you use two tablespoons of ground coffee per 6 ounces of filtered water.
Customers were delighted with the quality of this option, and they reported that the coffee is not bitter at all and that when opening the package the grounds smelled very fresh and were not dried out.
Buy from Amazon.com for ($27.38)
5. Caffé Cagliari Whole Bean Traditional Italian Espresso
Each variety is roasted separately to help it retain the unique taste and the varieties are blended together only much later. This will ensure you will get a very rich brew with a reliable and constant level of quality. Coffee enthusiasts may even be able to identify each of the different varieties in their cup.
The package is supplied with a one-way air valve that will help maintain the freshness and aroma for longer. This means that the package can act as a coffee container, and will protect the coffee from moisture, air, and light. To ensure that the coffee will remain unaltered, the manufacturer recommends that you store the package in a cool and dry place.
Buyers were also very pleased with the quality of this option as it is perfect for a single espresso but also strong enough for cappuccinos as well.
Click to see the price on Amazon!
