Affordable espresso machines and extra coffee info: Medium-roasted beans will have a chocolate brown color, dry surface, and a full flavor. These beans will have less acidity than lightly roasted beans and a slightly sweet, toasty flavor. Due to the balanced flavor and acidity, this is the most popular roast within the major commercial coffee market. Medium roasts are also known as Full City, Breakfast, or Regular Roast. After roasting or once the seal is broken on a vacuum-sealed bag, it is best to use the beans within two weeks. For this reason, buy only the quantity of coffee that will be used within two weeks to maintain freshness and flavor.

Cortado – An espresso shot served with just a small splash of milk. It’s a Spanish drink also known as cafe manchado in some parts. Cortadito – Cafe Cubano added with warm milk in 1:1 ratio is Cortadito. This term is often confused with Cortado but they have a slight difference. Cafe Bombon – Espresso with sweet condensed milk is referred to as Cafe Bombon. For sweet tongue, this is a great drink to try. Cafe Con Leche – An espresso shot served with separate hot milk. Usually, hot milk is added in 1:1 ratio of espresso. Carajilo – Espresso served with alcohol and no milk is Carajilo. It’s a Spanish form of coffee popular over there, but now some other parts of the world too. Espresso Romano – An espresso with some twist of lemon is called Romano. A proper way to best taste this drink is – add some lemon juice at the bottom of your cup and rub the lemon around the rim. Then drop the espresso shot to taste the different side of coffee.

Let’s talk about affordable espresso machines. Mr. Coffee Automatic Dual Shot Espresso/Cappuccino System (ECMP50): This neat espresso and cappuccino hybrid is extremely cheap while still delivering a top-notch drink. From a dark and full espresso through to frothy latte and cappuccino, you’ll be spoiled for choice with this great little machine. The standard 15-bar pump system is common to most home coffee machines and provides ample pressure for your needs. Be warned that you will need to manually stop the machine so be careful when you are brewing to sidestep unwanted overflow.

Excelsa is technically a member of the Liberica family, but its species is actually incredibly distinct. Like the Liberica coffee described above, Excelsa is grown primarily in Southeast Asia and represents only a small fraction of the world’s coffee production. Excelsa does boast a tart, fruitier flavor and is known for showing attributes of both light and dark roast coffees to create a unique profile that is frequently sought out by coffee enthusiasts. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, drinking coffee is about finding what you enjoy and sticking with it. Knowing that Arabica and Robusta the most prevalent and affordable options you’ll encounter on a regular basis, think about how you actually like to drink your coffee – hot, iced, with/without creamer? Typically, if you’re more of a coffee purist who enjoys a simple fresh, hot, black coffee then a light Arabica bean like our Ethiopian Yirgacheffe product would be an ideal choice. If you generally prefer pouring your coffee over ice or enjoying it with some additional flavor add-ins, then we might recommend giving our Knockbox Espresso a shot. The main thing to remember is that it’s all about finding what works for you, so try different things and enjoy the process! Find extra details on this blog.

Next, the other very common type of coffee bean is Robusta. Rather than gaining its popularity through quality and depth of the brew, these plants are popular for for their high caffeine level and hardiness. While they do thrive in hotter climates and varied rainfall, Robusta beans are known for being able to put up with a much wider range of climates and altitudes. Also, they withstand diseases much better than other varieties. That resistance makes them better for growing in large crops. Higher quality robust tends to have a lower acidity and heavy body. These brews stand up better against things like cream and sugar, making them great for something like Vietnamese Coffee. And it works well in blends like Death Wish that are specifically curated for their caffeine kick.