What the difference in espresso beans and drip coffee beans

[Lars]

Ya Ya just laugh But while I know alot of coffee beans used for drip coffee and have experimented with dozens of different brands, I never have had the same eager to try alot of different brands for my espresso machines

So all I know is that espresso beans are longer roasted, Or else. What is the difference???

What will happen if I took my blue hawaiian mountain beans i use for drip coffee and made espresso out of it?? and vice versa??

[HB]

So all I know is that espresso beans are longer roasted, Or else. What is the difference???

The term "espresso" is often misinterpreted to mean "dark roast", a point that Jim makes in his Home Barista's Guide to Espresso:

First, if you can't tell the difference between a Panamanian and Papua New Guinean coffee, put off the espresso and get to know good coffee first. Buy a freshly roasted half pound each from Central America, Africa, South America, and Indonesia, and learn to appreciate their differences. Those who buy the green coffees for espresso, those who roast and blend them, and those who pull the best shots have one thing in common: they know their coffee well. In any case, espresso is coffee intensified; if there are coffees you dislike brewed, you really want to avoid them in espresso.

Second, go into a coffee store and look for "espresso roast." What you'll almost always find is dark brown to black beans shining in oil. Starbucks' success has reinforced the impression that espresso is any coffee roasted very dark. This is wrong on almost all counts. Coffee blends destined for espresso come in a variety of roasts, ranging from a milk chocolate colored dry bean, to a dark chocolate colored slightly oil-sheened bean, to a black and very oily bean. The very lightest roasts for regular brewing (cinnamon or tan colored) cannot be used for espresso, but otherwise any roast level will work.

Instead, espresso is almost always a blend of beans, and the Italian word for this section, miscela, means blend. There is fairly wide latitude in blending, but there are also some general rules. The most basic rule of espresso blending is that espresso must have subdued acidity, be heavy bodied, and be sweet enough to balance the bitter and acidic flavors in the blend.

Mike Walsh's An Aficionado's Guide to Espresso Blending explains the starting point of creating your own espresso blends. See? Home-Barista.com isn't only about the hardware.

[malachi]

They are all coffee beans - there is no difference.
There is no such thing as "espresso beans" just as there is no such thing as "drip beans". There are just "coffee beans."

I recently pulled shots of a Ethiopia Natural Yirgacheffe from Hama Co-op. It's an interesting espresso.
I then cupped it. Unique to say the least.
I then prepared it in a press pot. Exciting.

It's all coffee.

[Lars]

They are all coffee beans

Of course
But I had always had the impression that the beans for espresso was often mixed from different sorts.
Also when I buy some coffee from example Lavazza, I dont get the impression that it's suited for drip coffee, because why espresso beans always branded as "espresso coffee"
and also always have had some idea that the drip coffee was more expensive.

Hmm. maybe I should read some more about coffee

[PeterG]

I think your question is good, Lars.

In the "old school" way of thinking, espresso blends were often used to evoke Italian traditions (Like the Neapolitan dark roast or the Northern Italian "caffe dolce") The oldschool used to say: "an espresso must always be a blend".

Lots of times, roasters/blenders de-emphasize acidity in espresso blends, to avoid sour-tasting shots. Some use longer roast times, brazils, other low-grown or past-croppish coffees, or Indonesian coffees to achieve this.

Of course, all these "rules" have been taken apart and put together again by the new school, which is using intense, bright, amazing coffees, often as single origins, in the espresso machine.

Peter G

[fredin]

I just had this very same question. So if I read the last post correctly, im not limited to making espresso out of (i'll use Intelligentsia) :
Black Cat Espresso Blend or Kid O's Organic Espresso

I can feed the espresso machine :
Ethiopia Harrar
Yemen Sanani
Sulawesi
Sumatra
La Perla de Oaxaca, Organic Mexico
El Diablo Dark Roast Blend
El Gallo Organic Breakfast Blend
etc.. ?
(I just picked random coffee off of any page they have)

So, whether dark, light, Costa Rican, French, American, Colombian, etc., just grind it up and give it a shot ?

[HB]

So, whether dark, light, Costa Rican, French, American, Colombian, etc., jsut grind it up and give it a shot ?

Thanks to Karl ("Levers and SO Coffee") and others who've expressed their enthusiasm for single origin espressos, I've gotten the SO bug too. The thread Single Origin training wheels offers suggestions. Lately I've been hooked on Intelligentsia's Yemen Sanini. Next on my list to try is Paradise Roaster's Yirgacheffe that Abe made sing at EspressoFest. Miguel has a page of single origin espressos. You'll need to keep an open mind, especially if you're accustom to sweet, heavy blends. I'm very much the SO newbie, but the few that I've tried were much brighter than an average espresso blend.