I second the trip to Counter Culture if you're ever up this way. If you need their beans and they aren't selling at the main office, you can get most of their offerings at Southern Season at 201 S Estes in Chapel Hill NC (about 15 miles from their company). There's a 20% sale for just the month of June, if that helps.

Also, 3 Cups in Chapel Hill (near the ABC liquor store on Elliott Road a few blocks away) does a good job extracting from the Counter Culture beans, and sells a few of the offerings not found at Southern Season, but at a premium.

Personally, I mix up a blend that's definitely *not* espresso-like, by picking the coffees that I think smell the best by themselves. This month it was a few of the microlots from Central America, plus a little Sumatran, some natural process Ethiopian, some Burundi and some decaf Chiapas, which just seems to help the puck hold together nicely. It makes great drip coffee if all else fails, and even the shots dangerously close to sink shots taste great in a latte (at least they aren't charcoal-ish).

Good luck and have fun.