I'm extremely new to espresso world and only got to try few coffee beans at the moment. My first choice was to try Starbucks coffee varieties, Light-Veranda, Medium-Pike Place, and Dark-Espresso. I found Dark Espresso to be too bitter for me and ended up drinking in latte only. Pike place is still bitter so use it for Americano. I find Veranda to be my favorite as I can have it as espresso, sometimes lightly mixing with water.

I wanted to try something else and tried lavazza Super Crema (medium roast). I really like it since it's strong yet not bitter as SB Pike place. Also Iove it's flavor. But it's still bit strong for me. I ended up having it as ice Americano and latte.

Is there any mild coffee as SB Veranda yet have good flavor as Lavazza super crema? I'm eager to try all different types of beans but can't go buy them all :p. Any advice where I should start with good flavored light roast coffee will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

What flavors do you enjoy in your coffee?

Though I haven't seen it, the flavor descriptors on Starbucks' "light" roasts sound more like medium-dark to me. Light compared to other Starbucks coffees, but not "light" on the grand scale of coffees.

Many flavors in coffee come from the roast, especially things like chocolate and nuts. Robusta coffee gives texture and flavor to blend that most SOs don't have. It may be that you'd more enjoy what many call "medium" or "medium-dark", even if the marketing material uses different terms. Light roasts tend to be more "bright and fruity" than "chocolate and nuts" (with a couple exceptions, such as some Central and South American varieties).

Arg... then I guess I really didn't have light coffee yet... Thanks for your explanation!
If there is any particular brand of light roasted beans you can recommend, I'm ready to go all for it.

I'd take it a step at a time. Shifting straight from dark to light roasts is like going from red to white wine. Both can be good, both have their fans (and those who dislike them), but they're completely different in their flavors.

You might enjoy trying one of the popular "comfort blends". There are reviews and discussions about them in the Coffee subforum here. Like wine or cookies, everyone has a different taste and favorites. I like to read what someone likes about a coffee to get an idea if I'd enjoy it myself.

I'm in California and order beans from across the US. Most coffee isn't ready for espresso for a week or so and the better roasters ship within a day of roasting.

Great suggestion! I will read through subforum and get some idea of where to start! Considering what I've beem having were medium to medium-dark, I'm glad to know I can have weaker espresso. To tell you the truth, I was wishing SB Veranda can be less bitter :p. Again, thanks so much for your input!

Welcome, Eddy! I see you're from NY and found this handy list for roasters in your state so perhaps you could find someone local, chat up the staff about what you like in coffee and they can help.
https://exploringupstate.com/new-york-coffee-roasters/

Stumptown is pretty easy to find nearly everywhere and is quite accessible. Their Holler Mountain blend is on the medium side of roast. You'll find most of these smaller roasters lean more heavily on lighter to medium roasts as it can preserve more of the origin specific flavors and aromas than darker roasts. Once you open up the ability to order freshly roasted coffee online, you can try coffee from anywhere.

This is great reference for me! Thanks so much! I'll definitely try out Stumptown first. I was wondering why SB Veranda isn't light colored, but now I will find out real light roasted coffee

Be careful, Stumptown is a mass-market coffee. The bags at Target yesterday were roasted December 10th, over two months ago. For medium and darker coffees, they tend to be better within a month of roasting.

Hollar Mountain, a decade ago (before bought by Peet's in 2015), was a medium-roast coffee.

Though I think Coffee Review is "pay to play", I did come across https://www.coffeereview.com/benchmarki ... um-roasts/ which talks a tiny bit about medium-roast coffees.

Though I think Coffee Review is "pay to play"

Is there some rough equivalent that is not pay to play?

I'll make sure to check the date before if I were to purchase offline! I'm planning to order from their website, so Im hoping they will send fresh, decent roast :p