Beans

There are so many sources of coffee beans from giant international companies to the local store that roasts in small batches. The quality can vary depending on the source of the beans, from the highly rated Blue Mountain coffee of Jamaica, or Kona of Hawaii and on to Colombia, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil. The one standard is that quality coffee is Arabica.

As for individual suppliers of beans for espresso, the popular ones are Illy, Lavazza, Nannini and Kicking Horse.

But my favourite is the one I tried in Vienna and was often referred to as the best coffee in Austria: Julius Meinl. Of the various blends available, I'm not sure which one I was served when I got my cappuccinos.

In 2024 I visited the Julius Meinl store in Vienna. There I bought Italienischer Espresso, Wiener Espresso, Wiender Melange and Wiener Frühstück (in order of strongest to lightest). In Europe you can buy Julius Meinl coffee online at House of Julius Meinl. According to the salesman at the Julius Meinl store these are packaged differently from the ones intended for sale in grocery stores and online (see below).

Italienischer Espresso

Wiener Espresso

Wiener Melange

Wiener Frühstück

Strongest to lightest from left to right

They also sell specialty coffees like their "Single Origin" coffees from Kenya, Ethiopia, Costa Rica and Guatemala, and the highly prized Blue Mountain from Jamaica.

The ones below are typically for sale in grocery stores and online. I bought two from a grocery store in Vienna: Julius Meinl Melange Medium Roast and Julius Meinl Espresso 100% Arabica Medium Roast. I also saw the Jubiläum, Präsident and Espresso Arabica.

Melange  
Medium Roast   

Espresso  
100% Arabica  

Jubiläum  

Espresso  
Classico  

Espresso 
Giubileo 

Espresso 

Präsident  

Caffè Crema
Selezione

Enjoy Better Coffee sells the following Julius Meinl coffees (in whole bean form): Präsident, Jubilaum, Caffè Crema Selezione and Crema Espresso Classico. Other coffees are also available as ground coffee in bag and in Nespresso capsule form.

Available online from Britain, Espresso International sells Caffè Crema Intenso, Caffè Crema Vienna, Espresso Arabica, Espresso Classico, Vienna Espresso, Vienna Melange — all as whole beans. Many coffees are also available as ground coffee in bag and in Nespresso capsule form.

Of all the ones for general sale that I've read about, I would most like to try Caffè Crema Selezione which is available from Enjoy Better Coffee.

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Of coffees available around the world, Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kona coffee from Hawaii are highly rated. J. Martinez & Company are merchants of these and other fine coffees, ranging in price from $12.00 to $70.00 (US dollars) per pound. The also sell a specialty espresso blend called Don Giovanni's Espresso Bellissimo that is only $16.00 per pound. Their description:

Reminiscent of a northern Italian espresso, this complex blend was specially formulated to produce a velvety mouth-feel. It is a rich full-bodied blend with a sweet aftertaste and ... a magnificent crema. It is blended from nine different select arabica coffees. You will love this espresso - it is truly bellissimo!
Don Giovanni's Espresso Bellissimo won International Gold at Monde Selection.

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From my post on instant coffee, one of the highly rated brands was Helmut Sachers Kaffee of Oeynhausen, Austria. They also sell regular whole bean coffee. The numbers below (in order) indicate the relative Intensity, Roast and Acidity.

Crema

DeLuxe

Entkoffeiniert
(Decaffeinated)

Espresso

Wiener

4/5

4/5

2/5

5/5

3/5

3/5

2/5

2/5

5/5

3/5

2/5

3/5

1/5

1/5

3/5

All of these are available from Enjoy Better Coffee, including the instant coffees, and also from Amazon.com.

Both Julius Meinl and Sachers coffee are available from Austrian Supermarket.

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REVIEWS (from Enjoy Better Coffee):

Julius Meinl Präsident is an outstanding blend and a very special example of Viennese roast coffee. It offers a rich aroma with hints of dark chocolate and toasted bread. Enjoy its full-bodied taste, perfectly balanced between sweetness and bitterness.

Caffe Crema Selezione: Finest Arabica beans from the most colorful regions of Brazil and Central America and selected Robusta beans from Asia give this blend its creamy, velvet crema and its intense aroma with shades of hazelnut.

Julius Meinl Jubiläum is a genuine Viennese roast characterized by a rich aroma of citrus and floral nuances and a soft flavor. It was created to celebrate the 100th birthday anniversary of Julius Meinl Coffee.

Julius Meinl Crema Espresso Classico: This unique coffee blend combines a selection of premium Arabica beans with Indian Robusta. The medium dark roast results in a solid brown and long-lasting crema, a unique taste, and an intensive espresso experience.

Coffee Roasters

Another step up in home coffee brewing is to roast your own coffee beans. Many appliances are available from manual stove top to almost commercial quality machines. There is an interesting article at The Spruce Eats. Sweet Maria's sells a number of roasters from stove top to pro-summer.

Cost can be as little as $40 for a stove-top unit which is actually a popcorn popper with a stirring function to constantly mix the beans. Whereas top pro-summer units can be a thousand dollars or more. The Aillio Bullet R1 is about $4,000.

Of these, it looks like the Fresh Roast SR540 is a reasonably priced but good quality roaster.

Stovetop

Manual roaster

Javastarr

Cafemasy

Fresh Roast SR540

Hottop KN-8828B-2K

Kaldi

Aillio Bullet R1

Additional Accessories

There are a few additional accessories that can help making your espresso easier and better.

A grind distribution tool is useful for evenly distributing the grinds in the portafilter and break up any clumps in order to get a more uniform and consistent extraction. There are two types: the wire type and the rotating insert type. The wired ones are referred to as the Weiss Distribution Technique tool or WDT tool for short. There are a few brands available, many from Amazon, just search for "wdt tool".

Café Fabrique

Yeater

Savita

Aieve

There are many of the rotating type of distribution tool available. I have seen people using both tools—start with the WDT tool then use the rotating tool to finish and get a smooth surface before tamping.

Coffee Sensor

An accurate scale is required to get the precision weight of the coffee being put into the portafilter. One small format scale is the Miicoffee Nano (4" x 3.7"); the OXO Brew is slightly larger (8.75" x 6").

Miicoffee Nano

OXO Brew

A dosing funnel is a useful accessory when loading the portafilter with coffee. It avoids spillage outside the portafilter and keeps coffee off the rim of the filter basket.

These Normcore coffee bean "cellars" are useful for holding a metered amount of beans ready for grinding. They are airtight with a release valve on each lid to allow any CO2 de-gassing from the beans.

Going beyond the plain tamper pad is the tamper "station"; these combination tamper pad and storage units help organize all the espresso preparation tools. The best ones have the adjustable portafilter rest (as the one on the right and the Ikape below have) so that the portafilter sits level.

Normcore tamper pad/station

Wooden tamper station

And a step above is the station with the integrated knock box like this one by Ikape.

Ikape tamper station w. knock box

A wall-mounted version is also available

Wall mounted holder

Powder shakers for cinnamon, nutmeg, or cocoa powder:

AIFUDA powder shakers

Instant Coffee

The term "instant coffee" is usually a term of derision among coffee lovers, harking back to the bad old days of the 60s and 70s of that brown drink that barely tasted of coffee. It was often made with the cheapest coffee beans, typically the inferior robusta rather than the preferable arabica beans that coffee drinkers insist on today. Often regular instant coffee today is used only as a flavouring in dishes, sauces or drinks where coffee quality isn't essential.

But, following an article on the Enjoy Better Coffee website, I discovered a line of higher quality instant coffees being made today. From their website:

Enjoy Better Coffee has a curated collection of Specialty Instant Coffee from Europe. Be it our favorite, Douwe Egberts Pure Gold, the everyday staple Jacobs Krönung, the luxurious aroma of Davidoff Rich Aroma, or the smooth & silky taste of Helmut Sachers Wiener; each blend will delight you with a memorable taste and aroma making every sip, special.

Both Davidoff Rich Aroma and Helmut Sachers are explicitly labelled as being made from the higher quality arabica beans.

The Jacobs jar notes to use hot but not boiling water when making the coffee. This may be the best way to makes all of these higher quality instant coffees.

Douwe Egberts

Jacobs

Davidoff

Helmut Sachers

Other than those recommended by Enjoy Better Coffee above, these manufacturers also make a few different flavours and types:

Jacobs Krönung and Jacobs Cronat Gold are available from Loblaws. Helmut Sacher and Davidoff are available from Enjoy Better Coffee. And some are available from Amazon: Douwe Egberts Pure Gold, Jacobs Krönung and Davidoff Rich Aroma. (Jacobs and Douwe Egberts are both brands of the same parent company, Jacobs Douwe Egberts.)