How to Choose Coffee Beans for a Coffee Shop? Cost-Effective Espresso Bean Recommendations for Coffee Businesses

1. Single Origin Beans vs. Blended Beans

Coffee beans on the market fall into two main types: single origin and blended. Single origin beans, as the name suggests, come from the same variety produced by the same estate. Common examples include FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia, and FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe. Each single origin has its own flavor character and suits brewing methods such as pour-over and French press. Single origin coffee is a large subject and we will not go into it in detail here.

Blended beans are made by mixing several single origins. Blending gives coffee flexibility and variety, creating harmonious, deep tastes that make up for the thin mouthfeel a single origin can have. Italian-style blends are mostly used in espresso machines to make drinks such as cappuccinos, which makes the coffee taste richer and more mellow. Most coffee shops rely on Italian-style blends more than anything else. So let's look at how to choose one.

How to Choose Italian-Style Espresso Beans

1. Favor domestic roasting brands over foreign-roasted ones.

There is a world of difference between beans roasted 15 days ago and beans that are 6-12 months old.

2. Taobao is currently the best window into China's boutique roasting scene.

The quality of first-tier brands such as Fisher, Next Door Workshop, FrontStreet Coffee, Minority, M2M, and Micro-Roast is actually quite comparable, and their formulas follow similar patterns. For beans sold on that scale, larger roasting machines are more stable, so we recommend the larger roasters on that list.

3. Once you have chosen your suppliers, whether the coffee tastes good has more to do with extraction.

Adjust the grind and the water quality properly and you will generally not run into problems.

4. Try rotating through Italian-style beans priced between 58-150 yuan per pound.

They are not more expensive than drinks bought outside, so there is no reason to be frugal. For beans over 200 yuan, without high-end equipment they are not really worth using.

5. My own favorites are FrontStreet Coffee's specialty blend and commercial blend.

Both of these Italian-style blends cover the daily needs of running a shop, and you can choose the one that suits your situation.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Beyond the espresso blend, a shop's filter menu is where a single origin earns its place, and Ethiopia is where most people begin. FrontStreet Washed Yirgacheffe is the most classic introduction to the region, known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like finish. Its accessible price makes it easy to put on a rotating filter menu, and it gives customers an immediate sense of what a washed Ethiopian coffee tastes like.

FrontStreet Gotiti Cooperative takes the same style a step further. It comes from the Gotiti village in southeastern Yirgacheffe, where a small cooperative with mature processing skills follows the traditional washed method. The cup has none of the usual bitterness, instead bringing clean, bright citrus and lemon acidity and a jasmine fragrance, which makes it a dependable pour-over single origin to keep on the shelf.

For something fruitier and more distinctive, FrontStreet Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry uses only fully ripe red cherries dried whole on raised beds for three to five weeks. It keeps the varietal's elegant floral aroma and bright acidity while adding a warm tropical fruit note, a full fermented sweetness, and a rounded body. It works well as a pour-over, a cold brew, and, for shops with an espresso machine, as a single origin espresso for the day.