<p>First of all, there is no difference in the beans themselves. They all come from either Robusta or Arabica plants. The roast doesn't vary either. You can use any kind of roast for your espresso, it's up to preference.</p>

<p>What <em>does</em> change is the grind. Espresso grind is very fine - much finer than other preparations of coffee.</p>

<p>You may find packaged coffee sold as 'espresso beans' or 'espresso roast' being darker/bolder roasts, to emulate a darker, stronger coffee regardless of preparation, however it has little to do with real espresso (and you may even find 'espresso' ground coffees being sold with a large/inconsistent grind!).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-13T16:45:15.127Z
Several good references for the roast spectrum; I like [this one](http://www.theroasterie.com/blog/the-coffee-bean-color-spectrum/). Here's [another that discusses "espresso roast"](http://www.coffeecrossroads.com/coffee-101/coffee-roasts-from-light-to-dark) as being third in line, less dark than French (darkest) and Italian. "Full City" roast level is common for espresso; [more refs here](http://coffee.wikia.com/wiki/Full_city_(roast)). +1 for sameness of beans, importance of grind, and personal preference of roast.
hoc_age
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-13T15:49:49.697Z
2015-02-13T15:49:49.697Z
fredley
<p>What is the difference between beans intended for coffee use vs beans intended for espresso?  My understanding is the beans come from the same plants <a href="https://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/458/are-robusta-and-arabica-the-only-bean-varieties">as mentioned previously</a> but they are prepared differently?</p>

<p>What happens to coffee beans before they are packaged for consumers?  How are some prepared in a way that make them better suited for espresso brewing vs coffee brewing?</p>

<brewing-process><espresso><roasting>
Coffee Bean Vs Espresso Bean
PDePree
# Coffee Bean Vs Espresso Bean

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-13)

What is the difference between beans intended for coffee use vs beans intended for espresso? My understanding is the beans come from the same plants [as mentioned previously](https://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/458/are-robusta-and-arabica-the-only-bean-varieties) but they are prepared differently?

What happens to coffee beans before they are packaged for consumers? How are some prepared in a way that make them better suited for espresso brewing vs coffee brewing?

**Tags:** brewing-process, espresso, roasting


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-02-13. Score: 17 | Accepted answer

First of all, there is no difference in the beans themselves. They all come from either Robusta or Arabica plants. The roast doesn't vary either. You can use any kind of roast for your espresso, it's up to preference.

What *does* change is the grind. Espresso grind is very fine - much finer than other preparations of coffee.

You may find packaged coffee sold as 'espresso beans' or 'espresso roast' being darker/bolder roasts, to emulate a darker, stronger coffee regardless of preparation, however it has little to do with real espresso (and you may even find 'espresso' ground coffees being sold with a large/inconsistent grind!).

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Several good references for the roast spectrum; I like [this one](http://www.theroasterie.com/blog/the-coffee-bean-color-spectrum/). Here's [another that discusses "espresso roast"](http://www.coffeecrossroads.com/coffee-101/coffee-roasts-from-light-to-dark) as being third in line, less dark than French (darkest) and Italian. "Full City" roast level is common for espresso; [more refs here](http://coffee.wikia.com/wiki/Full_city_(roast)). +1 for sameness of beans, importance of grind, and personal preference of roast.  

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