Coffee beans

The sale of coffee beans has been growing in the market more and more, gaining ground to the traditional pre-packaged packages of ground coffee. It is clear that wise consumers, like you, prefer to buy the coffee beans and grind them at home with the right finesse for the type of extraction you are going to make. There’s nothing like enjoying the unbeatable aromas of freshly ground coffee in your drink.

That’s why our online coffee shop offers the best varieties on the market and also the most popular ones so that you can buy the bean coffee you need online – take advantage of the offers and stock up on supplies!

Before we start, let’s take a look at the varieties and brands of coffee beans that are most sold on the market this year. If you want to buy good coffee beans, perhaps a good starting point is to read our best coffee bean guides:

What coffee beans to buy?

Let’s start at the beginning and go over the different types of coffee beans that we can buy in the market. On the one hand, there is the origin of the coffee beans that you already know can be Robusta or Arabica.

Robusta coffee is less widespread, has a rougher taste (bordering on bitterness) and has almost twice as much caffeine, while Arabica beans are more common and generally more appreciated in the industry. Coffee made from Arabica beans is much richer in nuances and aromas than Robusta and also has a peculiar acidic tinge. Both species can also be mixed during roasting in different proportions.

On the other hand, you can buy various types of coffee beans, depending on the roast. In this way, we will find natural coffee, roasted or mixed.

Torrefacto coffee, practically unknown in the whole world except in the Iberian Peninsula, is the result of roasting natural coffee with a high proportion of sugar.

It is a lower quality coffee than the natural one, and it started to be consumed during the post-war period for purely economic reasons and because of shortages. Today, its consumption responds more to custom and tradition than to any other need. Logically, we recommend consuming and buying natural coffee beans.

Blended coffee, as its name suggests, combines naturally roasted beans and roasted beans.

Finally, we cannot overlook the option of buying green coffee. These are capsules or other products containing green coffee extract (creams, pills) or directly the natural coffee beans, which in recent years have become very popular for their slimming properties and health benefits.

Green coffee is an alternative more linked to the world of nutrition and dietetics, although due to its growing popularity, we are forced to mention it on these pages. It is also known as unroasted coffee beans.

If you’re interested in buying unroasted coffee beans and want to learn more about this product, here’s a demonstration video on how to drink green coffee:

Buy unroasted coffee beans

To roast your own coffee at home and control the whole process from start to finish, you need to get hold of one of these coffee roasters, and of course, buy unroasted coffee beans from Amazon. Here are some of the best varieties:

The best brands of coffee beans

There is a multitude of coffee brands on the market, from the most common ones in supermarkets to exclusive gourmet coffee distributors. Still, in the end, everyone is looking for good and cheap coffee beans, and if possible, without having to move a lot to get them. And, of course, that goal is not always easy.

Many people end up asking themselves questions like, what is the best brand of coffee beans? What coffee beans do you recommend? Where can I buy good coffee beans?

The answer, as always, will depend on your palate and your budget, but it never hurts to take a look at the most popular brands of coffee beans on the market.

Buying Starbucks coffee beans

You can buy Starbucks coffee beans online in any of the versions presented here. Just take them as a reference because Starbucks is constantly updating its catalogue and releasing new varieties. They are also available in packs of several units to save some money per pack.

Bonka coffee beans

Bonka is one of the few coffee brands that has not yet succumbed to the capsule craze and continues to focus its production on conventional roast coffee packaging (both beans and ground). We can indeed find Bonka coffee capsules in the Dolce Gusto single-dose catalogue, but not as a product in its own right.

Lavazza coffee beans: Reviews and varieties

If this is the coffee of choice for Italians, it is not by chance. Lavazza is one of the best brands of coffee beans (its ground coffee also enjoys great prestige), especially among users with a somewhat demanding profile, let’s say medium-high, who are looking for a high-quality coffee without reaching the border of premium coffees and paying an exorbitant price.

In this sense, the Lavazza Qualitá Oro or Lavazza Qualitá Rossa varieties are highly appreciated. Let’s take a brief look at each of them to get to know them better:

  • Lavazza Qualitá Oro beans: the Oro variety is at the top of the range. It is composed of a blend of six different origins, all from Central and South America, 100% Arabica.
  • Lavazza Qualitá Rossa beans: The Rossa variety is composed of a blend of Arabica beans (Brazilian origin) and Robusta beans (African origin).
  • Lavazza Espresso beans: a 100% Arabica blend specifically for espresso making. A very dark roast bean, aromatic… for lovers of intense coffee.

There are others such as Lavazza Super Crema, Top Class, Crema or Aroma, which only add some nuances, but the basic ones are these three. All of them can be purchased in packs of 1000 or 500 grams, and of course, there is also the option of buying ground coffee, although this is not the subject of this article.

To buy Lavazza coffee beans online, simply follow the links below:

The advantage of buying Lavazza coffee beans on Amazon is that you have access to some varieties that are only available in Italy or that you can’t normally find on the shelves of a conventional supermarket.

Illy coffee beans

Illy’s classic coffee bean jars, a format almost as classic and popular as this prestigious Italian coffee bean brand. The most common sizes are the 500 gram or 250 gram Illy coffee jars – buying Illy coffee beans always means quality!

Marcilla coffee beans

Marcilla is a brand we have already talked about in our capsules section. Still, logically we must also include it in this guide to coffee beans because of the enormous popularity it enjoys in some countries.

Bio coffee beans

Buying organic coffee beans is an increasingly popular choice among conscientious consumers and lovers of a sustainable industry. Fortunately, we have plenty of options for buying organic coffee beans online, such as these listed below:

NOTE: you can find several options of organic coffee beans also under the name of fair trade coffee beans or high-quality organic coffee.

Natural coffee beans

Natural roasted coffee beans are called in contrast to torrefacto coffee beans, which are roasted with sugar and therefore take on a much darker brown, almost black colour. Natural bean coffee is a lighter, more recognisable brown and has a much purer taste. Of course, if you try natural coffee beans, you will never go back to torrefacto.

Finally, there is the blended coffee bean, which is usually made up of 50% natural and 50% torrefacto.

Torrefacto coffee beans

We prefer natural coffee, but it is clear that in some regions, torrefacto coffee beans still have a large following.

Some of the best-known brands of torrefacto coffee beans include Camelo or the popular Café Cubano (the brand, not the recipe).

Buy premium coffee beans

The known as gourmet coffee beans, origin coffee, or speciality coffee, finds its origin in the most remote corners of the globe. Do you want to buy coffee beans from Kenya? Or Brazil? Maybe buy coffee beans from Colombia? Honduras, Guatemala, Africa? Don’t worry, from today, you can buy gourmet coffee beans from any origin in the world at Amazon.

Warning you won’t find these brands in your supermarket!

Of the enormous variety of origins that we find for sale, we highlight numerous Colombian coffee beans.

Tips for buying coffee beans online

Authentic coffee drinkers know how to recognise the pleasure of preparing their own coffee (whatever their favourite extraction method is), step by step and enjoying the ritual as much as tasting the beverage.

Everything begins with the acquisition of the raw material, the roasted coffee beans, which will later pass through the mill and our coffee maker. The immense variety of origins and species makes each cup of coffee a unique experience.

Where to buy coffee beans?

For example, in a store like ours (take a walk through the galleries above, if you haven’t already), or in a store specialising in coffee.

In traditional supermarkets, you won’t find much (little variety, and only national brands), so if you are looking for a more specific product, such as Illy coffee beans, or coffee from different origins such as Kenya, Guatemala, Brazil, Jamaica the most practical thing is to look for it online.

No, buying coffee beans in physical shops is definitely not an easy task, unless you live in a large capital city with access to very specialised outlets, or you are happy with anything in the corner supermarket.

Decaffeinated coffee beans

It is also an excellent option to buy decaffeinated coffee beans directly, so you can grind them at home and make all kinds of drinks with coffee with a minimal presence of caffeine.

If you want to buy decaffeinated coffee beans online, fortunately, you have plenty of options and brands to choose from:

Some basic questions and answers about coffee beans

Are there coffee machines for coffee beans?
Well, actually, any coffee, whether filtered or brewed, is always made with ground coffee. What happens is that some machines allow the user to use coffee beans directly in the tanks because they then grind them directly before preparation. These are known as coffee machines with a built-in grinder, and the most common of these are automatic espresso machines.

How can coffee beans be preserved?
The preservation of coffee beans is a critical process when it comes to enjoying a product in good conditions and one to which we do not usually pay any attention. There is no point in buying an expensive packet of the best coffee beans on the market if we then leave them open, folded up with a clothes peg on the kitchen counter. The best solution for storing coffee beans correctly is always a coffee storage container. That is to say: a container specifically designed and built for this purpose.

Is coffee beans or ground coffee better?
Actually, the coffee is the same because coffee beans must be ground before brewing. As to whether it is better to buy coffee beans or ground coffee, our recommendation is always to opt for beans. The reason is that the end result will always have a fresher, purer, less oxidised aroma. No matter how well you preserve coffee after grinding, it will never have the freshness of freshly ground beans.

Can I grind coffee beans with the mini-blender?
Under no circumstances is it advisable to grind coffee beans with a mini-blender or hand blender. Neither for the quality of the final result (the beans will not be ground but “destroyed”) nor for the damage you may do to the blades of your mini-blender. If you need to grind beans, the logical thing to do is to use a coffee grinder, even if it is for very occasional use. They are very cheap, so you have no excuse. Anything rather than grinding coffee beans with a blender.

Can we make coffee beans without grinding?
No. Whichever method you use, coffee beans need to be ground so that the water can extract all the aromas, oils and other components that define this beverage. Even in the coarsest types of grinding (which you can read about in our article on types of coffee grinding), the coffee powder or speck used is hundreds of times smaller than a loose bean.

Is there such a thing as flavoured coffee beans?
Flavoured coffee beans do not exist as such on the market. The aromas or flavours are added with different techniques afterwards, once the coffee has been ground. In our coffee shop, you can find different types of flavoured coffee, such as coffee with hazelnut or coffee with cinnamon, but they are always in capsule, soluble or pre-ground formats. Never in beans.

The best coffee beans: A few notes

What’s the best coffee in the world? It is a question that will endure for centuries and will continue to generate debate and controversy for years to come. There is no single answer because questions of the palate are subjective, but Black Ivory coffee is certainly a candidate that will always opt for this recognition.

For those who do not know it, we will say that it is a Thai coffee of extreme softness and delicacy, which goes through a very complex process of elaboration where the elephants intervene and with a leading role. And the kilo of Black Ivory is priced at over £897. Surprised? Well, take a look at this promotional video for this exclusive bean coffee:

What do you think of it? If you are keen to get your hands on a sample of this authentic delicacy, you should know that the annual production of Black Ivory coffee is extremely low.

In any case, we discuss this issue in more depth in our guide to the best coffee in the world – don’t miss it!