We have been long time users of Monmouth coffee. Their standard espresso seems to be one of the few that on a good day work well both as espresso and in milk drinks.
After Anna's recent problems we decided to have a look at some other beans. We are not always as satisified as we'd like with Monmouth of late and it isnt cheap.
So here is a list of the coffees we have been trying at home
Roberts Sienna. As used in our local cafe (actually pretty well according to the wife). Proved to be a bit so so at home
Hasbeen Deerhunter, from North Tea Power. Interesting and odd experience. I kept on tweaking the grind and never got it right. The coffee always came through too fast and too blond, but it always tasted good, well, 'complex'. I enjoyed it but honestly wouldnt want it every day.
Monsoon estates. We got 4 blends from them. Their standard espresso wasnt that great, but the others were, one of which was a monsoon malabar. The other 2 were the Guatemalan monte rosa and I think the mocha java but could be wrong. Espresso wise they were OK but much better with milk according to the wife, and these were the ones she liked most.
Rave - hurave (christmas blend) sumatran and standard espresso. A complete contrast. Subtle lovely flavours in espresso but way too subtle in a capucinno. I liked them, not least because they almost seem foolproof, in that the espresso's always came out of Anna looking fantastic. The sumatran was properly orangy as well. I liked the hurave most of all.
And then there was circle coffee. A local company to us in Manchester who supplies coffeefix and grindsmiths, who both use Barnraiser. Barnraiser is the one other coffee we have found that works well both in espresso and in capucinno. We had a mini coffee crawl in Manchester last Friday and managed to pop in and see a roast in progress. The poor guy was very patient with us . They are starting a new business (Heart and Graft, based at the same site as was used for Cup North) and its going to be fun watching what they do. We came back with the barnraiser and another blend which he advised us would work well with milk. Its all very promising.