Well, like so many things in life, the answer is 'it depends'.
It depends on how prominent the acidity in the coffee is. So called 'higher quality' coffees will exhibit a lot more acidity, and we suggest you give these coffees up to 3 weeks to rest after the roast date before opening, unless you like your coffee to scour your palate, in a manner similar sipping neat lemon or lime juice, and in our view, about as pleasant.
It also depends how much acidity you like in your espresso. You'll want more if you can't kick the milkie habit, as milk tends to smoother the delicate elements in fine coffee. Personally we seek espresso that is smooth (low acidity), but with as much complexity as possible. A tall order when you aren't resorting to blending, but perpetually pursuing better and better single origin coffees.
Many of the coffees that are graded as 'high quality' are done so on the basis of the cupping system of evaluation and that is fine, but the trouble is the system was developed for the evaluation of coffee when prepared by the filter process, not espresso. Remember that until fairly recently high quality coffee was primarily consumed in the more affluent northern countries of continental Europe, and always as filter coffee, never via the espresso process. Espresso was only drunk in Italy, and generally used a high proportion of low quality robusta coffee beans, the blend becoming less expensive the further south you travelled; a simple reflection of economic reality. [NB: Do not take this to mean that all robusta coffee is dire. The best Italian roasts use very high quality robusta beans, and you can expect to see Londinium looking to emulate this.]
We now find ourselves in a slightly out of tune world where roasters are clamouring to procure coffees that have been awarded the highest grade and are expecting to be able to produce a wonderful espresso roast from them. For what it is worth, we think its a case of selecting the wrong tool for the job.
By way of parallel, Lamborghini make wonderful, eccentric (although less so since VW bought the dead hand of mass production and reliability to Lambo) sports cars. This doesn't mean you would select a top of the range Lamborghini sports car to plough a field. No, you would procure a Lamborghini tractor, if you absolutely had to have a Lamborghini, complete with air-conditioning, surround-sound, etc. And so it is with coffee.
The reason Londinium Espresso exists is to discover green coffee beans that lend themselves to preparation as a single origin or single estate espresso, but many of them don't. Some of the coffee that we have discovered isn't regarded by the industry as being of a particularly elite grading, indeed some of our coffees are the relatively common SHG (strictly high grown) designation. Whilst these are good quality coffees in the sense of being graded to an even size and shape, not containing too many beans from cherries that were too ripe or unripe, they are by no means of the standard achieved by some of the microlot coffee that typically makes its way into the cup of excellence.
The trouble is they deliver what we consider is an exceptional espresso. So, we use them. And this is our modus operandi; we are no respecters of industry grading. Why? We've proved time and again the brokers and growers notes are only good for starting the fire; the only arbiter is our tongue. This means that not everyone will agree with our taste in coffee, but at least you can be assured that Londinium is distinct, and instantly recognisable as being free from what we like to refer to disparagingly as corporate mediocrity. We'll never release a product that is designed to placate the maximum number of people on a committee. If perchance you don't like what we have sold you just get in touch & we will issue you with a prompt refund in full.
If there are coffees that you have enjoyed previously and are struggling to find, get in touch and we will source them for you.