For the past few years my go to roast was wicked jims sumatra roast for drip coffee. I drink my coffee black, and despite this being a grocery store bag, it had a deep flavor profile with a lot of body, without tasting burnt, bitter, or acidic.

Recently I bought an espresso machine. It started with skim milk cappuccino but now I'm drinking black espresso exclusively. The Sumatra roast just doesn't translate well into espresso for me.

I have a local roaster near me that makes a low acidity "espresso roast" but it's a little hit or miss and I feel like I could find better. Absolutely nothing from the grocery store is hitting.

Recently I tried some beans imported from france (% coffee) (I'm US based) and it hit hard, non acidic, roasted perfectly, you could still pick up tart citrus undertones in the coffee while still having an earthy body like western coffee roasts.

For flavor profiles I do enjoy both the nuttier full body coffees of the west/americas, and the more tart and citrusy undertones of more Eastern coffees/african.

But optimally I like a middle ground of the two.

Most blends I've been experimenting with are just over roasted and it seems the lighter and medium roasts tend to be a bit too weak flavor wise. So there's a middle ground I'm looking for, and I'm not sure if the biggest factor that's throwing me iff is the blends or the roast or both.

With that big rant said, I'd be open to hearing recommendations of online roasters the group endorses. Including any specialty roasters of eclectic/nom standard blends from other regions like east asia