Best value espresso beans: what a kilo costs

Right now 181 coffees from 51 UK roasters on Bean Index are roasted for espresso and have a comparable price per kg. Half cost less than £48/kg. The cheapest tenth costs less than £34/kg, the dearest tenth above £66/kg. If you want to spend less, the useful line is the cheapest quarter: £40/kg or less.

What is in the cheapest quarter?

47 espresso roasts from 20 roasters cost £40/kg or less. 57% of them are blends, against 35% of all espresso roasts. Among the single origins in this quarter, the most common origins are Brazil, Colombia and Uganda.

Cheap here is relative. These are still coffees from speciality roasters, sold with the roaster's own description of origin, process and flavour. Competition lots, Geisha and experimental fermentations sit at the other end of the scale.

How are espresso roasts spread across price bands?

Espresso roasts on Bean Index by price per kg, checked 19 Oct 2026
Price per kg	Coffees	Share
under £35/kg	20	11%
£35–50/kg	80	44%
£50–75/kg	72	40%
£75/kg and over	9	5%

The bands are the same as the price filter in the catalogue. For the whole list in order, open espresso and omni roasts, cheapest per kg first. Omni roasts are meant for both filter and espresso and are worth including if your machine copes with a lighter roast.

For comparison: price per kg of all coffees on Bean Index, not only espresso roasts, in steps of ten pounds per kilo. n = 1,370, checked 19 Oct 2026.

How much do you save per cup?

Less than the price per kg suggests. A double espresso with 18 g costs about £0.72 in beans at the edge of the cheapest quarter and £0.86 at the median. The difference becomes noticeable over a month: two doubles a day use roughly a kilo.

What does "value" mean for espresso beans?

We don't rank coffees, and a low price per kg is not the same as good value. Four things decide whether a bag is worth its price to you:

Freshness. Espresso is sensitive to how long ago the beans were roasted. A cheaper bag that sat on a shelf for months can taste flatter than a dearer one roasted last week. Where a roaster prints the roast date or roasts to order, its page on Bean Index says so.
The right roast for your machine. A roast the roaster sells for espresso is usually easier to dial in on an espresso machine or bean to cup than a light filter roast. See coffee beans for espresso machines.
Bag size and delivery. Many roasters sell a kilo bag at a lower price per kg than four small bags, and deliver free above a basket value. On a single bag, delivery can cost more than the difference between two coffees.
Taste. A coffee you don't enjoy is poor value at any price. The flavour notes on Bean Index are the roasters' own words, read and sorted by AI.

Is a blend or a single origin cheaper for espresso?

Espresso blends cost a median of £42/kg, single-origin espresso roasts £51/kg. Blends are built for consistency in milk drinks; single origins tend to taste more distinct and change with each harvest.

What about robusta?

Many supermarket espresso blends contain robusta, which gives a heavier body and firmer crema at a lower price per kg. On Bean Index, 0 espresso roasts state a robusta share. We only show a share when the roaster gives a number.

What we don't know

Delivery costs and kilo bag prices: we store one bag size per coffee and compare the standard bag only.
Roasters who don't say what a coffee is roasted for are not counted as espresso roasts, even if they work well as one. For 52% of coffees the roaster doesn't say.
Taste: price tells you nothing about whether you will like a coffee.

30% below median for Guatemala

To roaster

All espresso roasts by price position

Sources & method

Espresso roasts: coffees the roaster sells for espresso (brewing according to the roaster), available, with a standard bag price; n = 181, checked 19 Oct 2026. Prices from the roasters' shops, excl. delivery.
Cheapest quarter: coffees at or below the lower quartile of their price per kg. Price bands: the catalogue's price filter. Statistics rounded to whole pounds; details in the methodology.
Price per cup: price per kg times 18 g, divided by a thousand.

Prices are updated daily and may have changed since; the price in the roaster's shop applies.