Coffee is all about the bean and brew. Coffee lovers need the perfect combination of flavor and brewing to make the perfect coffee. We know how much you love coffee; we love it too.
When you love something so much and drink it every day, you want to make sure you are getting only the best.
Oily coffee beans can ruin the coffee experience. They aren’t always a sign of bad coffee, but oiliness is always something to be wary of when selecting beans.
Let’s go over why some roasted coffee beans are oilier than others, what oily beans do to your coffee maker, and ten of the best non-oily coffee beans on the market today.
At a Glance: Our Top 5 Picks for Best Non-Oily Coffee Beans
Why Are Some Coffee Beans Oilier than Others?
Two main factors affect the oiliness of coffee beans – time and roast level. Within the anatomy of a coffee bean, the coffee oils are kept mostly inside the bean. A fresh unroasted bean will not be oily.
With time the oil in coffee beans starts to come to the surface, regardless of if, or how much, the beans have been roasted. When they get to the bean surface, they oxidize and change the flavor of the beans.
Additionally, the coffee roasting process can bring out these oils. The longer a bean is roasted, the oilier it becomes. If a bean is over-roasted, CO2 is released and changes the bean’s flavor, making it bitter.
What do Oily Beans do to Your Machine?
Over time, the oily residue from coffee beans can build up inside the coffee machine. If you use many dark roast beans and don’t wash the coffee machine each time, this can quickly become a problem.
The oil residue in coffee machines builds to the point where it prevents the machine from functioning properly. The bean hoppers become sticky, the coffee grinder becomes coated, and the screens get clogged.
When the machine becomes this gummed up, the coffee grounds will stick and amass at every stage, preventing the brewing process from taking place, and you may end up with weak, slow-flowing coffee and a straining machine.
Quick Summary: Best Non-Oily Coffee Beans
Our Top Pick LAVAZZA’S SUPER CREMA WHOLE BEAN COFFEE BLEND |
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CAMANO ISLAND COFFEE ROASTERS’ SUMATRA DARK ROAST |
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MISCELA D’ORO’S GRAN CREMA ESPRESSO BEANS |
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FILICORI ZECCHINI’S FORTE ARABIC AND ROBUSTA BLEND |
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RAVEN’S BREW’S DEADMAN’S REACH |
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FRESH ROASTED COFFEE’S OCTANE ARTISAN BLEND |
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KOFFEE KULT’S GOURMET DARK ROAST |
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KICKING HORSE COFFEE’S CLIFF HANGER ESPRESSO |
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ILLY’S INTENSO BOLD ROAST |
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STUMPTOWN COFFEE ROASTER’S FOUNDER’S BLEND |
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Best Non-Oily Coffee Beans
Nobody wants to prematurely assassinate their coffee machine by way of oil residue. While frequent cleaning is an obvious preventative step to take, it can only do so much. Using non-oily coffee beans can be the determining factor in your coffee maker’s long life or slow death.
Lavazza’s Super Crema Whole Bean Coffee Blend
Lavazza’s Super Crema whole bean coffee blend is one of the best espresso blends. With flavor notes of brown sugar and hazelnuts, this roast has a sweet aroma and inviting flavor.
Lavazza produces all their high-quality coffee beans in Italy. This blend of coffee is sourced from Central America, Brazil, and Indonesia. Then it is finely roasted and packaged in Italy.
Lavazza’s blend is of medium intensity and has a long shelf life thanks to its nitrogen-filled packaging. The factory that processes the beans is nut-free.
This blend makes the perfect, creamy espresso with hints of earthiness.
Camano Island Coffee Roasters’ Sumatra Dark Roast
The Sumatra dark roast is a low-caffeine dessert roast. It has an earthy and complex flavor with fruity, nutty, and sweet tones.
The roast is dark and full-bodied. It has a rich flavor and aroma, yet very little oil or acidity.
Camano Island Coffee Roasters use only organic, fairtrade beans grown locally. Each batch is shipped within 48 hours of roasting and contributes one dollar to Agros International.
This coffee is wonderful at any time of day but makes for an especially great after-dinner treat.
Sumatra dark roast is USDA-certified organic coffee and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, though we’re sure you won’t need to use that.
Miscela D’Oro’s Gran Crema Espresso Beans
Miscela D’Oro’s Gran Crema beans are medium roast coffee beans, fit for the perfect daily cup of espresso. These non-oily beans are the best choice for anyone who is looking for simpler flavors.
Miscela D’Oro produces an intense and balanced bean with a strong aroma, smooth taste, and thick crema.
This creamy blend is just right as a regular morning coffee or with an afternoon snack. The medium roast gives these beans a full-bodied impact without adding any additional or complex flavors.
Miscela D’Oro’s beans come from all over and are blended, roasted, and packaged in Italy.
Filicori Zecchini’s Forte Arabic and Robusta Blend
Filicori Zecchini’s Forte Blend is a specially crafted whole bean coffee that compliments any coffee, espresso, cappuccino, latte, or macchiato.
Filicori Zecchini’s blend is unique among coffee blends because each type of bean is roasted separately to its required level and then blended.
Other blends mix all the beans and roast them together. That does not produce the best flavor if they all need different roasting times.
Filicori Zecchini beans are certified organic, GMO-free, sustainably sourced, and come from long-standing reliable farms.
This blend is a heady, bold, dark-medium roast with a fresh and flavorful aroma. It makes a perfect cup of coffee each time and stays fresh thanks to its special air-proof packaging.
Raven’s Brew’s Deadman’s Reach
Deadman’s Reach is a distinct coffee blend is a legendary high-speed blend that offers a sweet bite of hazelnuts and bittersweet chocolate with a full-bodied and bold, rich taste.
This dark roast is created by air frying the beans to cook them quickly and reduce the risk of burning.
The beans are ethically sourced, sustainable, and support local farmers.
Each cup promises to be vibrant and clean tasting, with enough caffeine to kickstart your day or get you through a graveyard shift.
The package prevents all light and air from penetrating and causing the coffee to go stale prematurely. Each bag is packed full of fresh, flavorful coffee beans roasted to perfection.
Fresh Roasted Coffee’s Octane Artisan Blend
Fresh Roasted Coffee’s Octane provides a kosher blend of bold, smoky, and woody flavors with hints of chocolate.
This roast is intense and heady with extra body, thanks to its extreme dark roast. This coffee is Italian-roasted and US-packed, sustainably sourced, and kosher certified.
Notably, Octane is roasted in an environmentally friendly Loring roaster that helps to reduce the coffee’s carbon footprint. It has no additives, preservatives, or artificial flavors.
The Octane Artisan Blend is a rich and powerful coffee that is bold and flavorful, no matter how you choose to use it.
Koffee Kult’s Gourmet Dark Roast
Koffee Kult’s gourmet dark roast coffee beans promise a bold yet smooth flavor with a rich, bright, and cinnamon-infused smell.
Beans from Columbia, Guatemala, and Sumatra are roasted in small batches, packed, and shipped out immediately to ensure the freshest and most flavorful beans possible.
They are organically grown and are rain forest friendly. Koffee Kult’s beans are suitable for any type of coffee and result in a clean, non-bitter taste no matter how you choose to brew them.
Koffee Kult prides itself on its consistency of flavor and quality. They use only fair trade methods and package and ship beans just hours after roasting to seal in the freshness.
Kicking Horse Coffee’s Cliff Hanger Espresso
Kicking Horse makes rich, dark, medium roast coffee from Arabica beans roasted in Canada’s rocky mountains.
Their Cliff Hanger Espresso beans are organic, fairtrade, and ethically sourced. Each coffee bag contains only the smoothest blend of heavenly cacao and bright fruit-toned coffee beans.
Cliff Hanger beans are nut-free, USDA certified, and work wonderfully for espresso and French press coffee.
These beans are non-oily yet rich and multilayered. Each bag has tons of flavor and is made with the utmost care. The aftertaste is divine, and the coffee always tastes fresh. Kicking Horse Coffee is one of a kind.
Illy’s Intenso Bold Roast
If you are looking for an intense dark roast with a robust and full-bodied flavor, Illy’s beans are the best.
The Intenso bold roast has a rich aroma and hints of yummy cocoa flavor. Illy claims to produce the world’s most ethical coffee and has been honored on Ethisphere’s list for seven years running.
Intenso is made from seven different Arabica beans and comes in a unique pressure-sealed tin to maintain freshness. Illy’s beans boast a complex taste profile and strong aroma.
All beans are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainably sourced.
Stumptown Coffee Roaster’s Founder’s Blend
Stumptown’s Founder’s Blend is an exquisite organic coffee bean blend with vanilla and cocoa tones.
Each bag is filled with Central and South American coffee beans sustainably sourced. The blend is bold and full-bodied, roasted to perfection.
Stumptown’s Founder’s Blend is a lighter roast that offers full flavor with no oily or acidic taste.
The vanilla and cocoa tones bring a sweet, heartwarming flavor to the coffee, making it an excellent choice for a light, clean, everyday coffee.
Notably, this blend also features hints of raisin and praline, a unique combination for sure.
If you are looking to try something new, unique, and light, the Founder’s Blend is a wonderful option you won’t find anywhere else.
Happy Caffeinating!