I am not sure if Casa Brasil has become Little City Coffee Roasters, if Little City has CB roast…read morecoffee for them, or if this place is now Little City's roasting house. But I tried my 3rd package of Little City coffee, (shipped from this address on their website) and though good coffee, it is simply not a dark enough roast for my espresso.
I tried Messenger Espresso the first time, many months ago and was underwhelmed. The beans were just not dark enough, shiny enough nor oily enough for the sort of espresso shot I like to pull. They made perfectly passable drip coffee in a pour-over, but I am a 99% espresso guy.
Recently I took advantage of a 20% discount and rapid delivery (next day! Arrived on Monday, ordered Sunday!) to try the two darkest roasts offered, Grackle and Republic. Again, passable drip coffees, but not able to produce the thick rich crema and distinctive oily mouthfeel and toasted flavor notes I was looking for.
Great fast to the door delivery and good prices (though for a 12oz package, compare carefully) and as I noted, pretty good coffee, but I will return to the Italian espresso (occasionally mixed 75/25 with French Roast) from my usual roaster Anderson's to feed my Gaggia Classic Pro.