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Finally found THE one, after over a year of searching and trying out at least 5 different ones!
A nice comfortable office chair.
https://ergochair.co/collections/chairs/products/ergonomics-mesh-chair-w-adjustable-headrest-and-armrest?variant=32511617597491
My criteria: mesh seat and back, arms, headrest
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AMA.
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Sounds like you're in Chicago based on Dark Matter. I would check out Coffee & Tea Exchange on Broadway- they have a few expresso beans to pick from
Try the blue bottle espresso beans sampler pack. Finding out the flavor profile you like is at least as important as finding a good brand.
Make sure to check for local or semi-local coffee roasters. Fresher they are, the better. Additionally, a lot of roasters intentionally burn their beans to elongate the shelf life - it's easy to tell if your roaster burns beans as the beans will weigh less and have some crisp to them - these are not good and the subtle flavors that come from the coffee end up surpassed by the "burnt coffee" flavor.
A good roaster does not burn their beans and you'll use the beans within a month of roasting. Makes a huge difference and will allow you to explore different tasting notes. I had one local coffee that advertised tasting notes of basil and tomato (odd, yes) and it actually tasted like basil and tomato. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan, but I tend to enjoy thinks with darker tasting notes - cacao, hazelnut, chokeberry, cherry, etc. Pay attention to the tasting notes your local roaster provide to hone in on what you're looking for. Also bare in mind that espresso tends to be darker roasts (longer roasting times, but you still don't want burnt). But you can also use lighter roasts to up your caffeine content.
Ipsento has my personal favorite espresso in Chicago. Right off the 606 trail too if you’re in the area.
As a former WMP coffee chief, it hurts my soul you aren't getting a chance to learn about about origins, roast levels, processing styles and different local rosters that excel at different things 😢🤗
Assuming you're in Chicago, Intelligentsia is our flagship roaster. They would be one to check out if you like dark matter's unicorn blood (black cat would be a particularly similar blend).
Metric, Metropolis, Passion House, Ipsento, Gaslight and Big Shoulders would be other great options to try as well.
I've recently become partial to Four Letter Word, which has a neat story in that it's woman owned and has 2 locations, Chicago and... Istanbul. Also Whirlwind (which is technically out of Oak Park) but their coffee has been very good (imo) and they support a lot of local nonprofits (most recently Housing Forward, which WMP has been generous to in the past)
On a national scale, blue bottle and stumptown have been classics for a while, but freshness>roaster caliber, and since it's easier to get "freshly roasted" (s/o to dark matter for that line) local, so I'd drink a 2 weeks from roast date "average" Chicago roaster over 6 week old blue bottle every day of the week
So a burnt taste is likely more due to beans roasted too dark than a machine issue. In that situation I'd try using beans that are a lighter roast.
Also worth doing a thorough cleaning (including back flushing and dascaling) the internals on your machine as well.
Dark Matter Unicorn is the best and assuming it’s fresh, Intelligentsia Black Cat is a very close second. Coffee & Tea Exchange is a cool store, I prefer their teas over coffees but still a great way to explore.
Sparrow Coffee
Also D1 speaks tons of truth, but just wanted to clarify one point made about caffeine content (mostly because it's been a hot topic of discussion in some of my coffee groups)
When roasting, coffee both expands in volume as well as decreases in weight. Most ordinary folks measure their coffee by volume when making their drink in the morning. By this measure, yes, the same volume of coffee will provide more caffeine with the lighter roast because it's denser. The roasting process does not reduce the caffeine content, though, so if you're measuring/dosing by weight (which many high end shops will do), the difference is negligible. Being a coffee nerd(and precision nerd) it's an interesting and important distinction to me, even if for most folks it's not :)
Rising Star
I live in Chicago and order most coffee from Square Mile in London.