Simple Man...if Starbucks Cafe Verona isn’t dark enough for you I’d guess that your next step is French Roast. The Verona is Italian Roast which is just next door to the French. And if that’s the case...then you’re choosing coffee on the basis of the darkness of the Roast as opposed to what the bean origin, variety, etc. offers.
I Roast my own beans (currently using a Behmore 2) most often and favor two basic genres. One type (which I can’t afford) are the Gesha varietals grown in Central America. Incredible beans. More expensive than Kona. Very sweet and super floral roasts. Next in line are the Kenyan and Ethiopian grown beans. I buy exclusively from Sweet Maria’s in Oakland...since I know them in the sense that I’ve been buying their micro lot green beans for years and know how to pick from their wide variety.
Do yourself a favor. Sweet Maria’s does a monthly roasting of several different beans and sells them whole bean, by the pound. They are different every time and roasted perfectly. Gives you the chance to see what different micro lot coffees are all about.
The best blended green beans I’ve used is one called Ethiopiques.
https://www.sweetmarias.com/sweet-maria-s-ethiopiques-blend.html
Ooooo. Look! They have their Ethiopiques blend for sale as a roasted offering this month. It’s about 7 on a 5 star scale.
https://www.sweetmarias.com/green-coffee/by-type/roasted-coffee.html