I can tell before I begin typing this that it will be TL;DR, and rambling. You have been so advised.
Where to begin? As far as coffee that you will consume, you only need to worry about canephora (robusta) and arabica. Yes, there are more than a hundred species of Coffea, but the vast majority cannot be transformed into a potable drink.
Coffee is much like wine, insofar that each berry has complex characteristics imparted by climate, region, precipitation, etc… Good growers mitigate the variables as much as possible to remain consistent across growing seasons, but coffee crops remain imminently at the mercy of the climate.
Some coffees are especially prized for their characteristics, real or imagined, and command premium prices. Examples include http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_Blue_Mountain_Coffee"]Blue Mountain and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kona_coffee"]Kona. Coffees have distinct profiles. Some are best black. Some hold cream well and some do not. Some can take sugar and some cannot. Some can take a little cream, sugar, or both, and have their taste profile enhanced. Some can take a lot of either or both, and some none.
When you walk into a good coffee shop or browse a well-stocked grocery isle, you should see a wide variety of single-origin coffees, from Peruvian to Sumatran to Sulawesi to Tanzanian Peaberry (I see you there, Tao). These, plus the different blends you’ll find, are coffee, and meant for a drip machine or a French press. They are not espresso.
Again: these are coffee, not espresso.
Espresso is never (in my experience) single origin. Espresso uses the same raw material as drip coffee, but is an entirely different product (the way beer and whisky both start with barley…). Espresso is always a blend of beans, intended to produce a complex flavor profile. Each roaster’s espresso should be individual.
The shop I worked in had three espresso roasts. The everyday roast was our usual pull, and strong enough to take flavorings and steamed milk. The ‘real’ espresso was a three bean blend used for shots and macchiato, with blueberry at the front of the palate, chocolate at the back, and medium body. And then there was the decaf espresso. You might think we kept that on hand just for lattes, mochas, etc. Nope. The decaf espresso had an exquisite flavor profile from a four-bean blend, and body enough to take any adulteration. The body came from a robusta bean. It was the best shot in the store (and the most forgiving on the grind, surprisingly).
To answer your original question: yes, but not why you think.
You can’t get the full benefit of an espresso blend without an espresso machine, but I ain’t your mother. I would also say that any coffee has a best date at latest a week from its grind date, vacuum pack or not. But I ain’t your mother. I would say “don’t you live in a place with a decent freakin’ coffee shop/roasterie!?!” But I ain’t your mother.
If you have an espresso machine, if the vacuum pack you buy is roasted the day before purchase, and if there is no local coffee shop worth its salt to patronize, I humbly apologize and recant.
If you’re adjusting yourself to bad coffee it’s because of grind, time, and equipment, not the species.
