My wife is voting for the lighter roast, so thats my vote too
When I'm back in CT, almost all my time is spent in Ffld Cty, and NEAT in Darien is my morning home. Co-owner Kyle is one of the top 5 most awesome people I know. Not only roasts, but he co-owns a coffee farm in S. America and a green coffee exporting company. I also go to Lorca for coffee & churros, but I'm not sure what coffee they use now as last time I was there was 5 years ago.
That said, J. Rene, Perkatory, Krafted, and Daybreak are or were all popular with the espresso geek community. No idea if any closed during pandemic.
If you're not set on just CT roasters, Whole Foods (at least in our area) offers solid prices on Intelligentsia Black Cat and various Counter Culture and Ceremony espressos. They're like $13 per 12oz here in Pittsburgh and within a month of roast, which will still be lively. Can't go wrong with those and they're always a good baseline.