Lavazza Whole Bean Coffee, 2.2 Pound Bag

Lavazza offer several variations on their espresso beans. Of those that I have tried I don't recall Pienaroma as being great; Top Class is good; Super Crema is tasty (and produces good crema) but not high on aroma; Crema E Aroma retains its aroma very well but is the most acidic of the Lavazzas; Tierra appears to be the hardest to find in the US but in my opinion combines the good aspects of all. So far, I've found it only on Amazon. Amazon also has the best prices on Crema E Aroma.

Complex, maybe more nasal than some of the coffees I use in my Gaggia Classic. There's almost none of the Ethiopian velvety-slick feel, it's almost all European in taste, meaning the flavor tones are more coffee and less fruit and chocolate, the mouthfeel is clean and not coating/cloying. Great aroma from the crema, and great aftertaste, lasts twenty minutes or more easily.

This makes a great straight doubleshot. I don't mix this one with milk/foam, it's good enough on it's own. I never have an issue with grind, pour/pull rate, or crema production.

Not overly caffeinated, it doesn't have Robusta, causes very little 'over the temple' headache when overpulled/thin/underdosed, it's pretty temperature-insensitive.

While I do appreciate some other coffees with thicker mouthfeel and darker flavors (Klatch Belle Espresso, Black Cat), this coffee is lighter and more 'focused' in flavor than those. I find I pull shots of this LaVazza about twice as often as I pull 'boutique' shots.

Just solid coffee, and sets the bar for the standard bean I keep in my kitchen.

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I want to start by addressing the people giving low ratings because the beans aren't "oily" enough. If you've ever had a real espresso, one made by a licensed barista in Italy, you'd know that espresso beans aren't oily; they're not even usually that dark. If you see black beans, you're going to get a bitter cup of coffee no matter how you make it. It is the fresh grinding process and pressurized steam that make espresso so dark and strong in the cup, not burnt beans! This coffee is used in the great majority of Italian households and restaurants; I think most of the bars use a different brand but some of the ones I frequented around Florence used Lavazza. I can tell you from first-hand experience that when you order an espresso in Italy, the barista doesn't get beans that look black...that only happens at Starbucks where they don't care about the coffee being bitter because, as these low-star reviewers prove, a lot of American coffee drinkers wouldn't know how coffee is supposed to look or taste.

These beans are the perfect color; medium to dark brown, uniformly roasted. When you grind them, the aroma fills the kitchen. (By the way detractors, that's another way to tell good coffee. If you don't get a big release of aroma when you grind the beans, it means they've been over-roasted and the oils are all gone...perhaps except for that little sheen you want to be on the surface...I'd rather have the oils still in the bean, personally.)

Just for the fun of it, I decided to test this against my favorite coffee for my drip coffee maker. I was actually quite surprised at how rich, dark, and mellow the coffee came out of a rather poor (but quick and convenient) method of making coffee. I knew this would make perfect espresso, but I honestly didn't think the American-style coffee methods would work so well too. There is even a bit of crema on top of the cup...from a drip coffee maker! To see how much foam you get from an espresso machine, check out the pictures I've posted at the top of the page.

Lavazza is now going to be the only brand of coffee in my house. This is as close as you can get to drinking a fresh cup of espresso on the streets of Florence without a plane ticket.

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This is a great bean for a semi-automatic machine. We have a Jura-Capresso and adjust it to a fine grind with this bean. The beans produce an espresso with a thick crema and a smooth, almost chocolaty ending. This brand can be found at coffee shops all over Italy and Europe in general.

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I have a Saeco super automatic. Starbucks and Caribou beans are too oily and gum up the machine. Illy is too expensive. All of the Lavazza's work well, but this one tastes the best.