Italian Roast Espresso

The wife and I love coffee. We're not coffee aficionados that pick apart this and that about beans and roasting, we leave that to the pros. But we do appreciate a good cup of joe on a daily basis. This coffee delivers. Given how much coffee we drink, I'm curious to see how long this 5lb bag will last us. I'll update this review when I'm down to a pound, that means it's re-order time. This has become our daily drinker and has replaced the Starbucks Espresso Roast that we've been buying for $10/lb the last couple years. It makes a nice, dark smooth coffee each and every time. Almost sweet and not very acidic. For my 16oz traveler, I fill it up, put half a tsp of Coffeemate creamer and half a tsp of sugar and I'm good to go. Aromatic, and nice and bold, just sweet enough to enjoy for my first hour of the day. Keep in mind, we do not own an espresso maker, this stuff goes in our grind and brew coffee maker each and every day...twice a day. I'm not a big espresso drinker, not because I don't like it, but because I don't own a machine and don't really have the time to make shots most days. This coffee seems like it would do the trick in that dept as well, but I wouldn't know. I do know that this coffee makes a great daily drip that is not too in your face but gives you exactly what you're looking for. We will be purchasing again when the time comes, and as always, excellent job Amazon, for quick delivery.EDIT 1/24/11I meant to update when I re-ordered coffee but forgot. This 5lb bag lasted us from 10/30/10 through 1/17/11, sometimes brewed twice, most times brewed once daily. I got wonderful news from my doc that I needed to cut my daily caffeine intake, so I'm down to brewing in the morning, which means this next batch of coffee might last a little longer...let's see how fresh it stays. All-in-all, this was a very good coffee. So good that we'll continue to purchase this brand and blend from now on.EDIT #2 5/10/11Upgrade to 5-stars.I re-ordered another 5lb bag at the end of April 2011. The previous bag didn't last nearly as long as my first order. I tihnk it has something to do with the fact that we (wife and I) purchased an expresso maker. It's not a fancy one, but the mypressi TWIST Handheld Espresso Maker makes pretty good espresso and these beans realy do make a decent shot. I don't have a burr grinder, but bought this Mr. Coffee electric grinder to prepare grinds for the espresso shots. Even after being ground with an electric grinder (purists will not agree), these beans do make a good shot with even better crema. Now I can honestly say these beans do not disappoint one bit - for both daily drip coffee and single shot espresso, these beans are superb.

July 25, 2024 update: I m on my 9th 5 lb bag in 4+ years. I only drink espresso. I do not like weak coffee. I have tasted espresso from innumerable coffee houses around the country and occasionally find a good roast, but most often find what I buy is bitter. I am very particular about what I make at home and have bought many different roasts on line. This is truly superior. It is smooth, full bodied, dark roast without a hint of bitterness. I use a Cuisinart burr grinder and a DeLonghi espresso maker, and it is simply better than anything else I have found, either in coffee houses or on line.Original post: I bought this a couple months ago. The price was excellent. I was surprised at how good the espresso is. I have a quad shot every morning. I have to make sure the expresso machine does not make more than about 2 oz per sump bowl. Anything more, the espresso is too bland. Making 2 oz at a time yields excellent, smooth espresso. I was concerned about buying 5 pounds at a time. I re-package it in about 12 oz bags, vacuum pack it with my food saver, and freeze it. Vacuum packing it prevents moisture crystals around the frozen coffee beans. I plan to buy it again, once I run out of this batch.

I didn't see any information on dosing in reading the reviews. I know it is a subjective topic. First off, my equipment...Gaggia Classic with Auber PID and Mazzer Mini Grinder. Set Value of pid is 217 as well as static pressure set at 10 bars. I used a thermocouple to measure temp at portafilter and i am getting reads from 202 to 190 during my shot pull, which is expected on a Gaggia classic. I am no pro, but have a pretty good idea on what i am doing. I have tried many many different doses, grinds etc for this Italian Roast Expresso. I will say that for my liking, i use 17 grams of expresso to produce about 32 grams of expresso in 30 seconds. 16 grams seems to work almost as well and get between 32 and 27 grams. Below or above that amount(16 to 17) and it is to bitter or sour. 18grams was horrible for straight expresso(not latte). Of course if I use 16 grams i need set my grinder 1 notch finer. I use the "slapshot method using a yogurt cup, seems to be the most consistant. I am now at 4.5 weeks since my purchase and I really haven't noticed much degregation of flavor. It probably will not keep much longer unless i used a vacuum sealer to begin with. I keep the bag sealed with a clip in the closet, not refrigerator or freezer. My wife uses this roast in the keurig and seems to like it ok...she is not very picky, like me and she uses a Capresso Infinity (conical) grider. I did buy some locally roasted expresso and honestly didn't like it as much as this and that was $14.00 for 1lb. For the price you can't beat this deal, approx $6 a pound. Even Starbucks is $9 for 12 oz and this coffee blows that way, not that it would be a surprise to anyone. Starbucks coffee is over roasted and to oily. This expresso does make good crema and tastes great in lattes. I don't drink express straight(any brand), just 2 strong for me. Hope this helps.