Lavazza is good. Illy is better (but stupidly expensive these days) - I couldn't afford to drink it as my daily tipple.
it works out about 25p for a double shot, i think i spend about £4-6 on coffee a week (for home espresso's) hardly excessive and way cheaper than starbucks.
either you are a tightwad or have a serious caffeine addiction.
+ 1 Big john
+ 1 matthewjb
+ 1 nielsonwheels
I have a weekly subscription to hasbean called "in my mug". A good way to try different coffees every week.
Have tried all of thier espresso blends and can reccomend.
Also liked
http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/
They have some pretty intense coffees and usually always delivered close to roasting.
Finally I like Red Roaster in Brighton if you happen to be in that neck of the woods...
Try before you buy as you can get a cafeterirerrerererer made up
http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/red-roaster-coffee-house-brighton
either you are a tightwad or have a serious caffeine addiction.
Are you normally this thick or are you just getting a bit sandy fannied about coffee.
sorry, i didn't allow for being unemployed or on the minimum wage and not being able to afford 25p to make a coffee, everyone on this forum seems to ride around on £2.5k bikes so i wrongly assumed everyone was rolling in it.
I find lavazza is easy to make espresso w crema - I seem to struggle with other supremarket in-house stuff.
Does grinding beans to get fresh really taste lots different then? I have a feeling I've got a bit of a blender I could bodge...
A BLENDER?!?!?!?!?!?! OMG 
oli - step away from the bodge!
I find lavazza is easy to make espresso w crema - I seem to struggle with other supremarket in-house stuff.
Are you using finely ground stuff (marked espresso) or coffee intended for cafetiéres? I have no problems getting crema from supermarket coffee, which is odd.
where is Dr P and his cat shit coffee?
the blender claims to have an attachment for doing breadcrumbs - similar right? 
just use a plastic bag and a rolling pin instead of a proper grinder.
trailmonkey - Member
if it's an espresso machine then it's got to be Lavazza coffee
+1 for Lavazza.
Try some and see if you like it.
I do like Illy though but have not compared the 2 back to back, normally have Illy when out and Lavazza at home to keep things different.
I keep trying other makes with fancy names and claims but something is just right about Lavazza and Illy.
PS nice choice of machine. Quite depressing how the capsule machines have taken over the shelves in the shops these days.
Lavazza all the way here! Lavazza Rossa (in the red packet)
Used to be an Illy but its just too expensive since Costco stopped stocking it...
Grabbed some Lavazza preground from the shop across the road last night as I had to use the machine.It seems a nice coffee but a little 'weak'. Mind you on the machine there's only one setting for strength with preground as opposed to 5 or 6 for beans. (It is ESAM 5600 btw. WIfe has a friend who works for manufacturer, I saw the price online and nearly spat out my newly made coffee!)
I'm off to hunt out various beans this afternoon, any recommendations for shops in Portsmouth area? Looking forward to feeding a new 'addiction'.....
If anybody is thinking of getting a grinder (and I staunchly maintained for years that Lavazza ground was good enough until I bit the bullet and realised I was plain wrong) may I recommend the Iberital MC2from Happy Donkey.
It's good because it grinds the beans directly into your filter in a measured dose so it's even less faff than using ground out of a tin. And at £114 it's a steal for a proper burr grinder.
you have to add vat to that (and maybe shipping?)still a good price.
if you are short on space the ascaso i-mini is good too in either stainless or black.
I buy from Whittards of Chelsea coffee beans of different choice, wouldn't recommend buying bigger packs over week's suply as beans have to be fresh. Also, for extra ooomph consider adding a bit of syrup instead of brown sugar ( caramel, hazelnut, amaretto etc ).
Syrup's great for coffee. I like hazelnut.
Syrup???!?!?!?! 
syrup? like adding coca-cola to single malt.
If you haven't tried it ... there saying goes. Not suggesting adding Rybeena squash am I ? Well if you go far into niche of drinking fine coffee, one must experiment. High street coffee brands off supermarkets shelf? You must be joking me!
Amaretto is lovely added to a good espresso.
or grappa if it's not good enough to drink on it's own.
Vanilla syrup and a small spoon of double cream really brings out the flavour of a single estate arabica.
squirty cream, hundreds and thousands and chocolate sauce helps bring out the subtle flavours of a freshly ground single estate Yirgacheffe.
Like makeup on a beautiful lady, or barbeque sauce on asparagus.
MrSmith, I bet you are a fine coffee connoisseur!
Caramel syrup.
Also perfect for adding into Oreo cookie milkshakes 
Machines that grind or can take pre-ground are the best. We have a Jura machine at Uni which is great. But it takes a beating (lots of coffee addicted academics and post grads/docs).
Nice place round the corner that roasts beans too so you can go in and have a chat about what you like and let him recommend something to try.
After reading this thread I decided to get some better coffee. I went to a Deli in town and asked for espresso beans ground for an espresso machine. The coffee had next to no smell, and I could of ground better with that suggestion of a rolling pin and plastic bag.
I decided to order some decent stuff, so I ordered a couple of packs of coffee from Highland Coffees.
I have had some of their coffee before and it was really good. I made a mistake in my order so I phoned up, they were very helpful and sorted it out and said they were roasting tomorrow and would send it out tomorrow afternoon, so it should be nice and fresh.
Innes
I tried buying beans from a local roaster, but prefer Sainsbury's espresso beans. This may make me a philistine, but it shows that personal preference is what counts. I do find a grinder to be essential though - unless you drink a fair amount, pre-ground will have gone stale before you finish the packet.
if you are short on space the ascaso i-mini is good too in either stainless or black.
I have an 250W I-Mini. If all you're grinding for is espresso & shelf space is tight then it's an excellent machine. (It needed a minor bit of work with the Dremmel. The grinds back up the chute partly due to a burr on the bottom of the chute & partly because the basket is too close to the chute. It seems to be a known problem with them, but was easily fixed. 
said they were roasting tomorrow and would send it out tomorrow afternoon, so it should be nice and fresh.
i prefer to let the beans finish de-gassing before grinding, 3-4 days is usually enough.
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