Where to get actual Italian style coffee beans

What you actually doing with the beans once they are ground. Am assuming espresso, but what machine? La Pavoni user here which is super fussy and whilst the beans and grind are an incredibly vital starting point (it basically goes into a Italian mardy huff if you get it wrong), there are a shed load of user errors still to make between there ans the end product.

Having said that, I’m no fan of a properly dark roast. It often just feels to be a convenient way to mask pretty average ingredients.

I’m using an original Gaggia Classic (18yrs old) and usually making maciatos (with espresso obviously).

Can’t resist a photo.

This is my 20 year old Gaggia Classic with a recently replaced 9 bar spring.

If we’re going to do “RateMyGrinder” 🙂 then here’s my new one. The Sage is five years old now and still going strong. But the grinder isn’t great. I find I need to turn it nearly all the way down. This new one has a lot more control and I’m sure the resulting espresso is “better”. But I couldn’t really prove it.

I do quite enjoy the whole measuring/seeing if I’ve got the dose right/etc. I tend to stay away from the darker roasts so a 1:2 ratio seems to work best. Takes a couple of shots to dial it in (from a 250g bag).

It’s fair to say the faff on a Sunday morning is a distracting joy.

its all about puck preparation ??

There is an internet rabbit hole labelled ‘puckology’ that is both deep and quite, er, animated. Careful how you spell it ?

I like Sainsbury’s Single Origin Guatemalan Espresso. £17.20 a kilo.

Italian-style coffee gets that flavour from 20% Robusta beans (i.e. cheap filler coffee). Don’t drink this stuff on it’s own – think sawdust plus nescafe – but it really gives it that European cafe taste when mixed into dark roast stuff.

When I first got all bean/grinder/espresso nerdy, I was after dark roasts, like many of those mentioned in this thread. Now prefer a medium roast as I think it gives better and more flavours as an espresso and is a better base for milky coffees. I don’t single dose so just run a hopper full of a medium roast bean and it’s fine for everything. Trying to avoid the rabbit hole. It’s coffee, not another hobby for me.

We travelled through Italy last year. Maybe unscientific but I felt the coffee changed as we went from north to south.
In Lucca it reminded me of the Happy Donkey Italian blend. In Rome it was much more to my liking, very similar to the Happy Donkey Brazilian (that has a nice touch of Robusta) which is what I drink at home.
And at the cafe we went to every morning (Pitstop, Via Gaeta) only €1 a cup!

We were in Molini (Ligurian Alps) which is a tiny town with three cafes. All did fantastic espressos for €1. I think it’s still “the law” in Italy. Always got me ready for riding.

I only went single dose because that grinder had 33% off and the hopper version didn’t!

The shots served in most espresso bars in Italy (and Spain) will be using torrefacto beans. Not high grade single origin speciality roasts.

@Scapegoat

***cough***

Qualita Rossa, (feminine declension of the adjective rosso) meaning “Red Label”

***carry on.***

My fault I think. I did question if I had the gender right but thought no one would be bothered!

I’ve now ordered coffee from grind house, rave, redber and edge. I’ll report back when they arrive!

Cornish Coffee

I suggest you give them a try if you haven’t.  Then let us know if you like them.

Seriously, they are good.  My favourite is Stupidly Strong but again I drink dark coffee Java style.

So far there are only two coffee brands/beans that I like.  One of them from Co-Op (Italian or French) and the other is Cornish Coffee.

As I drink them cheap, I tend to buy 1kg bag from TK Maxx.  I think I have tried too many brands there.

OP:  Just a couple of things to bear in mind

The burs in your new grinder will take a little while to “season”.  I’m conscious of the derision that’s coming my way – but it’s a real thing.  It can take a few kg for things to settle down, and the flavors become a bit more consistent.  I had this down as bullshit when I first heard it – but when I got my new grinder, it was all over the place at first.

You’ve bought a flat burr grinder.  The consensus is that conical grinders may be better at dark and medium/dark roasts – but bottom line…. it’s going to taste different.  Flat burr grinders are also harder to dial in than conical – they are less forgiving/have a much narrower window of “good”.

You’ve bought a flat burr grinder.  The consensus is that conical grinders may be better at dark and medium/dark roasts – but bottom line…. it’s going to taste different.  Flat burr grinders are also harder to dial in than conical – they are less forgiving/have a much narrower window of “good”.

I’m not entirely sure that’s true about flat Vs conical.

Conical burrs trend to produce more fines, therefore can give more ‘depth’ to an espresso… However that’s down to the specific burr set.

E.g. an SSP MP burr won’t give you much depth as it is designed to produce very uniform grind and very little fines. It’s great for light roasts and filter.

Other flat burrs are designed specifically to generate more fines and give you more body.

The eureka in the picture is a zero isn’t it? It has a small 55mm burr designed to generate fines. That will taste very similar to a niche zero with a conical.

That photo is Alex’s setup, the exact grinder I have is similar (Eureka Mignon Silenzio).

Enjoying the pics above and the coffee chat. It’s a beautiful sunny autumn day here and I’ve just sat down with my first espresso of the day. I thought I’d add a contribution to “rate my grinder”. Happy nearly weekend fellow bean botherers, may it be a well caffeinated one.

A few kg for your grinder to settle down….?? Don’t know about derision but F*** that. Is it really a thing? Honestly asking the question, cos that’s a whole different rabbit warren. That would be a year drinking sh1te coffee for me. A hario hand grinder (fnarr fnarr) works just fine for me, and I can tweak the grind a couple of notches if a different bean grinds too fine or coarse, and I know after 1st cup if it needs tweaking

That photo is Alex’s setup, the exact grinder I have is similar (Eureka Mignon Silenzio).

Not had that grinder long. It is – unsurprisingly – significantly ‘better’ than the in built sage one. In terms of consistency/ability to really dial in the grind you want/noise! I’m still experimenting to try and hit the 1:2 ratio all the time. but it’s an interesting experience (not hobby, I have too many of those) and my espressos look and taste fantastic.

Like I say I won’t be taking questions on if it’s £300 more fantastic than the stop I had before 🙂

The eureka in the picture is a zero isn’t it?

It is. I had a chat with the chap from Clumsy Goat before I bought it, and my Coffee fiend Peter down at James Coffee and they both recommended this grinder for the type of (lighter) beans I prefer.

Anyway I feel I’ve taken this thread away from @solamanda original question! Hope you enjoy at least one of the new roasts you’re trying.

If we are posting pictures…

A few kg for your grinder to settle down….?? Don’t know about derision but F*** that. Is it really a thing?

Some people routinely buy a few kilos of the cheapest beans they can find to churn through and then bin, to ‘season’ new burrs.

I am not one of those people!  If you are, you are so far down the rabbit hole and chasing such miniscule diminishing returns I wonder if you have forgotten how to just enjoy your coffee without obsessing.

@jaketurbo a Decent? You’ve got it bad! Incurable probably. Are you into pressure and temperature profiling and all that gubbins? What’s the lever machine? Nice set up, I’m a little jealous!

Definitely incurable…

The lever is a flair 58, I don’t use it much but levers can produce some great thick shots with medium roasts.

I do a mixture of light roasts and also filter coffees using the decent… Which flow and also temperature control during the shot is essential for.

A few kg for your grinder to settle down….?? Don’t know about derision but F*** that. Is it really a thing? Honestly asking the question, cos that’s a whole different rabbit warren

See the recent thread regarding HI-FI and cable burn in, I imagine some folk imagine coffee grinders need burned in also

😉

Trying to avoid the rabbit hole. It’s coffee, not another hobby for me.

Heresy! jaketurbo wins for deepest into the rabbit hole though, I thought I was bad! (I’d love a decent though).

Talking of rabbit holes this looks good value……….

https://get.neccst.com/?utm_campaign=120211527469950124&utm_term=120211527470060124&utm_content=120211527470150124&utm_source=ig&utm_medium=Instagram_Feed&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0BMAABpgE0DDDJL1ePfbAs_T3tYQZV-YSeQIvWA4GjofSGCCY6MLmLktJwdxnsOw_aem_TayY74hiD7ToRK-Xjf5k6A

@susepic I can’t see a price? Not sure I’d go that crazy for a conical burr non-portable hand grinder, although it does look lovely.

@toby1 I think you have to enter your email, and then you get to reserve one for the offer price of €599 instead of €999 (but pay a dollar to reserve …)

It looks lovely, but not that lovely.

My hario is just gonna have to do for now 😉

@blokeuptheroad what’s that machine? I can’t read the brand

Profitec Go.  The grinder is a DF64 Gen 2.

Back to the OP, I bought a 1kg bag of Italian packaged beans from TK Maxx, they’ve got the same horrible taste as most of the coffee I’ve had when in Italy (or Europe in general tbh). So if you want authentic Italian flavour I’d suggest that, but if you want nice coffee then I wouldn’t!

Just for your coffee tasting adventure, if you wish to buy coffee beans at TK Maxx you should try the followings:

1. Medium roast French (100% small Arabica beans) – L’Amateur Cafe £12,99 per 1kg bag  (this is good surprisingly and you can actually taste the difference)

2. Dark roast Italian (mixed Robasta & Arabica I guess) –  Miguel (side of the bag has won 2 awards) £12.99 per 1kg bag  (this is also good but Not Java good of course)

Both are decent coffee while other Italian brands are roughly the same taste (tried too many that I cannot remember them all)

@jaketurbo

Nice decent coffee machine and set up.

I think you are incurable now with touch screen coffee machine. LOL!

If we’re doing photos… QuickMill Silvano and Eureka Mignon. 10 years old now. Have replaced the pump once and some internal piping (and thread locked the switches which stopped them coming loose).  I’ve been wondering how much longer it will run before it needs a more major rebuild – most of these Italian machines are incredibly simple and all built with standard parts so feel like it will always be repairable (I wonder how much the same is true of the Sage?)

Steam is fine for a small jug (two cups) but would struggle with larger so maybe someday a small footprint dual boiler might replace this when something breaks.  Would be nice to have something plumbed in too but that would mean drilling a hole in the worktop (or kitchen cupboard…hmm)

QuickMill Silvano and Eureka Mignon.

Nice. Should be good for another decade at least with some TLC and probably a lot longer?  My Profitec Go is German, but the pump and other bits are Italian and probably similar to those in lots of Italian machines, so I’m hoping if it ever breaks, fixing it won’t be an issue.  I’m using good water and keeping it clean so hopefully it will be a long time before I find out.

I’m struggling to think the TK Maxx supply chain is geared up for providing freshly roasted beans, but I might be wrong?

This thread has me thinking of getting a Sage Bambino.    So, is there lots of faff to it with cleaning etc?  Other than tamping the coffee and wiping the frothier, I’d like it to be as close to the convenience of the Nespresso machine it’d replace.

I’m struggling to think the TK Maxx supply chain is geared up for providing freshly roasted beans, but I might be wrong?

I don’t think you are. Some people are OK with long shelf life, commodity coffee rather than freshly roasted.  Fine if you are, not for me though.