Quick Pick: Peet's Italian Roast

Thought I would put this one up since I have enjoyed this coffee so much. I picked this up at a local grocery store, now that Peet's is distributed to the Northeast in several grocery stores, including a lot around my area. Peet's Italian Roast was the one roast that appeared to be best suited for espresso at home, although I was a little disappointed to find only ground in my store, I would have preferred whole bean so that I could grind it myself.

Anyway, Peet's describes their Italian Roast as:

"Intense; blended from the fullest-bodied, most flavorful coffees from the Pacific and Latin America.

The Italian Roast is darker than our normal roast and consequently develops an intense, full-bodied flavor from the blend of Pacific and Latin American origins. The aroma is balanced and complex, and the beans glisten with natural oils.

The name "Italian Roast" comes from the dark roasting style that is common in southern Italy. (Coffees in northern Italy are usually a bit lighter.) The dark roast may have resulted from trying to obscure off-flavors in cheap coffee, but our approach to this roast starts with high altitude, full-bodied coffees.

Italian Roast is one of the coffees we recommend for espresso."

Overall, I agree, I would recommend it for espresso. It is sufficiently dark to give a full bodied cup without crossing the edge of being abnormally bitter. I made it in a good entry level pump machine, the DeLonghi Bar 32 machine, and the result was a thick crema and a strong but clean coffee flavor. Well blended and acidic enough to be lively but not too much to be sour. The finish is clean, but better bodied than many 100% Arabica blends.

I will definitely add it to my rotation of espresso coffees.

Lavazza Super Crema Whole Bean

I came across this deal on one of the most popular Lavazza blends in the US; Lavazza Super Crema. This gives you a full rich taste, that is still sweet in the cup and a thick crema. The body is quite full and well rounded. Lavazza is a huge espresso brand and I have been impressed with their Grand Crema ESE Pods when I reviewed them.

Lavazza Super Crema Whole Bean- 1Kg (2.2lbs) with free shipping at Amazon

Consumer Reports - 2 Nespresso Machines are Excellent

Consumer Reports is putting out an article covering pump driven espresso machines and they rated two excellent, both from Nespresso. The first was the Nespresso C100, and the other was the Nespresso Le Cube. I'll post my review of the Nespresso C100 this week. I thought that it was a very good machine too.

They do point out that the Nespresso machines are espresso only machines, with no steaming arms, but I'll give you a work-around in my review that I used. The field of machines was limited to seven machines. Disappointingly small in my mind given the rang\e of machines available. Stay tuned for our review this week.

ReadMore at Consumer Reports (Subscription required for full ratings)

Review: I-Roast 2 Home Coffee Roaster Review

The Hearthware I-Roast 2 is a great little home roaster that allows you to not only take control of what you coffee tastes like, but also gives you access to the freshest coffee you can get. Over the last few weeks, I have roasted up a lot of batches of coffee learning more and more about the process and my own tastes in coffee and espresso. So you might ask “How do I roast coffee at home?” let me tell you it’s pretty easy. Of course there is the question of green coffee, and with so many offerings on the internet, it’s easy to get what you need. I have to say that I loved using the I-Roast 2 to roast coffee, and will say that it should be great for anyone who is interested in delving into their coffee passion even more. While it will take forever to become a master roaster, you can be fluent and comfortable very quickly so that you can be turning out high quality freshly roasted coffee in very short order. This is not hard to do.

Continue reading: "Review: I-Roast 2 Home Coffee Roaster Review"

Review: Green Mountain Dark Magic and Fair Trade Organic Espressos

We recently received a shipment of Green Mountain Coffee in for a review that we will use in the Jura-Capresso Impressa E8 that we have here at SingleServeEspresso.com The Impressa E8 is kicking out the espressos here at the test kitchens and we are loving it everyday. If you want a full review of the unit, click HERE. The two blends here for this review are the Dark Magic Espresso Blend and the Fair Trade Organic Espresso blend; both of which are roasted for espressos in mind and the ability to stand up in a Latte or a Cappuccino.

Continue reading: "Review: Green Mountain Dark Magic and Fair Trade Organic Espressos"

Gimme! Coffee Leftist Review

We are big fans of Gimme! Coffee here at SingleServeEspresso.com, as their attention to detail and their passion for espresso and coffee pay off. We knew exactly what coffee we wanted to use when we got the Jura Capresso Impressa E8 in for review (Read it) and we wanted a Leftist; not any leftist, but the Gimme! Coffee Leftist whole bean that is a rock solid espresso blend. Gimme! Coffee is a small operation with only a handful of stores in Ithaca NY, with one in NYC too. They were recently featured as part of a video story in the NY Times where they talked about the new wave of espresso excellence sweeping the nation’s coffee shops. It’s not a surprise to us that we enjoyed the Leftist blend in the Impressa E8, but what was surprising was how truly good it was.

Continue reading: "Gimme! Coffee Leftist Review"

Readers Review: Stomping Grounds Espresso Concentrate

So, if you missed our review of Stomping Grounds Concentrate; click here. Stomping Grounds Espresso Concentrates come in 4 varieties and are sold a retailers across the country - Amazon, Cost Plus Markets, and some select Whole Foods stores as well as their own Stomping Grounds website. Well, as we posted our review, the Marketing Chief offered our readers a free sample if they would post a review. A review came in from a reader Greg who said:

I just recieved (9/23) the Espresso flavor. Mixed it up according to the directions (I used skim milk) popped it in the the microwave... it was great. Very, very nice flavor, smoky, smooth not harsh or bitter. My wife and I loved it and I guess we have a new addiction. :-)

Not bad! Stay tuned there should be more coming.