Well, I did a bit of an experiment the other day. I tend to have Illy coffee when I am away – Originally in Italy, when I used to visit the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, in the early ’90s. (Sigh….some very happy days were had on those trips…) At home, I routinely have reasonably good coffee made cafetiere style, using beans from GroundWork. Some months ago, however, I rediscovered one of my favourite stovetop espresso makers and started to use it again, grinding my usual coffee finer and getting quite a good cup. It started out as a treat in the morning, but gradually replaced more and more of my cafetiere cups of coffee. (Contrast here and here for example.) Then, after conversation with a friend of mine I found myself thinking about Illy coffee again and getting misty eyed. I got thinking – is it really as good as I remember it? Maybe it is partly just to do with being on my travels – the novelty, and some nostalgia for my days in Italy. Surely, a freshly ground set of good but non-Illy beans is enough to make as good a cup? I decided not to try this out, since I didn’t want to get hooked on the very expensive stuff when I was perfectly happy with my GroundWork beans.
But. I stumbled on a sampler pack of two 4.4 oz. cans of espresso preparations from Illy while browsing in a shop the other day, and so gave in.
Drat. Drat. It is so really very very good. And I’ve gone through one tasty can (the medium roast) in a short time already. How am I going to ween myself off this stuff now? It is a bit of an expensive habit. I am going to have to experiment with more reasonably priced beans to see if I can find a tasty espresso roast lurking in the choices somewhere.
What’s your favourite espresso bean roast/type ? Any recommendations? Blends you’ve made yourself?
By coincidence, I’d been planning to put this post up today – knowing that coffee is an important drink of a number of my readers – and as I started preparing it, I saw a post on Imaginary Potential pointing to this rather wonderful set of drawings by Christoph Niemann (with a narrative) about coffee. It may resonate with many. Enjoy!
Long Beach — how about Monkey Cafe in HB, they serve Illy.
Cost Plus World Market sells the cans so you can make it at home, as does Whole Foods.
I love illy too!
I once saw a really cute stovetop espresso maker in a camping/outdoor supply store. It was quite small, and instead of having a large space in the top for the coffee, it has only a small space for the ground coffee, and a spout. So the pressure forces steam through the ground coffee as normal, and then out of the spout (and presumably you place a cup under the spout to catch the coffee). It seemed a very clever way of making the whole espresso maker small enough to take camping.
–IP
Chrissy,
You’re in luck, I think. I ran into supplies of Illy espresso at (to my surprise) World Market (which I think is part of Cost Plus)… I see online that there is one in Long Beach, so you should be in luck! I imagine also that there is some to be found in Whole Foods (at maybe twice the price!)… and I am sure you have one or few in Long Beach.
-cvj
If you want to take your coffee to the next level AND save money, you’ve got to roast your own. I get very nice green beans for four to six dollars per pound and roast them just as I like them. You may blow a few batches getting the hang of it at the beginning, but it’s well worth the effort. No matter how hermetically they try to seal their cans, coffee from a store can’t be as fresh as what I just roasted a day, or even just 15 minutes, before brewing.
If you’re up for it:
http://www.burmancoffee.com/ or
http://www.sweetmarias.com/
can set you up.
I had to laugh today, reading this. Like you, i have several such espresso makers, and eventually they wear down from constant daily use. I thought my 12 cup big one was finished, so i ordered and received a new 9 cupper just the other day. Sure enough, as soon as i began to use it, the old one decided to work just right again.
I absolutely have to agree with Moche, that pursuing the pure Kona dark roast is the very best: http://www.konalea.com/ or http://www.konapurplemountain.com/
I then make my own blend, because the Kona is so rich and flavorful as a dark roast that a 25% blend works great. Usually i blend it with Cafe Mam (http://www.cafemam.com/) or one of the other fair trade organics like Ruta Maya (http://www.rutamaya.net/benefits-organic-coffee.html).
When i am on the road on tour, i use Stumptown in OR, Thomas Hammer and Craven’s in WA, and Boyd’s Cafe Rojas in CA.
Geez, now I have to go and get some of that stuff. Here is payback: Kona coffee is really good, and habit forming too. Price is no object, so don’t get any blends, go for the real thing. Also Yemen mocha is delicious, if you can find it freshly roasted. I heard really good things about Jamaican blue mountain coffee, but never had the pleasure myself (local coffee shop sells espresso shots for 10$ a pop…).
I amn looking for Illy coffee, other thn ordering it online, anyone know where I can walk in and purchase it? I live in Long Beach, CA. Thanks!
Clifford:
The pictures reassured me you’re on the right track coffee-wise.:) Happy to know. As an Italian coffee addict, I have used many versions of “la mocca” (how they are called back there). Illy is a very good coffee, but not “the coffee” in my opinion. It depends on what kind of roast you like, and Illy (in this country) does not come with many options. I like a dark espresso roast.
The tastier roasts I found here come from small shops: one in Long Beach, Polly (they roast their own coffee every day: http://www.pollys.com/), or over the web, the Porto Rico Coffee in NYC (http://www.portorico.com/store/). Their shop on Bleeker Street is a marvel!
Can’t wait for tomorrow morning to make my own cup. Italian style.
Laura
I keep going back to Illy too. It’s expensive but the taste is right on. I live across the street from an Italian deli that has 3-4 other espresso roasts, generally 70-50% the price, but…it’s just not as good. I want them to work, because the deli doesn’t stock Illy and I have to go to Vons or Whole Foods.
Hi,
I have a few of them. I’ve purchased them all in Italy on one trip or another. You can usually buy these rather clumsy-looking inelegant ones with an octagonal (if I recall) cross section in lots of stores. I’ve no idea if those make good coffee or not, but I don’t care for the look of them.) But I am sure that these days you can get reasonably elegant ones that make good coffee in various stores such as Sur La Table, Williams Sonoma, etc. Or maybe you have a local dedicated (non-chain) coffee or kitchen store that might sell some, or order them for you. There’s that classic Alessi one that everyone loves… you can probably find one of those.
-cvj
Hi,
I noticed in your picture the metal espresso maker, you put the water on the bottom, then theres a space for beans, and the pressure forces steam up through to the top part.
but where did you get one? my family has one, but they got it in italy, and i realllly want a small stovetop espresso maker like that.
Hi,
Yes I have. Delicious!
By the way, the issue I was getting at was not coffee in general, made in any general style. It was specifically the issue of espressso-style coffee. Capturing the delicate balance of intense complex flavours without uninteresting bitterness… This is the challenge.
-cvj
Hi,
very nice post. have you tried Indian filter coffee?
a link about it is here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_filter_coffee
I adore coffee but have to restrict myself to one cup a day at present, so it is a real luxury. I haven’t tried Illy, but it sounds as though I ought to! I don’t really have a favourite blend. However, my husband makes his own (rather wonderful) garam masala. He uses our coffee grinder to blend and mix some of the spices, including pepercorns, cloves, black cardoman and cinnamon. Grinding coffee beans after a garam masala session makes for interesting tasting coffee!
My favorite coffee – New Orleans Blend by Community. Been drinking this sassy dark French roast with Chickory since I was . . . . 9 or 10 I think. My daughters can’t picture me without coffee – my younger one even told me not to give it up for Lent one year.
I only drink Illy, I can find it at Vons for about $11 a can. You just don’t compromise on coffee… as an old Italian TV ad recited: “Coffee is a pleasure. If it doesn’t taste good, what kind of pleasure is it?”
I only drink Illy, I find at Vons for about $11 a can. You just don’t compromise on coffee… as an old Italian TV ad recited: “Coffee is a pleasure. If it doesn’t taste good, what kind of pleasure is it?”
I have to say that I did become addicted to http://www.kalanicoffee.com/ The coffee is organic, tree-shaded and I used to get their columbian coffee which is very good. Then unfortunately I treated myself to their Kona coffee for my birthday (at $25 per pound it isn’t cheap). It has two drawbacks, you don’t realize how strong the caffeine is, one cup of this and I’m awake for the next 10 hours, and two a lot of other coffee tastes crap in comparison. I now buy it for special occasions and rely on Whole Foods Kona blend the rest of the time.
I shudder to think what I would be like on coffee. I might have enough energy to unlock a large extra dimension. I stick to tea, which has become an addiction all its own. Fortunately “gourmet” loose tea is often cheaper than supermarket bags.
As a descendant of two coffee addicts, I’ve avoided the stuff. Back in the 1970s, we visited coffee plantations near my cousins’ home in Mexico, and that’s when I learned about grinding your own. My dad purchased his own beans on every subsequent trip to Mexico. I like the smell, but like alcohol, I didn’t want to acquire a taste for it. I hope that readers leave useful suggestions for you.
The Niemann drawings made me smile. Enchanting. What a lovely little fairy tale for grownups–the love story of a boy and his coffee. Also charming was his depiction of the ritual of it all, which has always been a big part of coffee’s appeal to me. Well, that and the caffeine….
I’ve never had Illy, but in LA I love Urth Cafe’s Italia Espresso. Nice that you developed a taste for the expensive stuff though through actually being in Italy. Great way to acquire any gastronomic habit!