I think Thecoffee.com has pretty good prices on Lavazza. They only sell by kilos (2.2lbs bags).
Unless you are fanatically fond of "freshroastonly" beans, bagged Lavazza is pretty fresh - you'll see the oil in the cup and beans will glisten when you first see them and so on so forth.
maybe someday i'll go down to a local cafe and see if the owner will let me buy some lavazza from him, because I don't want to have 2 pounds of coffee that i might not like.
Re: Lavazza, you could also try online at http://www.sovranastore.com. They're one of the U.S. distributors. But it really doesn't matter where you get it from; the beans will be months old. The beans are literally shipped from Italy, so best case figure one month old. I've tried many different months-old Lavazza blends before. Obviously not fresh, but with the valve bags it didn't taste completely stale, and it had a good amount of crema. I could actually pull decent shots.
Kind of an old thread but it might be interesting to refresh it for those who have run into shipping delays of their regular fresh roasted coffees due to the bad winter weather we are now experiencing.
I can highly recommend canned Puerto Rican coffee, I used to live off the stuff when I lived there. It is readily available, complex, and cheap.
Café Yaucono has a lot of layers of flavor and is my preference when I have the time to savor it.
Café Rico was my usual morning eye opener. A little less complex than Yaucono, but with a stronger flavor and bold character that makes it great either with steamed milk or straight up.
Café Bustelo is in a class of its own. Made with robusta beans, it is a favorite in the Cuban community, but also enjoys great popularity with other Latin Americans. A very bold taste, heavy in body, reminds me of the working neighborhoods, not the fancy restaurants. Enormous caffeine kick. For when you have to go lay some brick or bike a century.
Regional roasters, like Bucks County Coffee here in PA, are often surprisingly good. They come bagged, but you can always decant the grinds into an airtight container to preserve some freshness.
Middling coffees?
Chock Full O' Nuts used to be good, then went bad, now has improved the quality to be sort of a contender.
The Italian coffees? Taste like metal. Probably too long in the can by the time you buy them.
Coffees to avoid?
Folger's has made a name for itself through advertising, but it is probably the most consistently disturbing coffee I have ever tried. And my relatives who don't know coffee inevitably seem to gravitate toward its uber-cheap pricing, so I get to experience it again and again. Not good even loaded with four spoons of sugar and dollops of half and half. Avoid all forms of Folger if you know what's good for you.
Maxwell House. Another family favorite that I have to suffer through. Better than Folger's, though that's not saying much.
For espresso I only use my home roasted home ground blends. However, when I am out of Sumatra and Kopi Luwak, I always get Melitta Premium Extra Fine and make it on the French Press. The extra fine grind works perfect with the Melitta Premium Extra Fine, leaving only slight sediment and giving it great body.
Espresso: never from supermarket Drip: whatever I find Turkish: never from supermarker Milk-based drinks: whatever I can find Black Coffee (French Press): Melitta Premium Extra Fine
Posted Sat Jan 29, 2005, 11:03am Subject: Re: supermarket coffee aisle
The local Wild Oats grocery store sells Intelligentsia. I don't know when it was roasted of course, but it's better than the alternative. I also recently tried some of Green Mountain's espresso blend, and although it was obvious it was past its prime, it was again better than most alternatives.
Nothing beats my home-roast or fresh beans from some of the great roasters, but when you're in a pinch it's nice to know there are some pretty good options out there.
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