expobar Senior Member Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 3,003 Location: .
Posted Sun Dec 19, 2004, 11:26am Subject: Illy
Just drank a shot of Illy espresso. What can I say? Not bad. Not bad at all. It was a little fast, but the espresso was full bodied, not bitter, good. Worth $20 per pound? No way. But, it's acceptable. At least after being opened for a total of a minute.
In other words - it's an espresso you gotta try. Then you can keep the can for holding better espressos.
Posted Sun Dec 19, 2004, 12:22pm Subject: Re: Illy
All of the Illy shots I've pulled came out fast, but I agree, it's not as bad as so many say. It's not exactly good either, imo; it's just not that interesting. Nevertheless, I had several decent shots out of the can I sacrificed from my Illy cups.
Just drank a shot of Illy espresso. What can I say? Not bad. Not bad at all. It was a little fast, but the espresso was full bodied, not bitter, good. Worth $20 per pound? No way. But, it's acceptable. At least after being opened for a total of a minute.
In other words - it's an espresso you gotta try. Then you can keep the can for holding better espressos.
expobar Senior Member Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 3,003 Location: .
Posted Sun Dec 19, 2004, 2:08pm Subject: Re: Illy
I'm noticing that this espresso starts off with a black pour, which is totally unusual for me, since I'm used to super-fresh coffee. My dad had a sip of a double I made, tasted some berries.
if i remember correctly, they use 9 different crops exclusively from brazil, nuttiness is expectable. they roast it light, good acidity in the cup. great complexity and good aftertaste.
i'd love to have it only for espresso, though my mom loves it cappa. minus the price factor, it's good starting point of standard espresso coffee. imo, something less interesting than that isn't worth a try, something nicer it's good cup already.
expobar Senior Member Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 3,003 Location: .
Posted Sun Dec 19, 2004, 4:26pm Subject: Re: Illy
I was actually surprised it was darker than I thought it'd be. Almost vienna, but no oils showing. A very robust full city.
Also, it has some of the most dense crema I've ever seen in my life. You know those pictures of espresso on WLL that look monotone reddish orange, but really thick? That's what I'm getting.
I've gone through about 4 or 5 ounces today (lattes for the family, an americano, and about 4 doubles)
My main beef with Illy beans is the age. We all need to keep in mind that when you crack a can of these beans open, they're already 3 months out of roast. I don't care what kind of trickery you can pull with packaging, outside of cryovac-ing ala Sivetz, it's still three months old and that's that.
I have gotten decent-to-good results out of a "fresh" can. Three days or so later you will get little if any respectable crema. It's too bad you have to wait so long, I can imagine that Illy would be damn good if I could pop a can open 3 days out of roast.
I wonder if anyone that has been in Italy can give some credo to their experience with freshly roasted Illy?
trictle Senior Member Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 37 Location: Seattle Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Rancilio Rocky
Posted Tue Dec 21, 2004, 9:28am Subject: Re: Illy
I think the reason that Illy pulls black instead of that lovely light brown you get with fresh coffee is due to the lack of CO2. Because the beans are so old they are pretty well outgassed by the time you use them - especially a few days after you've opened the can.
I wonder if anyone that has been in Italy can give some credo to their experience with freshly roasted Illy?
Not on Illy but I can tell you that my former GF brought me back a one kilo bag of Lavazza when she last visited italy. She just bought what other people seemed to be buying more of than other brands in an upscale supermarket. It was in a black bag with gold letters. Can't recall the specific type of Lavazza but they were best commercial espresso beans (i.e. not from a micro-roaster) that I've ever had. Outstanding crema, great flavor profile with a subtle hint of bitterness that cut through milk nicely and a bit of a chocolatey undertone.
I've had better espresso's but it really was good and also remarkably fresh.
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