I'd like to try one of the Lavazza whole bean coffees from my grocery store, they have these:

-Crema E Aroma
-Qualita Rossa
-Qualita Oro

I prefer a light roast followed by medium roast, and can't stand any dark roast, they all taste like brewing cigarette ash in hot water to me.

Which of these three is closest to a light or medium roast? I squeezed the bags at the store to force air out through the freshness valve to smell them and I really like the smell of the Crema E Aroma.

BTW why do some of these supposedly top quality coffees use 60% or more robusta beans? Is this common for espresso blends?

Thanks

Imported coffees typically enjoy a leisurely boat ride across the ocean, a second stopover in a warehouse, a truck ride to a distribution center, a truck ride to your supermarket, then another wait on the shelf. We can optimistically assume such imported coffees will take a month to arrive to your kitchen. Why not buy fresh coffee from one of the many top-end roasters at your fingertips via the Internet instead?

So I'll get better quality from local brands that cost less?

A local brand at the grocery store does sell light roast whole beans that make the best coffee I ever had.

Most supermarket coffee is stale and low quality. I certainly wouldn't recommend it for trying to make good espresso, or any other type of coffee for that matter.

I think Dan was referring to the coffees you can buy from one of the artisan roasters listed on this site. Check out this link for specific roasters that members here recommend.

List of our favorite Roasters

We're not talking about buying beans from the grocery store. You want fresh coffee. There are a number of very high-quality independent roasters to choose from in Canada. See List of our favorite Roasters for some suggestions. I can personally recommend Social Coffee Company, who will ship your coffee order for free.

Where in Canada are you located?

aab1 wrote:I'd like to try one of the Lavazza whole bean coffees from my grocery store . . .

Good Lord, why???

John, as others have said, check out this list -- scroll down to the Canadian roasters -- and see what great, FRESH beans will do . . .

Thanks for the responses, I'll order from a place on that list, some seem like I'll really like.

BTW do beans need any special properties for use in a super automatic machine other than not being oily? Am I right that it's dark roasts that are oily? If so I'm in luck as I prefer light roasts.

Are light/medium roasts ok for a super auto?

Thanks

aab1 wrote:BTW why do some of these supposedly top quality coffees use 60% or more robusta beans? Is this common for espresso blends?

Lavazza is not a 'top quality coffee'. It's one of the many Italian coffees you'll find in a supermarket, with Illy, Segafredo, Kimbo, Mokambo sometimes, etc.

However, I would like to defend Robusta here. A blend with quite some Robusta in it can be very, very good - although I think some on this forum will disagree. Recently I've had blend with 1/3 Robusta (from a local roaster in Vienne, France, no less**) that was truly excellent: balanced, well structured, a nice hint of dark fruit (but not too much), just the right amount of bitterness, etc. etc. A take on espresso that was very French. I guess it depends on your (or my) definition of 'top quality'.

(**) I wish I could tell more about the blend. I asked what they had, but the girl behind the counter just pointed to a pancarte on which was written: mélange maison, mélange Italien, mélange 1/3 robusta, etc.

I ended up getting the Lavazza Crema E Aroma because I found it at costco for $13 instead of $22 for 1 kg and I could tell from the smell out of the freshness valve that it's a coffee I'd like. I did try it in my regular non espresso single serve machine and it's one of the best coffees I had even though it's not locally roasted.

I have a super automatic espresso machine that should be delivered any day now which I got clogged for 10% the regular price which I should be able to unclog and try the new coffee as an espresso.