Thin crema which dissolves pretty quick from a light roast Lavazza

[eyalholland]

Hi,

I'm using the Lavazza Super Crema coffee which you can see here:
http://www.wholelattelove.com/Lavazza/lava_super.cfm

They are saying "A superior coffee with a thick, rich crema." while so far I have only got a very thin layer of crema which after a short while (1 minute) start to break at the outer edges of the cup.

The roast is quite light - I'm using an ECM Giotto premium and a mazzer mini.

Any ideas? what should I do to increase the crema?

[Beezer]

Switch to a different coffee. Seriously. Lavazza is prepackaged and shipped from Italy, which means it's probably months past its roast date when it gets to the store, and no telling how long after that before you try to brew it. Stale coffee won't generate much crema. You need beans that are within two weeks of roast date to have any chance of getting real crema. Try one of the sponsors for this site, like Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Counter Culture, or Coffee Klatch. Then you'll see some real crema, plus the flavor will be much improved.

[HB]

They are saying "A superior coffee with a thick, rich crema." while so far I have only got a very thin layer of crema which after a short while (1 minute) start to break at the outer edges of the cup.

What you describe is another classic symptom of stale coffee. But we already covered this in Dosing and leveling ... I'm probably doing something wrong, didn't we?

I am using fresh Lavazza Top Class beans.

If these are imported from Italy, they've spent time in a warehouse in Italy, an oceanic crossing, passed though US port customs, and then been warehoused a second time before a journey by truck to your supermarket. One can optimistically guess that your coffee was roasted six to eight weeks before it arrived in your kitchen, which hardly counts as fresh coffee.

Living in Amsterdam, I suppose the shipment times could be better, but for me, it makes more sense to source some locally roasted coffee and eliminate the #1 cause of poor espresso.

As an aside, I don't get why so many people get hung up on "thick, rich crema." First of all, pulling espressos with gobs of crema with genuinely fresh coffee is laughably easy. Secondly, in my opinion, the coffee's flavor is what makes the espresso interesting. Finally, why would you wait 1 minute to drink a mere two ounce espresso?

[quoad]

Beans, beans, beans!

I'm sure there're a few decent, googleable roasters in Holland (and / or in Amsterdam), but if you can't find a roaster in Holland then I'd heartily recommend trying Steve at http://www.hasbean.co.uk

Roasted on the day they're sent out, and in a fundamentally different league to roast-several-months-ago-and-warehoused Lavazza

G'luck! Discovering fresh beans is - in my humble - a fantastic journey, and a darned enjoyable step forward

e2a: also, given you're in Europe http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/ have a very good reputation, and're apparently geared to international sales... The HB site sponsors are US-based (no?) and I've - traditionally - had problems with payment on US sites (no credit card, they won't accept my debit card). Those two EU sites may be worth investigating. Again - IF you can't find a local roaster who meets your needs

[eyalholland]

Thanks all for the replies.

I'll go to one of the local roasters and see how it goes.

For some reason - I was inclined to stick to brand names like Illy Lavazza etc...

I guess - that'll have to change...