Hello:

bamaster wrote:I didn't hate it!

Hmmm ...
Why would you?
Probably more than half of Italy drinks it, espresso was born there so there's probably something to it.

I use Lavazza's locally available 'Crema e Aroma' blend and enjoy it thoroughly.

Photo courtesy of Lavazza S.p.A.
Yes, I know that it's not freshly roasted, usually dated, etc.

It is all but impossible to get green coffee to roast here in AR as coffee bean trading/selling/roasting has been in the hands of a few for ages, a cartel of sorts.

Cheers,

CIV

Hey, Carlos.

I'll try to buy some (Brazilian) specialty green coffee this year and I could send some to you - I don't know how is Argentina customs regulation about that... But, unfortunately, no promises, as the prices are crazy and the worst part - it's hard to buy the coffee first !

Probably it would be easy to find some friend going to Buenos Aires as we are flooding your *fantastic* city... That would reduce shipping costs.

Márcio.

Hello Márcio:

Carneiro wrote:... try to buy some (Brazilian) specialty green coffee this year and I could send some ...

Thanks for the offer, very kind of you.

Carneiro wrote:... how is Argentina customs regulation about that...

It's rather a complicated matter ...

Carneiro wrote:... no promises, as the prices are crazy and the worst part - it's hard to buy ...

Yes, not an easy undertaking.
I spent a forthnight in Praia do Rosa, ~80km. south of Florianópolis last March and was at odds to find even plain roasted coffee without added sugar (torrado) in Garopaba or even downtown Floria.
It's probably a Brazilian export issue.
In any case, even the available coffee was expensive when compared to what I pay for my Lavazza locally.

Carneiro wrote:... easy to find some friend going to Buenos Aires ...

Yes, there's a lot of pretty garotas in town these days. =-)

Let me know.
Best regards,

CIV

Keeping in mind that Lavazza didn't really design the packaging for use in a home, I'd simply advise planning to consume the contents quickly. The 1 Kilo bag is more for a shop that will use it all in less than 2 days, so if it doesn't perform very well (all things considered) past that point, that's not something that Lavazza would be concerned about.

I believe that another_jim recently experimented with some of the imported Italian blends and found that they produced a traditional Italian flavor profile if consumed quickly.

Ian_G wrote:I could n't find any cafes certified by the Instituto Nazionale Espresso in Cinque Terre, but in Pisa there is Bar Amadeus, Via Giusti, 6/4, which gets good reviews. Apparently it's just off the main square.

Edit: Sarzana near Cinque Terre, on the way to Pisa Sarzana Caffè Via Gramsci, 58

Ha ha, wasn't even aware that INE existed. I feel confident that there are plenty of baristas in Italy that serve fantastic coffee even they're not certified