Chert wrote:No doubt. I scratch my head about what large groups of people seem to like. (The corolary: and have to accept that some people just don't like kombucha. ) Even, why ever choose a daily driver anyway?

Why a daily driver? Two lazy reasons really. I like routine and it's 2kg of coffee. Lol

When I find a blend I like, I find it hard to buy something different because I'll crave it. I don't chase new coffees with the same voracity as I did when I started.

Spitz.me wrote:I really wanted these MUCH cheaper Italian coffees, like the Kimbo Superior to be my daily driver, but there's something about even the best of these coffees that comes out in the shot that just doesn't sit well with me. It must be the quality/staleness of the beans. There's something that tastes off to me that I can't get rid of unless it's in milk. I attributed this particular taste to the staleness of the beans because I've had Italian-style fresh roasted beans and that taste isn't there. It's not the robusta either, this taste is there whether robusta is in the blend or not. If anything, it's even worse in a blend that contains Robusta.

I guess if I had a question, it would be, "has anyone been able to pull the shots in a way that this stale flavour is faint or gone?" I've tried up-dosing and down-dosing to 14g in an old-skool basket. I've tried changing grinders and temps. The shot changes, yes, but that stale flavour seems to be apparent at all times.

I only make milk drinks, but yeah I understand what you mean by staleness. to me with time the taste becomes more and more acidic and les and less chocolatey. the last time I had kimbo superior, i was dissapointed and didnt like it. basically, I dont recommend anything on my list besides my top 4, anything under the top 4 is far from perfect. the danesi gold is special, the oro premium as well. the lavazza top class is also a bit better then the kimbo superior. id be very curious about your thoughts of the danesi gold. I may also be totally out to lunch lol
the last time I had 49th paralell old school, the first week the coffee blew me away, but it seems even when properly stored, those coffee eventually become very stale.

To get rid of the stale flavor you need to get these beans much fresher. A few weeks or month past roast date. I drink Musetti straight all the time without any stale flavor because I buy it from a retailer that constantly restocks, and I can see the best before date (18 months henceforth). If these are frozen after opening they stay good for a long time, even for straight shots.

Other brands I can get from retailers also work fine . but when I order by mail it can be hit and miss, depending on what the distributor sends, It is easy to tell by the stale flavor without even looking at the roast date. There is really no way of dialing in a stale batch and I usually compost it and go back to Musetti off the shelf.

If you order by mail, tell the seller you want the latest possible roast date or the longest best before date.

I've been here in Italy for almost a month so far and Kimbo is ubiquitous over here. There is a huge lit up Kimbo logo over one of the office buildings in Genova just north of the Porto Antico.

It is also the official coffee of the Autogrill, so just about 1 out of every three highway rest stop / gas stations in the country will be serving Kimbo. The blend they are using is labelled "specially for Autogrill" but I'm fairly certain that its actually Superior or something very similar. "The shot quality obviously varies by the barista, and I've gotten everything from "carelessly prepared slightly overextracted lungo" to "rich nutty shot with milk chocolate aftertaste", the latter pulled by a barista at an autogrill nonetheless who asked me how it tasted and was happy to get some feedback as he had been working to dial it in earlier. I don't take sugar, but I kept some of the sugar packets because they have little tidbits of "information" on them.*


In the Fiumara shopping center there is a coffee shop not only sporting Kimbo but also a 4 group La San Marco lever machine. You don't often see lever machines this far north in Italy, so I took the opportunity to snap a picture.


I also tried Caffè Motta for the first time, i found a kilo bag of the Classico blend at the grocery store for 12 euro. For 2 weeks the coffee shop across the street was only open in the afternoons, so I wound up pulling my morning shots with the Espresso Forge using Motta. It was pretty good and I'm looking forward to giving it another shot on some of my other equipment when I get back to the States.

*Left to right, top down:

• The roasting of the coffee beans is the most complex phase of production: here the coffee acquires all of its aroma.
• There are two principle varieties of coffee: arabica with a more intense and sweet aroma, and robusta with a more spiced and bitter aroma.
• All of our blends are roasted in Naples, where coffee is a ritual, custom, and passion.
• We select our coffee in more than 20 countries within the tropical belt of the earth.
• Every year around 42 billion coffee beans are produced world-wide. Every day our experts work hard to select the best of them.

I'd be all over that frape!

Heh, I've almost gone for it a couple times, curiosity is going to get the better of me soon.

dominico wrote:I've been here in Italy for almost a month so far and Kimbo is ubiquitous over here. There is a huge lit up Kimbo logo over one of the office buildings in Genova just north of the Porto Antico.

It is also the official coffee of the Autogrill, so just about 1 out of every three highway rest stop / gas stations in the country will be serving Kimbo. The blend they are using is labelled "specially for Autogrill" but I'm fairly certain that its actually Superior or something very similar. "The shot quality obviously varies by the barista, and I've gotten everything from "carelessly prepared slightly overextracted lungo" to "rich nutty shot with milk chocolate aftertaste", the latter pulled by a barista at an autogrill nonetheless who asked me how it tasted and was happy to get some feedback as he had been working to dial it in earlier. I don't take sugar, but I kept some of the sugar packets because they have little tidbits of "information" on them.*
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Great stuff! Thanks for posting the pix. I had no idea Kimbo was so ubiquitous.

Caffe motta back in da house!

This is by far the best value for money in italian coffee. could honestly sell for 25$ to 30$ but they are 15$ cad for 5lbs bags.

more time with the caffe motta. not really good compared to what im used to. its chocolatey/carameley but also burnt tasting, almost tabacco like.
i wouldnt recommend it anymore unless your on serious budget