I've read that there are Northern Italian and Southern Italian espresso blends, what are they and what is the taste profile for such blends? Do they include robusta beans? Would Blue Bottle 17ft ceiling blend be considered one of those?

In a nutshell: darker roast and more robusta in the south, mostly Arabica and slightly lighter roast in the north. Both for my tastes are quite dark though and end up having the nutty and chocolatey flavors but southern blends yield a thicker drink. Perhaps the southern blends also have even more roasty smokey flavors.

I'm sure there are plenty of discussions on the forum already. Here's a few:

Thoughts on an Italian Espresso Blend

Italian Espresso Blends for Beginners - What/Where to Buy?

The hunt for best Italian roasted coffee beans

^^^^ Nice link there. Wish I read Italian, tho a download and Google Translate helped in my case.

This paragraph is a good teaser for the rest of the discussion:

Quello del Nord è più chiaro, acido e florea-le; quello del Sud è più scuro, denso e tostato.Questo lo sanno tutti. Ma chi l'avrebbe dettoche tra l'Est e l'Ovest dello stivale le variazio-ni sono ancora più marcate?

Google translates to:

The northern one is lighter, acidic and floral; the southern one is darker, denser and toasty - everyone knows this. But who would have said that between the East and the West of the boot the variations are even more marked?

Also some good HB links from ojt above. I would add this thread specific to Campania / Napoli: Espresso Napoletano and Thoughts

Hm, I wish I was able to taste all those nice flavors in the classic blends around here. I've tried countless bars and the best I can have is "inoffensive". Perhaps I'm overly sensitive to bitter tastes..

Admittedly you don't want to take a train to Bologna everytime you want espresso, you might find Caffe Terzi of interest:

http://www.caffeterzi.it/en/caffe-terzi/

Maybe they'll mail order?

HTH

One should also keep in mind that the farther south you travel in Italy, the more likely you will find lever machines in the bars. So, it isn't only the coffees that are different but the equipment too. Here in Montreal we are lucky enough to have plenty of 1st wave Italian coffee bars that serve very good espresso. Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Italian Canadian immigrants hail from the south of Italy, the taste profile of most Italian coffee bars skews towards the North. The brand power of Illy and Lavazza cannot be underestimated when seeking out espresso in a metropolitan area. There are some bars that use southern style coffees like Kimbo or Fantini (Romans may get upset at being grouped with southern coffees) but they are more rare. Many of the bars use their own blend of imported Italian or locally roasted coffees to good effect, but IMO the also skew towards the northern taste profile. In my experience, southern Italians tend to add a lot of sugar to their espresso as well, that may help balance some of the bitterness that comes with the really dark roasted robusta common in those blends.

vze26m98 wrote:Admittedly you don't want to take a train to Bologna everytime you want espresso, you might find Caffe Terzi of interest:

http://www.caffeterzi.it/en/caffe-terzi/

Maybe they'll mail order?

HTH

Thanks but you misunderstand me I'm trying to help understand how a traditional italian blend would be but I myself am more for light roast. Here's a roastery more to my liking in Italy: https://bugancoffeelab.com/