Italian Roast Espresso

The wife and I love coffee. We're not coffee aficionados that pick apart this and that about beans and roasting, we leave that to the pros. But we do appreciate a good cup of joe on a daily basis. This coffee delivers. Given how much coffee we drink, I'm curious to see how long this 5lb bag will last us. I'll update this review when I'm down to a pound, that means it's re-order time. This has become our daily drinker and has replaced the Starbucks Espresso Roast that we've been buying for $10/lb the last couple years. It makes a nice, dark smooth coffee each and every time. Almost sweet and not very acidic. For my 16oz traveler, I fill it up, put half a tsp of Coffeemate creamer and half a tsp of sugar and I'm good to go. Aromatic, and nice and bold, just sweet enough to enjoy for my first hour of the day. Keep in mind, we do not own an espresso maker, this stuff goes in our grind and brew coffee maker each and every day...twice a day. I'm not a big espresso drinker, not because I don't like it, but because I don't own a machine and don't really have the time to make shots most days. This coffee seems like it would do the trick in that dept as well, but I wouldn't know. I do know that this coffee makes a great daily drip that is not too in your face but gives you exactly what you're looking for. We will be purchasing again when the time comes, and as always, excellent job Amazon, for quick delivery. EDIT 1/24/11 I meant to update when I re-ordered coffee but forgot. This 5lb bag lasted us from 10/30/10 through 1/17/11, sometimes brewed twice, most times brewed once daily. I got wonderful news from my doc that I needed to cut my daily caffeine intake, so I'm down to brewing in the morning, which means this next batch of coffee might last a little longer...let's see how fresh it stays. All-in-all, this was a very good coffee. So good that we'll continue to purchase this brand and blend from now on. EDIT #2 5/10/11 Upgrade to 5-stars. I re-ordered another 5lb bag at the end of April 2011. The previous bag didn't last nearly as long as my first order. I tihnk it has something to do with the fact that we (wife and I) purchased an expresso maker. It's not a fancy one, but the mypressi TWIST Handheld Espresso Maker makes pretty good espresso and these beans realy do make a decent shot. I don't have a burr grinder, but bought this Mr. Coffee electric grinder to prepare grinds for the espresso shots. Even after being ground with an electric grinder (purists will not agree), these beans do make a good shot with even better crema. Now I can honestly say these beans do not disappoint one bit - for both daily drip coffee and single shot espresso, these beans are superb.

July 25, 2024 update: I m on my 9th 5 lb bag in 4+ years. I only drink espresso. I do not like weak coffee. I have tasted espresso from innumerable coffee houses around the country and occasionally find a good roast, but most often find what I buy is bitter. I am very particular about what I make at home and have bought many different roasts on line. This is truly superior. It is smooth, full bodied, dark roast without a hint of bitterness. I use a Cuisinart burr grinder and a DeLonghi espresso maker, and it is simply better than anything else I have found, either in coffee houses or on line. Original post: I bought this a couple months ago. The price was excellent. I was surprised at how good the espresso is. I have a quad shot every morning. I have to make sure the expresso machine does not make more than about 2 oz per sump bowl. Anything more, the espresso is too bland. Making 2 oz at a time yields excellent, smooth espresso. I was concerned about buying 5 pounds at a time. I re-package it in about 12 oz bags, vacuum pack it with my food saver, and freeze it. Vacuum packing it prevents moisture crystals around the frozen coffee beans. I plan to buy it again, once I run out of this batch.

I have tried many different Espresso roasts at both retail establishments and mail order venues and nobody does it better than Coffee Bean Direct. They do Italian Espresso right! High value for money.

I didn't see any information on dosing in reading the reviews. I know it is a subjective topic. First off, my equipment...Gaggia Classic with Auber PID and Mazzer Mini Grinder. Set Value of pid is 217 as well as static pressure set at 10 bars. I used a thermocouple to measure temp at portafilter and i am getting reads from 202 to 190 during my shot pull, which is expected on a Gaggia classic. I am no pro, but have a pretty good idea on what i am doing. I have tried many many different doses, grinds etc for this Italian Roast Expresso. I will say that for my liking, i use 17 grams of expresso to produce about 32 grams of expresso in 30 seconds. 16 grams seems to work almost as well and get between 32 and 27 grams. Below or above that amount(16 to 17) and it is to bitter or sour. 18grams was horrible for straight expresso(not latte). Of course if I use 16 grams i need set my grinder 1 notch finer. I use the "slapshot method using a yogurt cup, seems to be the most consistant. I am now at 4.5 weeks since my purchase and I really haven't noticed much degregation of flavor. It probably will not keep much longer unless i used a vacuum sealer to begin with. I keep the bag sealed with a clip in the closet, not refrigerator or freezer. My wife uses this roast in the keurig and seems to like it ok...she is not very picky, like me and she uses a Capresso Infinity (conical) grider. I did buy some locally roasted expresso and honestly didn't like it as much as this and that was $14.00 for 1lb. For the price you can't beat this deal, approx $6 a pound. Even Starbucks is $9 for 12 oz and this coffee blows that way, not that it would be a surprise to anyone. Starbucks coffee is over roasted and to oily. This expresso does make good crema and tastes great in lattes. I don't drink express straight(any brand), just 2 strong for me. Hope this helps.

I had this coffee for a few weeks. I wanted to wait until I finished my gourmet coffee that cost me $14.00 for 12 oz. The coffee that I am talking about is Clive Coffee's Love Joy. Love Joy provides that Chocolate flavor that I have been searching for. I have tried all the Big names like Lavazza and Illy etc. All with great disappointment. I have found the Illy to have a much better flavor than the Lavazza. These are not the only brands I have tried. I just don't feel like listing all of them. What they all have in common is that they are over rated and not worth the money. I do not mind spending top dollar for great coffee but if it is going to be mediocre then what is the point? I may as well buy coffee in the Super Market. The Love Joy by far is the Best For Me. The problem is that it is hit or miss. I own the IZZO Duetto 3 and the Electronic Mini grinder. My Machines are pretty much top of the line. So I do not get the fact that the flavor is not consistent. I have been doing this for a while. I know someone will comment that maybe it is my Tamping. That is not it. I have used over 12 bags of the Love Joy and in between waiting for my order to arrive I have used other brands. The first few bags gave me that Choco taste and then hit or miss. This last order of six has not really been that great. This is a Review Of Coffee Bean Direct Italian Roast, Not Love Joy. I am just trying to lead into why I am giving the Coffee Bean Direct Five Stars. When I opened the Bag of Coffee Bean Direct the first thing I noticed was a fairly dark roast that had that Oily coating. So it looked great. I have switched from Dark to medium roast over the last year, but reading reviews about this coffee I expected it to be a dark roast. I decided to order it anyway. What do I have to lose? I am looking for my dream coffee and I will try anything. This Coffee is not my Dream Coffee but it is every bit as good, if not better than all the other coffee brands. There is no way I will get that Chocolate taste from this. I know that and the reason is because it is a Dark roast. I had no great expectations about this coffee too be honest. I basically would not have been disappointed either way. I spent time writing this Long review because maybe someone out there is like me? Trying to find the right combination. I will purchase the Love Joy again in the hopes that it will be consistent for my taste buds. Mean while I am going to stick with the Coffee Bean Direct Italian Roast. It does not have that severe Bitterness of the Lavazza and the coffee looked fresh and the taste wasn't bad. I am giving this Five Stars because of the Cost Factor. It was fresh in appearance and the flavor was pretty good. I would suggest if you have a Food Saver to seal up one pound portions as soon as you open this bag. This is Five Pounds of coffee and unless you are going to use it all in a few days? You may want to protect your investment.

TLDR: Very good! 5lb Italian Roast whole beans. Comparing to my go to Starbucks Espresso whole beans. On par but different. Same initial fullness but smoother finish. "Lighter" after taste than SB. Required courser setting on Brevel Barista Express (5 worked for me). Caffeine content very good! Very happy with purchase and first few pulls. Would recommend and will buy again. _________ I had been using Starbucks Espresso roast whole beans for the last 6+ months. I love the deep, dark flavors in SB Espresso but I was ready to try something new. In flavor but also in value. After some searching I landed here on the Italian Roast from Coffee Bean Direct. In all transparency it took probably 5-7 pulls to get this right. The setting for the SB beans I locked in on my Brevel Barista Express Espresso machine was far too fine and maxed the pressure gauge instantly. I believe it was on 3. For this bean I have personally found 5 works well on the grinder. I am sure that can vary but for me and with the pressure I apply when tamping, my pressure gauge settles about 2/3 into the desired grey area during pull. I use the auto 2 shot setting in the 2 shot single wall filter basket using the tamper that came with the machine. I also use the "razor" tool to level off the grounds before tamping a final time. I have the machine set to brew at max temp. The caffeine: The caffeine content is always very important to me so I will start there. It's good. On par with Starbucks Espresso whole beans. At least the 5lb bag I got this first time. My tolerance is pretty high, I consume typically 6-8 shots a day. This still gives me a nice smooth and noticeable caffeine boost. I am very happy. The flavor: Smooth & full. I like this just as much as I love SB Espresso beans. It's on par but it also has it's own personality. SB to me has a smooth initial flavor then a dark and caramelized, sometimes almost burned, after taste. This Italian Roast has, to me, a very pleasant initial flavor. It's strong on it's own. It's lighter than SB, not weaker, but lighter. Still full and strong but I think it has a much lighter aftertaste. One sip flows into the next. I will leave it here. This is my initial impression. This Italian Roast meets all my needs as a daily coffee drinker.

After reading all the reviews I bought the 5# bag with free shipping. It took over a week to get my order. I did so much want to like this coffee. My impressions are that it pulled a nice looking shot with a rich crema and good body. To me the coffee looks and tastes over-roasted. There is no discernable after taste lingering on the palate the way a good espresso does. I am only on day 2 of this bean. I froze most of it in tightly sealed mason jars and vacuum bags. The coffee has no fresh aroma and I am wondering if I received a fresh shipment. If not, their loss. I expected better than this, even considering the low cost. I hope it makes a decent drip coffee. If I change my mind about this bean I will add commentary, but until then I am left wondering about the 4 and 5 star reviewers.

I've been brewing and drinking espresso for well over twenty years. I've owned lots of machines but found that I am happiest with the Gaggia Classic. Presently I pull 2 or 3 doubles day for myself and the occasional guest. Finding the right espresso has been like the search for the Holy Grail. So many promises, so many false trails. I've tried some highly recommended beans (which, of course, I fresh grind just before pulling the cup) that have cost $20 a lb. I've tried imported beans. Domestic beans. Beans from chain coffee houses. Beans from exclusive one-of shops. I've found several that I like (price, it seems, has had little connection to satisfaction), and more than a few disappointments. I'd seen these Coffee Bean Direct Italian Roast Espresso more tha a few times and each time said "Nah! Can't be good for that money." Boy, was I wrong. Okay, so after so many disappointments with big-bucks for little bags I figured what the heck, people speak well of this stuff, it is worth a try. And then I waited, wondering what to expect, for the Prime two-day free delivery. Got the coffee an hour ago and decided to try it right away. First thing I did was clean the grinder. I wanted this to be a fair trial with no stale x, y, or z brand beans mixed in. All the while the Gaggia Classic was heating. I set the grind for the same setting I used with Starbucks beans because the oiliness and color of these was similar. The first pull suggests that the ideal for these beans be a bit finer, but still, even with a 22 second pull (I aim for 30)... wow! This was one good cup! So good that I was tempted to reset the grinder and pull a second. But that'd make 3 doubles today -- more coffee than I really like to drink -- so that'll wait for tomorrow. BTW, there was a giveaway that this would be good espresso... the scent. It wafted out of the bag as soon as I opened it and when I re-entered the room 10 minutes later it was still enticingly hanging in the air. Rich and delicious. Inviting. Espresso flavor is a personal thing. I might love this, you might love it less. (Who knows, maybe you won't even like it?) But if you, like me, are continuing to search for that near perfect espresso bean, and would prefer it not cost you $20 a lb, by all means give these beans a try.