Too expensive for pikeys meaning that it is never sold out
Disadvantages:
Metallic flavour if left in the fridge for too long . . .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
After a long day translating and quaffing gallons of coffee – well about four jugs full, so that I am still buzzing after a fourteen hour working day, I thought I might take a quick look at ciao and see what there was to bore people to death with here… Lavazza coffee, which is my tipple when working in the National Bank, was my chosen victim. I had until recently been a frequent quaffer of Illy coffee although from working in the bank I’ve shown how fickle I am about coffee!
Whilst Lavazza make a range of products, I tend to stick to their Espresso coffee, which I have taken to for a change from Illy. The coffee is made of 100% Arabica beans, and comes in a black container. From the container I would have to say that the Illy containers still have one over the Lavazza containers, since Lavazza uses a metal jar with a plastic lid on its Espresso, whereas Illy has a screw top metal lid with plastic inside. I tend to find that this keeps the coffee fresher than Lavazza. Alternatively you can buy Lavazza in vacuum packed packs – either 250g or 500g sizes, although you do require some storage receptacle for the coffee once it is opened…
The only problem I find with Lavazza (or Illy for that matter) is that by storing the coffee in the fridge – which also keeps the coffee fresh – is that there can sometimes be a slightly metallic case if the coffee is left in the fridge for too long – although with me that rarely seems to be a problem!
The crema (i.e. the “head”) is thick with Lavazza, as per Illy, although in both instances that is also due to the preparation of the Espresso – with the Bank’s espresso machines capable of replicating this fine crema, even when canteen coffee is traditionally nothing to write home about. In my espresso machine at home, the results are nearly comparable although not quite perfect in this respect. The taste is rich yet smooth, and typical of Arabica beans, although as with any espresso coffee a lot of the taste is lost if you are not careful in the making of the espresso, and is dependent on the freshness of the ground coffee.
Pricewise it works out pretty similar to Illy coffee, with a jar of Lavazza costing around EUR 5.99-6.29 for 250g, whilst Illy tends to cost EUR 6.29-6.69 for the same amount. The larger packs are harder to find, and I have not seen a price for the vacuum packed version recently in Austria, so maybe the vacuum packed variant is more common in Britain. The price tag will doubtless put off the scummers and pikey brigade out there in Ciaoland...
All in all, I’d recommend Lavazza as an espresso coffee, with it or Illy being the best I’ve come across – although if you do buy some don’t leave it in the fridge too long in the metal tin, as otherwise you might be put off by the metallic taste it gains.
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