V VESCOVIGrani D’Oro Five Stars – Premium Italian Espresso Beans – Medium Roast – Smooth & Rich Crema – 2.2 lb (1kg)

We first tried Vescovi perhaps a couple decades ago while visiting Padova. Definitely a world-class roaster.One of my three favorite coffees in Italy... and the world...This particular roast is a blend of 85% arabica to 15% robusta beans, gives a good crema and rounds out the experience whenever milk is a part of what's in your cup. Personally, the 15% addition of higher-caffeine robusta doesn't make all that much of a difference, your mileage may vary, but it does make it a lot nicer to handle in the machine and on the palate.Highly recommended. If you do your part, it will do its part.Some tips:As with the 100% arabica Vescovi, I prefer to grind it a bit finer than normal, with a low speed burr grinder, and tamp it a bit tight - and then go for a short pull at high heat and pressure. The crema is impressive!If you have trouble reaching commercial pressures and temperatures, adjust as close as your machine will take you. The fine grind will also help with that if your machine normally pulls too fast.BTW - if you fill your machine with bottled water from the Veneto to get the water mineral profile right, and close your eyes, you can just about imagine yourself there... second best is to use plain old distilled water so your local water doesn't change the flavor - tap water in Padova is very soft... :)Last but not least a tip for a better cup of coffee:Whenever you fill your grinder with any kind of espresso beans, look for the occasional light yellow bean - and toss it, it's roasted but it isn't ripe. It takes very few of those to ruin the flavor and on a commercial scale they tend to sneak through into the end product. In the case of Vescovo, those clinkers are generally very rare - maybe 1 or 2 in a kilogram - but it's always worth a look for them, regardless of whose coffee you are using at the time.

Terrible coffee absolutely zero creama I’m variably I go back to pre-ground levazza which is far superior I hate to leave a crummy review, but it is what it is

Replaced Illy with Vescovi. Simply amazing coffee, old way of roasting very good company. I am editing because you have to know that this is robusta not arabica. Robusta will give you the jitters.