Can you recommend some Italian roast coffees?

October 10, 2021 11:19 AM

My favorite coffee by a LOT is this Italian Roast from stupid Amazon/Whole Foods. I would like to give less of my money to those goblins. What coffee should I get? Needs to be preground (non-negotiable). Even better if it’s from a Chicago-based company, but any non-mega-corp will do!
posted by Charity Garfein to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

I'm not familiar with Chicago's coffee scene (besides Intelligentsia, and actually, their Black Cat might be worth trying, but they're definitely big-corp-owned these days), but as a general tip: Look for coffee shops that have been around since before the late 1990s, ideally with Italian names. Some of them are going to carry Lavazza or Illy--both of which you'll probably like but they're both large Italian companies and not little local roasters--but some will roast their own and grind it for you.

If you order from a smaller roaster elsewhere online, most places usually include an option for them to grind it for you. The first place that came to mind when I read your question was Espresso Vivace in Seattle, but I can't tell from their shop if they will grind for you.

Teodoro's Italian Roast from Nossa Familia in Portland is also a great choice, and they do offer pre-ground options.

These are all going to cost more than Whole Foodzmazon, and the local roasters will be more expensive than Illy or Lavazza, but that is the tradeoff sometimes.

If you're looking for something you can get at a grocery store, you may be limited to Illy or Lavazza, unless there are smaller fancy-foods groceries near you that also carry coffee from those local Italian roasters.
posted by rhiannonstone at 12:54 PM on October 10, 2021

Google turns up this shop in Chicago. They could presumably guide you.
posted by hoyland at 2:44 PM on October 10, 2021

Response by poster: (I know about plenty of coffee places in general, I'm looking for specific "that flavor is like _____ flavor from ____ place.")
posted by Charity Garfein at 5:12 PM on October 10, 2021

I haven't tried the Italian Roast from whole foods, but my favorite Italian style coffee is the Mr. Espresso Neapolitan Espresso. I prepare it with either a drip cone or french press and it tastes just great.
posted by 12%juicepulp at 8:07 PM on October 10, 2021

Best answer: Italian roast coffee is typically roasted very very dark. Not to get into a whole thing about coffee (people like what they like!) but at that roast level you're really mostly tasting roast flavor, not bean nuance. So I would encourage you to seek out other Italian roast coffee (often also just called "french roast" although I think Italian roast is usually darker). Because this isn't the type of coffee that's trendy at "third wave" coffee shops right now, you're not likely to find it at your local fancy coffee shop, although asking around for their darkest roast may get you somewhere.

Personally I would try Trader Joes or somewhere like Mariano's in Chicago.
posted by rossination at 2:54 AM on October 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Illy & Kimbo are mentioned in reviews of the 365 Buona Giornata coffee. Italian ground coffee at Supermarket Italy.
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:39 PM on October 11, 2021