Have you ever tried illycaffe’s finest coffee? This is a well known international brand of coffee with its own cachet and style, produced by illycaffe in Trieste, Italy.
I loved the can. Nice hissing sound when it opened!
Unlike other premium coffee brands, such as Starbucks or Lavazza Coffee, illy coffee only produces one coffee blend with different roast variations and grinding settings: So let’s find out a little more about this Italian coffee!
- What kind of coffee is Illy?
- Is Illy coffee any good?
- What does Illy coffee taste like?
- How long does Illy coffee last?
- Why is Illy coffee so expensive?
- Is Illy better than Lavazza?
Is Illy coffee Italian? Why only one coffee blend?
To understand the unique blend that illy produces, you have to look at the early days of the company under its founder Francesco Illy, an inveterate and talented inventor.
Illy Coffee has a long and interesting history of innovation and quality. Its founder was Francisco Illy who traveled to Trieste, as an army officer during WWI and never left, setting up shop in 1933 in the cocoa and coffee trade.
After discovering a love for good Italian coffee, he was determined to sell the best espresso coffee that he enjoyed drinking himself. It’s from this enthusiasm that Francisco soon mastered all the different facets of coffee, from buying the beans to roasting and he was always tinkering with new ways to improve espresso.
Is Illy coffee any good? From tinkering to innovating
But that wasn’t enough: soon he went on to innovate on the roasting, packaging, brewing and many other aspects of the coffee production process.
The Illetta
And it all started in 1935 when he invented the very first automatic coffee brewer, using compressed air instead of steam. The Illetta, as he called it, was the inspiration for our modern espresso machine.
Illy Espresso
Francisco devised a unique way of processing the coffee beans used to make Illy espresso. Beans are steamed for 30 minutes then rinsed for ten hours in solvents to remove any impurities. They are then steamed for another 10 hours to remove any leftover solvent. The result is a pure, clean coffee bean with all of its flavor but nothing that distracts from that flavor.
Illy is a superior espresso, not at all bitter but smooth and balanced with full body. Even when blended with equal parts milk, the flavor comes through. It comes in beans, pre-ground and in pods for individual coffee brewers. The single blend is available in three versions; normal, decaffeinated or dark roast.
Packaging
It is packaged using another of Francisco’s patented processes; the espresso is pressurized and air extracted from the cans, replaced with inert gasses, like nitrogen. This process insures that Illy stays fresher longer than any other coffee product in any type of container. Rather than a metal can with a plastic lid, Illy has a tightly fitting metal lid.
The next generations
Ernesto Illy took over the company after World War II where he continued his father’s penchant for creativity, innovation and new product development. But he went one step further: he set up a laboratory for coffee research and development as well as patenting these ideas.
The company’s most recent chairman and CEO is Ernesto’s son Andrea Illy, whose sister Anna and brother Riccardo serve on the board. So they have managed to preserve the company as a family company even through to the third generation, and stayed loyal to the grandfather’s original vision.
Surprising Developments
Perhaps as a forerunner to modern Fair Trade Coffees, Andrea stopped buying the coffee beans from the traditional commodity markets. He preferred buying different types of coffee beans exclusively from the growers, so that he could have more control over the quality of the beans and more supervision over the buyers that illy employed.
What does Illy coffee taste like? Focus, Focus, Focus
Perhaps this is the primary reason illy espresso maintains is such a good, consistent espresso. Unlike many modern coffee brands, which dilute the core brand by introducing seasonal variations, new products, new blends (multi-region or local) every five minutes, illy coffee has stayed true to its core value: great coffee beans make great coffee.
The innovation has come in different ways, though, as you will see from illy’s product range.
Which Illy coffee is best?
You will find that illy’s coffee only comes in three roasts: medium roast, dark roast, and decaffeinated (medium) roast. However, illy’s secret has been to make these roasts available in six formats so that you can make an identifiably illy cup of coffee. But I cannot tell you which illy coffee is the best? Only you can decide:
illy whole bean coffee
With the whole beans, you are free to grind the beans as you wish. Naturally, these offer the most choices as you can grind some for one coffee makers, and some for another coffee machine to suit your own personal taste.
If grinding is too much work, or you only make coffee using only one type of machine, you can select from…
illy ground espresso coffee
This is specially selected and ground for the best extraction in suitable espresso makers. With its fine grind, you won’t be able to use it elsewhere as effectively.
illy ground drip coffee
In respect to the most popular way to make coffee in the US, illy makes a coarser grind suitable for the drip coffee maker so that coffee lovers can still experience illy coffee’s full richness.
illy moka coffee
This blend is for the most popular Italian method of coffee making, the stovetop espresso maker or moka maker. Unlike the others, you can only buy this in medium roast.
iperEspresso Capsules and ESE Pods
These capsules are available with the traditional blends for modern espresso/coffee makers that utilize coffee pods or coffee capsules. Each pod or capsule is an individual serving and makes for a quicker and optimized coffee espresso.
Availability, Pricing, and Purchasing
For more details on illy coffee availability and pricing, you should check out this online store. You may find it a little more expensive than some of your other coffee brands, but don’t let that stop you from trying illy coffee. It’s already on my shopping list.
Spelling note: When used as the family name I have tried to use ‘Illy’, but when referring only to the brand you will note that ‘illy’ is used. And after you try it, don’t blame me if you don’t buy any other coffee brands ever again!
What are the best coffee brands, find out here!
