Caffe Borbone Whole Bean Coffee, Medium Roast Arabica and Robusta Blend, Crema Superiore, Rich and Smooth Italian Coffee, 2.2 lb Bag

Rich and creamy
I love coffee and decided awhile ago I wanted to explore other options aside from Starbucks. When I got this as soon as I tool it out of the packaging the aroma was so strong and smelled so sweet through the bag. It was sealed up nicely too. The roast is perfect just the right balance for a smooth yet strong cup of coffee. The price for a 2lb bag is great too! Will purchase again love the taste.

Similar to Lavazza
First, I’ve been pulling espresso shots and making lattes and cappuccinos in my La Pavoni Europiccola lever machines for around 23 years. I use a Baratza Vario, or a Rancillio Rocky burr grinder. I’ve tried a LOT of coffee produced in these excellent machines.There are many types of coffee available and produced here in Austin, Tx, and I generally go local. These include Cuvee, Ruta Maya, FARA, and others – these are all 100% arabica. BUT I like a change from time-to-time. I consider Ily Classico roast to be the best roast for my taste, but I will not pay the outrageous price for an 8oz can of Ily, nor for the vastly inferior and over hyped Cuvee. Let’s not bring Charbucks into this. So I constantly search for others.That being said Caffè Borbone Crema Superiore falls into line with most other mid-grade Italian coffees sold in bulk. It is a blend of arabica and robusta, and a pretty good one – I would compare it favorably to Lavazza Crema E Aroma – very similar but slightly more complex with just a tiny hint of berries as one would find in single origin yirgacheffe. It’s also a very forgiving blend on an over-pull or too fine a grind – does not get overly bitter.This is one of the better Arabica/Robusta blends I have tried, and It is well worth the money if you want a decent espresso and a reasonable price. Do not think you will get the same richness or depth of flavor as in the higher end Arabica coffees – you won’t, but it is still very good and a lot better than many 100% arabicas I have tried.FARA and Ruta Maya are still the best buys around – roughy the same price as Cafe Borbone and 100% arabica. But Caffè Borbone Crema Superiore is a good coffee and a good value if you are looking a change.

so gross
I don’t expect cheapo coffee beans to taste like kopi luwak or something, but I do expect them to taste like coffee. These taste like a drunk geneticist created a hybrid of a coffee plant, a corpse flower and half-digested algae and tried to pass it off as beans. This is not a high bar for me, either – I’m in recovery and am therefore happy to drink whatever barely-liquid oilslick of dubious provenance is slung at me in crumbling styrofoam from a percolator older than my dad, but this stuff violates even my junkie tastebuds. Dry, bitter and disgusting. Don’t waste your money or time.

I have mixed feelings
Ok, so a little background. I have a high end prosumer espresso machine at home and drink mostly espressos and cappuccinos. I am very well versed in the coffee, beans, roasting as I have been drinking these for over a decade.Granted there are small roasters all over to buy beans and I have been that route before, I do like the convenience of Amazon.This being said, we all know taste is subjective, but I really do enjoy these beans which I have purchased many times over the past couple of years. So I am not going to expend on the taste. What I am going to focus on is my main gripe with this company/supplier.As we all know, making a good espresso require the proper equipment as well as FRESH BEANS. Beans that have been roasted recently so we don’t use stale and/or dry beans. This brings me to my point. The more I order these coffee beans, I noticed that the roasting date is getting older and older. I just received a bag two days ago (10/25/2024) and the roasting date is 12/2023 (they don’t mentioned the exact date). That is 10 months old! Granted the “best before” date is 12/2025, but as we all know the roasting date is what is important, not the “best before” date. These would never be sold in Italy with dates such as these. So I can only assume that it is a supply chain issue.This is a shame because my original experience with these beans was amazing but it seems to go down hill. I can only warn the supplier/manufacturer that selling beans roasted that long ago will actually do them a disservice and could very well turn potential long term customers away from a great product.I am going to mentioned any names here, but I have tried many different beans over the years, small batch roasters to multiple brand names and this coffee has been always very good but this issue at least for me is becoming a problem to consistently pull a perfect espresso.I hope this review will help at least one person, but most importantly raise awareness of the problem with the manufacturer/supplier.Thank you for reading

Super café bon grain, crema parfait !

Great deal , made in italy, not too strong or bitter,thanks