Where to buy ground espresso coffe for bar machines?

courghan

Hello everybody,

does any of you know where could I buy espresso coffee, ground for bar coffee makers (I have a "La Pavoni" pump espresso machine).

thanks

Marco

netman

I buy Illy coffee in Superquinn, for my Gaggia Classic espresso machine.

courghan

I am not mad about Illy, it is good but there many other italian coffees which are nicer and much much cheaper. I am Italian, I bring a few packets every time I go back home but I would like to find something good here.
Best coffees are vergnano, mauro, saicaf, zicaffe' but it seems impossible to get them here if not in beans...

Santa Claus

Try Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer St, failing that ask in your local italian restaurant if you can buy a few packets, thats how I get mine !

Blub2k4

Michael Kelly, Ariosa Coffee in Temple Bar has some lovely coffees, give him a try on saturday.

netman

courghan wrote:

I am not mad about Illy, it is good but there many other italian coffees which are nicer and much much cheaper. I am Italian, I bring a few packets every time I go back home but I would like to find something good here.
Best coffees are vergnano, mauro, saicaf, zicaffe' but it seems impossible to get them here if not in beans...

Well, I'll have to admit I've never even heard of any of those, so I would guess they're pretty hard to find around here

Illy is the best I've tried. Dunnes Stores sell Lavazza which isn't great, and Aldi/Lidl (can't remember which) have their own ground espresso coffee which is a joke - very poor consistency and too coarse to get any decent coffee out of.

There's also a chain of coffee shops around the city centre called Il Cafe Di Napoli which sell Tico coffee. I tried it and it's also cheap muck, but you can get beans and grind your own - you might get better results.

The internet, or a network of friends, might prove to be your best ally in getting your favourite coffee from Italy. If you do manage to find any of those that you're talking about please let us know where, I'd love to give them a try.

rockbeer

Bewleys on Grafton Street do a range of freshly-roasted blends and will grind it as fine as you want. I really like their espresso blend, and it's fair trade. They have a high turnover and roast on site in front of your eyes, so the coffee is always really fresh. At places like Fallon and Byrne the coffee could have been roasted and ground weeks ago. Not sure about Ariosa as I never get to Dublin on a Saturday, but I've only ever heard good things about their coffee.

Given a good blend properly roasted, buying vacuum-packed pre-ground coffee is never going to be as good as getting a fresh roast. Ideally you should try to get a grinder and grind your own as you need it, as the beans go stale really quickly as soon as they're ground. You probably wouldn't notice this so much in a cafetiere or mocha pot, but with espresso you can really tell the difference - the taste starts to deteriorate within half an hour. If buying a grinder isn't an option, getting someone like Bewleys or Ariosa to grind a fresh roast for you and buying little and often is IMHO the next best thing.

Buying online might also be worth considering. Try
http://www.ristrettocoffee.com/shop/Scripts/default.asp
I really like their espresso blend, and you can specify the grind you want when you order on the web site.

If you're set on getting Italian coffees, you can get Palombini at the Italian stand in the Epicurean food hall on Abbey Street. There's a nice Italian deli in the so-called "Italian Quarter" just down the road from there. No idea what coffees they sell, but I'd be surprised if they didn't have some sort of selection.

I sell espressos at Athy Farmers market. People always love our coffee, and I'm convinced it's mainly because of the freshness of the roast and grind.

courghan

Cool Rockbeer!!! I like Palombini Gold and I use to buy that fir my Moka...I will give it a go hoping that it is ground to the right point. The Lavazza black you can buy here is crap, it is very inconsistent and too coarse, the pressure never goes above 3-4 bars regardless of how much coffee you manage to press into the filter. The coffees I mentioned before give you a perfect 12 bars even with a minimal amount of coffee, exactly like a good coffee pod. I will also try Ariosa nd Bewleys and, now that you mentioned those names, I think also starbucks ondame street sell fresh roast mixes and maybe can grind it to my specs.
I would love to buy a good grinder but I am still living in one of those phone-box apartment and really wouldn't know where to put it!!

Thanks a lot guy,

have a nice Christmas and please keep posting advices if you think of other places. I will try some of them coffees and let you know if they work fine and at which particle size on La Pavoni machines.

courghan

Rockbeer, I have just looked at that website but the prices are mad!!! I can get two 0.5Kg of good expresso coffee in Rome for less than 5€...maight think of starting my own business
I could get good saicaf beans at very good prices here but then I would need to find somewhere to grind it...

Merry Christmas to everybody...again!!

rockbeer

courghan wrote:

Rockbeer, I have just looked at that website but the prices are mad!!!

Tell me about it - there is a reason for the popularity of the phrase 'rip-off Ireland'. Sorry about that - I knew you wanted good coffee but I didn't realize you wanted it at a sensible price... best move abroad - that's what I'm planning to do soon as I get the chance
I often travel to France and bring back as much wine, coffee, chocolate, dried mushrooms, olive oil etc. as I can carry. I get quite depressed when I start to run out of supplies and the time comes to start paying these obscene Irish prices again.

courghan wrote:

I can get two 0.5Kg of good expresso coffee in Rome for less than 5€...maight think of starting my own business

Not a bad idea at all. I laways try to keep my prices sane at the market, can't stand this attitude that you should rip poeople off just because you can. It's sad though, people here are so used to being robbed blind that they get all suspicious if something seems too cheap :rolleyes:

courghan wrote:

Merry Christmas to everybody...again!!

Right back at ya.

Victor_M

Palombini gold is my personal favorite. Can be purchased from the cool Italian dude in the Epicurian centre. Reasonably priced too

Mucco

Passalacqua. 3 million Napolitans can't be wrong. I think Cafe di Napoli on Westland row has it, get the yellow one.

M

Cooee

My coffee machine grinds before making the coffee...so where can I get beans. At short notice only easily accessible place I could think of was Insomnia...any other places that I haven't thought of yet that do not require going into city centre?

Thank you!

iremex

i have to side with the devil on this one, starbucks have the nicest beans going. their expresso roast is my fav and what my grinder (ranchillio) and machine (la spaziale) likes.
the beans can be bought whole or ground(they grind them while you wait)
starbucks are on college green/dundrum/beside the mespil hotel off baggot street.
just be prepared for ppl in the queue which is always long.

illy seems to be a bit bland and Douwe Egberts, lavazza a bit too bitter but thats just me.!

billyblanks

I'm shocked!! Somebody who owns a Rocky and a la spaziale drinks Starbucks?? this cant be true?

Joking aside I am actually shocked, starbucks is overpriced and generally over roasted. There is no way it is better than a freshly roasted coffee From Ariosa or the likes. I know at the end of the day it is not about how well roasted or how fresh a coffee is, Its about what you think tastes nice.....but starbucks (to me ) is bitter and flavourless, Although I will admit it has been a long time since I tried any of their beans.

anyway, each to their own...