PODcast #59 : Espresso Pods News

Welcome to The PODcast, PodMerchant's newsletter of espresso pod news, education, tips and deals. Back issues of The PODcast are available online.

Espresso Elucidations

How Dark is "Italian Roast"?

In this issue I want to talk a little about the roast level. Searching the Internet's massive store of information, you might find something like this:

• American Roast — medium brown in color, also known as Medium Roast or Brown Roast.
• Continental Roast — better known as Italian.
• European Roast — essentially the same as Continental.
• French Roast — darker brown with an oily surface. Somewhat bittersweet. Also called Dark Roast.
• Italian Roast — the next level up from French, sometimes called Darkest Roast. Also known as Espresso Roast, it now tastes of roast only and little if anything of the bean.
• Neapolitan Roast — very dark nearly black and bittersweet, also called Dark French or Heavy.
• Spanish Roast — strong, also known as Full-city and sometimes called After-dinner.

Since all of the espresso pods we sell are roasted in Italy, one might believe that all are a very dark roast. The "Italian Roast" cited above states that "it now tastes of roast only and little if anything of the bean." (I can guarantee you that this is hardly always the case. The roasters I conferred with both stressed the importance of the blend to the taste of the espresso.)

While not an expert on roasting myself, those terms just don't sound right to me, and I asked some of my roaster contacts in Italy about this. As I suspected, we can pretty much ignore these definitions. They may be applicable for American coffee roasters, but not Italian roasters today.

It is true that in the past in Italy, the roasting was very dark. At that time there was only one blend for both espresso bars and espresso machines, and this blend was prepared with a very dark roast.

Nowadays the situation has changed. In order to satisfy the various tastes in Italy and all over the world, the Italian roasting companies now usually prepare several blends.

Only the Italian Bar blends — for example, Amigos Caffe's Extra-Bar — tend to be dark roasted. These bar blends are the roasters' top-tier products, and tend to have a larger percentage of Arabica. I am told that a blend with a higher percentage of Arabica is usually roasted darker than a blend with more Robusta. I will have to admit, this was news to me.

It is true, of course, that the roast level increases as one heads further south in Italy. The roast level is specified by the percentage weight loss of the beans as the moisture in the beans evaporates. For example, in the south of Italy, the average of roasting weight-loss is about 20%, so if the roaster puts 100 Kg of green coffee beans in the roasting machine, they get out about 80 Kg net weight of roasted beans — a loss of 20%. This would be considered a dark roast. In the north, they typically roast to the point of a weight-loss of about 16%, so you can imagine that the roasting is lighter.

I'd like to thank my sources for this article, Arianna Mingardi, from Amigos Caffe' (a Northern roaster), and Antonio Nurri from Gruppo Izzo (a Southern roaster). And I hope I got it right.

PodMerchant News

Didiesse Espresso Machines

Readers of recent issues of the PODcast know of my search for espresso machines optimized for espresso pods. In particular, I tend to think highly of espresso-pod-only machines as discussed in Issue #55 of The PODcast.

I'm happy to report the availability in the U.S. of such a machine — the Didiesse "Frog". Personally, I think it looks more like a beaver than a frog... but what the hey. The Frog can be purchased for $415 + shipping from Kenya Caffe LLC. Their phone number is (973) 519-3174. Please tell them I referred you.



Kenya Caffe also sells the Didiesse Aura (pronounced "dee-dee-ess OUW-rah"), a higher-end machine appropriate for office and restaurant use. It is available in a two grouphead model, the Aura Bar Twin.

Price Reductions

We've reduced the price on Danesi espresso cups by $3 on the demitasse and cappuccino cups, and $4 off the latte cup.

The remaining stock of Nonni's biscotti has been reduced from $4.32 to $3.95.

New Store Sections

To aid our customers in zeroing in on the espresso pods that best suits their tastes, we've created a few new categories. First, we have the Top Sellers category, which mirrors our new Top Sellers Espresso Pods Sampler. These are, of course, our top-selling espresso pods, and the makeup in the sampler and section may change due to popularity.

We have also created a Staff Favorites section. With all our pods to choose from, we have ample opportunity to explore the selections and find our favorites. Maybe they'll be yours too.

We've also created new categories by espresso blend style. These are based on Espresso Elucidations articles I have written in previous issues of The PODcast.

First, there is the Strong Cup category — hearty, caffeinated espressos, as discussed in "The Strong Cup" in PODcast #41.

The Delicate Cup section represents the more aromatic and delicate espressos, as explained in PODcast Issue #42, "The Delicate Cup".

Lastly, we have our Balanced Cup section of blends seeking a balance of heartiness and delicate qualities. In PODcast #43 you can read our article about "The Balanced Cup."

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Keep on brew'n...


Kevin Garrett, The PodMerchant.