Well-known Italian coffee brand Lavazza has so many options, trying to choose which one to try can seem like an overwhelming task.
They offer ground coffee and espresso blends, a variety of flavor profiles, and several different roasts. Most types will be a blend of beans from different regions of the world, which provides balance and an interesting blend of flavors and aromas.
- Mild and creamy flavor
- Notes of honey, dried fruit and hazelnut
- Made from Arabica and Robusta beans
- Medium roast and chocolate notes
- Perfect balance of bitterness
- Coffee blend – works with most coffee makers
The Basics
If you’re unsure of your coffee preferences in general, a medium roast (that isn’t single-origin) is a good place to start. A darker roast could seem too intense for your palette, though of course your tastes could change over time and you could decide you love the darker roasts more.
You should also consider how you’ll be drinking your coffee. Do you have a machine at home that allows you to make lattes, macchiatos, and other specialty drinks? Will you be drinking your coffee black or pouring in special creamers, milk, half and half, or something else to flavor it with? If you’re going to be making specialty drinks, you’ll generally want a darker espresso roast.
Depending on how much you like to taste your coffee while you get your caffeine fix, you could go with any roast if you’ll be adding your own creamers and sweeteners. The darker the roast, the more “extras” a coffee can typically handle.
The Top Lavazza Coffees to Try
Here are some of the top Lavazza coffees to try. There’s no single one that everyone should try first since preferences and preparation styles will vary from person to person. However, some tend to be better crowd-pleasers than others. Keep those things in mind as you read over the descriptions and decide which one you need to try first.
Best Lavazza Espresso Beans? Lavazza Super Crema Espresso
If you’re new to coffee and unsure of what your preferences are or you just like a versatile coffee that will make a wonderful base for anything you want to add, start with the Lavazza Super Crema Espresso. It’s also good black if that’s the way you plan to drink it. In the United States, this one was the best-selling coffee bean for June 2017. This will make a good baseline and comparison point as you try different Lavazza coffees, too.
If you do love the versatility and can grind your own beans at home, consider purchasing it in whole bean form so you can grind it fine for espresso and a little coarser for drip coffee or a French press. This is especially important if you’ll be using an actual espresso machine rather than something like the Ninja Coffee Bar, which uses the same filter and process for specialty drinks and drips coffee.
Further Reading: Best Coffee for Ninja Coffee Bar
As for the flavor (the most important part!), this one is on the mild and creamy end of the spectrum, with notes of honey, dried fruit, and hazelnut. It combines a mix of Arabica and Robusta beans sourced from Brazil, India, Columbia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Such a combination of beans is part of what gives Super Crema Espresso its mild, balanced flavor.
When used in an espresso machine, this produces a nice crema, as the name implies. This option is a pleasant experience in many ways, from flavor and aroma to appearance and mouthfeel.
Lavazza Gold Selection
Gold Selection is one of the standout offerings from Lavazza, with its medium roast and milk chocolate notes. It’s next to impossible to mess this up, no matter how you brew it or what you add to it. It’s perfectly balanced, with Arabica beans from Brazil and Colombia and Robusta beans from the Island of Java.
In addition to the sweet milk chocolate, there are notes of vanilla. To counter the sweetness, there is, of course, just the right amount of bitterness from the espresso itself. Because it’s a blend, you can successfully use it in an espresso machine, drip coffee maker, French press, or pour over. If you want the variety, be sure to buy the whole coffee beans and grind them appropriately for each method (finer for espresso and coarser for drip coffee and French press).
Lavazza Crema e Aroma
Here’s another creamy medium roast, this time made from a blend of washed and unwashed Arabica beans as well as Robusta beans. The Arabica beans come from Central and South America (Honduras and near San Paulo, Brazil, respectively) while the Robusta beans come from Africa (Uganda). This is another blend that produces lovely crema when used in an espresso machine.
This isn’t the most intense selection, but it still packs a punch. It also has a balanced flavor, though powerful, with notes of cocoa, woods, spice, and wine. Crema e Aroma is one to sip in the winter months. It’s actually an espresso blend, but that doesn’t mean you can’t brew it in a simple coffee pot. Drink it black or add cream and sugar for a satisfying cup.
Because it’s a medium roast, it’s fairly versatile. The fact that the beans were sourced from more than one place and blended together makes it available for a wider range of uses, as well.
Lavazza Gran Selezione
This is a darker roast with strong chocolate notes (even though it isn’t technically a “flavored” coffee), best used in a regular coffee maker or French press. You can experiment with it when you make specialty drinks, as well. Gran Selezione has a full-bodied flavor, thanks to 100 percent Arabica beans from Central and South America. Gran Selezione beans are 100 percent sustainably grown.
If you like your coffee to have bold, intense flavor and a sense of creaminess to it even before you add anything to it, this is one for you to try. It will be able to stand up to cream and sugar if that’s how you like to take your coffee. This one is probably not the best choice for someone trying to transition to black coffee. Give it time and choose a medium roast first, in that case.
Lavazza Pienaroma
If you want a 100 percent Arabica coffee and enjoy medium roasts, this flowery, balanced blend could be your best choice. Enjoy the scent of figs and jasmine flowers as it brews. The beans (washed) come from Mogiana, south Minas regions, Peru, and Honduras. You get smooth, balanced flavor and gorgeous aroma in your cup with this one.
It’s perfect in specialty drinks like lattes and cappuccinos, but it can also be brewed in a regular coffee maker. This one isn’t quite as versatile or well-loved as the Super Crema option, but it’s still an intriguing mix of flavors and aromas for those who enjoy florals over the fruity, nutty options on the market.
These beans are sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ plantations. If you like your purchases to go toward good causes, consider the Pienaroma blend and support biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods.
Lavazza Santa Marta
Santa Marta is somewhat intense in flavor, but not quite as much so as the Gran Selezione option. Instead of chocolate, this 100 percent Arabica coffee boasts of a nutty praline note. This choice is also a medium roast, which would normally make it fairly versatile. However, this one is a single-origin blend from Colombia (right where the coast meets the Sierra Nevada mountains), which doesn’t always translate well when used in espresso machines.
Further Reading: Best Coffee Beans for Espresso Roasts
Single-origin blends usually taste the best when they’re used in methods that use less pressure (usually just gravity) to push the heated water through the grounds. That doesn’t mean the Santa Marta coffee can’t be used in an espresso machine if you have one; feel free to experiment and find out what you like and don’t like. As long as your coffee is ground fine enough for an espresso machine, you can try it.
For best results with this particular bean, use it in a regular coffee maker or French press. If you have a machine that makes specialty drinks with strong regular coffee, you may be able to enjoy the Santa Marta that way, as well.
So Which One Is Best?
As with any quality brand, there’s no single coffee that is the best for everyone. You and your significant other may try all of the ones in this list and each come away with a different favorite.
Personal preference aside, if you’re new to Lavazza and maybe even coffee in general, start with the Super Crema Espresso. It is a best-seller for a reason. If you’re more familiar with the differences between medium and dark roasts and tend to have a strong preference for darker roasts or know you love significant chocolate or nutty notes, go for the Gran Selezione or even the Santa Marta.
Lavazza has been perfecting their offerings for over 100 years, so as long as you keep the personal flavor and roasting preferences you know you have, as well as your typical brewing methods, in mind, it will be hard to find a “bad” option. Start with one and work your way through the other options from month to month.
Lavazza Alternatives You May Like
Excited for some other interesting options? Check out these alternatives to Lavazza, too:
- Lavazza vs Illy Compared: These two are so close, they are practically European twins!
- Ruta Maya Coffee Review: Sustainable farming, yes. Beautiful medium roast.
- Kicking Horse Coffee Review: Big, bold, caffeinated!
- Black Rifle Coffee Review: Even more bold, even more caffeinated… like going into combat.
- Best Coffee Brands on Amazon: Yeah, there are a few good ones!
Gordon is seriously addicted to coffee. He also likes to write. Match made in heaven? Yes. After years of boring casual coffee drinkers to death with bean origin stories, he took to writing publicly here at 2Caffeinated.
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