La Brasiliana Espresso Coffee – a rich and full blend, suitable for both espresso and regular coffee.

Thank you Blanell Coffee for the samples! Blanell Coffee is an importer of Italian coffee and espresso machines, based in Illinois.

Before we get to the review, let me dispel a couple of myths about espresso coffee beans.

First off, there is no such thing as a coffee bean that is to be used ONLY to make espresso. You can take a bag of espresso coffee beans and use them to make regular coffee. And you can take regular coffee beans and use them to make espresso.

When beans are labelled for espresso, it simply means the beans and the roast have been chosen and optimized for the espresso experience.

The second myth is that espresso beans have to be dark roasted. Not so. Most espresso blends are actually medium roasted. People think they are dark simply because the espresso extraction process delivers a very rich and bold flavor.

A little background on La Brasiliana.

The La Brasiliana company is located in Ferrara near Bologna, Italy. As you probably know, Italian coffee roasters are probably the best when it comes to roasting for espresso.

Alessandro Covoni, the roaster at La Brasiliana, is one of the best and most experienced Barrista in Italy.

As regular coffee...

As always, we ground the beans and brewed the coffee fresh for our tasting with a French press.

We found the aroma to be quite mild, and were then pleasantly surprised that the taste is very full, bold and rich.

It isn’t always easy for a roaster to get a full, bold taste out of a medium roast coffee. The bitterness we did find – and a certain amount of bitterness is essential to a good coffee – is nicely rounded out with some sweet, dark chocolate tones, and a touch of fruit.

Another strength of this coffee is that there are no sharp edges...the rich taste is even and smooth...with every flavor working together.

This is a strong, bold coffee, while at the same time being smooth and full in your mouth.

Truly an excellent coffee.

As espresso...

I’ll be the first to admit that reviewing espresso is not our specialty. After all, we are the Coffee Detective, not the Espresso Detective.

However, we do enjoy espresso. So we ground some La Brasiliana coffee beans to a fine grind, tamped the grind down in the portafilter, and served ourselves a great espresso.

Lots of crema, which is always nice.

And once we tasted the espresso, we could see why this was created as an espresso blend. It has a wonderful, rich and smooth taste...with the strength you look for, none of the sharp edges you don’t want, and a deep, lingering taste that clings to the inside of your mouth.

Whether you buy La Brasiliana for regular coffee or espresso, we highly recommend it. And if you have an espresso machine, be sure to make yourself a shot with these beans. It’s divine.

You can learn more about La Brasiliana Espresso Coffee at Blanell Coffee.

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About the author: Nick Usborne, aka Coffee Detective, is a writer and long-time coffee enthusiast. Read more…