Lavazza

Who is Lavazza?

The company that made blending the Italian way of thinking about coffee.

Lavazza publishes 1895 as its founding year and over a century of coffee expertise. It is a Turin family business, and its blends are built from beans across South America, Africa and Asia rather than from named farms.

Blending is a philosophy here, not a cost saving

This is the opposite of how a specialty roaster works, and both positions are defensible.

A roaster like Intelligentsia sells you a specific farm, a specific process and a harvest year, and the coffee changes as the season changes. That is the point: you are buying the character of a place.

Lavazza sells you a taste that does not change. Qualita Rossa in 2026 is meant to taste like Qualita Rossa in 2016, and to do that the blend is adjusted continuously as crops vary. That is genuinely difficult and it is the skill the company is built on.

It also explains what Lavazza does not publish. There is no farm, no altitude, no varietal and no harvest date on these bags, because none of them would stay true for long. Judged as specialty coffee that looks like an absence; judged as what it is, consistency is the product.

Reading the intensity number

Lavazza prints an intensity score, and it is not a caffeine or a strength rating.

Qualita Rossa is published at 5/10 and Dolcevita Classico at 3/5. Different scales, same idea: how bold and how roast-forward the cup is, judged by Lavazza against its own range.

It tells you where a blend sits among Lavazza's other blends and nothing more. It is not comparable to another roaster's number and it says nothing about caffeine, which is mostly a function of dose rather than roast.

Arabica, robusta, and why Italian blends use both

Robusta is treated as a defect in specialty coffee and as an ingredient in Italian espresso.

Most of the range here is arabica and robusta together. Robusta has more caffeine, less sweetness and a harsher, woody profile, which is why third-wave roasters avoid it.

It also produces markedly more crema, carries more body through milk, and costs less. For a drink served short, under pressure, often with milk, and priced for daily drinking, those are the properties an Italian roaster wants. Super Crema is named for exactly this effect.

If you drink filter coffee black and chase acidity and fruit, this is not the roaster for you and no blend here will change that. If you pull espresso into milk every morning, it is a rational choice rather than a compromise.

Which Lavazza to buy

Four blends here, and they split cleanly by brewer.

Super Crema for an espresso machine, and it is the one most home machines are dialled on. Gran Riserva if that tastes too mild, being a darker roast with maple and walnut notes. Qualita Rossa for a moka pot or anything else, since Lavazza lists it for four different brewers. Dolcevita Classico ground, for a drip machine and no grinder.

What Lavazza does not publish

Worth stating plainly, because it is the difference between this and a specialty roaster.

No roast date on any bag here, only a best before. No farm or cooperative named, no altitude, no varietal, no processing method, and no direct trade or organic certification on these listings. Bags carry no stated one-way valve.

That is normal for supermarket coffee and it is the honest cost of buying a blend built for consistency. It is also why these score lower on this site than a roaster that publishes a harvest and a farm, which reflects transparency rather than the taste in the cup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lavazza good coffee?

It is very good at what it aims at: consistent Italian espresso blends. It does not aim at single origin character and does not publish the sourcing detail specialty buyers look for.

What does the intensity number mean?

How bold a blend is within Lavazza's own range. It is not caffeine, not strength, and not comparable across brands.

Why does Lavazza use robusta?

More crema, more body through milk, and lower cost. Those are the right properties for espresso served short or with milk.

Which Lavazza is best for espresso?

Super Crema is the espresso blend most home machines are set up around. Gran Riserva is the darker alternative.

Does Lavazza print a roast date?

Not on these bags. They carry a best before date instead.