LAVAZZA COFFEE REVIEW: IS THE ITALIAN BRAND STILL RELEVANT?

Lavazza may specialize in classic Italian espresso blends, but as I recently discovered, it’s no one-trick pony.

Lavazza is one of the top Italian coffee brands – no small feat in a country that takes espresso very seriously. Thriving for over a century, Lavazza is best known for carefully crafted espresso blends, but I am happy to see them expanding their mandate in response to evolving consumer tastes.

In this review, I want to offer a well-rounded picture of the famed coffee brand, from coffee quality to business practices. While I couldn’t try every Lavazza coffee without risking caffeine overdose, I sampled enough of a selection to deliver what I hope is an honest and useful overview.

The Full Lavazza Coffee Review 2026

Lavazza is one of the quintessential Italian coffee brands. Founded as a tiny grocery store in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza, the company now boasts annual revenues upwards of $2 billion and holds 47% market share in Italy (1).

What has propelled the spectacular growth of Lavazza Coffee? How does an old-school brand continue to succeed in the modern era of Third Wave coffee? I’ll explore those questions and more in this review.

Lavazza Coffee Review

• Coffee Quality and Flavor
• Selection and Variety
• Sustainability/Environment
• Brewing Methods

3.5

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First Things First: How’s The Coffee?

Lavazza is best known for espresso roast blends. Indeed, it was the invention of the espresso machine soon after Luigi Lavazza founded his grocery that started his coffee journey (2). In 2017, Lavazza also acquired Kicking Horse Coffee, a Canadian coffee company that focuses on medium and dark roast blends.

It can be 100% Arabica but sometimes includes a proportion of Robusta beans, particularly in southern Italy. Robusta is often unfairly maligned as inferior quality, but its inclusion in an authentic espresso blend has nothing to do with cost-cutting. It contributes a rich, earthy flavor and more pronounced crema.

The best-selling Lavazza Coffee espresso roasts are classics – rich with the flavors of bittersweet chocolate and toasted nuts. They have a heavy body and creamy mouthfeel and hold up well in milk-based drinks like lattes and cappuccinos. 

That is not to say that the brand isn’t keeping up with the times. They introduce new product lines regularly, focusing on sustainability or highlighting emerging regions. That said, if you’re a lover of Third Wave specialty coffee, I still wouldn’t steer you towards Lavazza. 

I always recommend buying coffee beans as fresh as possible for the best coffee flavor – and supporting local roasters if you can. But if you must order online, Lavazza offers some of the best coffee beans available on Amazon. Their naturally intense flavor profiles endure well beyond peak freshness.

The Selections: A Mix Of Classics And Fresh Faces

Lavazza currently offers a broad selection of coffees with a heavy focus on darker roast blends. While they occasionally bring in specialty single origins, I think they are wise to focus on what they do best.

Rather than highlighting roast level, Lavazza uses an intensity score (out of 10) that also considers the strength of flavor and aroma. Here are some favorites:

I started by sampling the best-selling Espresso Italiano, which felt like the ideal place to kick off my exploration of this brand. This 100% Arabica blend was surprisingly restrained and nuanced in its flavors. I tasted fresh ripe fruit, toasted nuts, and even a hint of floral in the aroma. I’d be inclined to enjoy it with a French press or Aeropress, not just an espresso machine.

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• Lavazza Crema e Gusto is beloved by espresso enthusiasts worldwide, myself included. Made up of Brazilian Arabica and Southeast Asian Robusta, it’s a beautifully balanced blend that showcases the brand’s expertise. It has a full body and an earthy, almost spicy, character perfect for espresso and milky drinks.

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• The medium roast Rossa blend is less powerful than the Crema e Gusto. I found it a more versatile coffee, suitable for drinking black or pairing with steamed milk. It tones down the earthiness in favor of more chocolate and jammy fruit flavors.

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• I wanted to try at least one lighter roast Lavazza coffee, so I picked up a bag from their ¡Tierra! For Planet collection, which is Organic and Rainforest Alliance certified. Combining Arabica beans from Latin America and Africa, it was a delicate coffee by Lavazza standards but still closer to a medium roast in my estimation. I tasted notes of milk chocolate, cherries, and a hint of apple acidity.

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Coffee Formats: Beans, Grounds, Pods

The most popular Lavazza coffees are available as whole beans or pre-ground, and many of the espresso blends are offered in a fine grind suitable for espresso machines. Of course, I always recommend buying whole bean coffee and grinding it yourself for the most delicious brew – assuming you have a decent burr grinder.

Most Lavazza coffee is also offered in coffee pods, both as K-Cups and Nespresso capsules. The K-Cups are pretty consistently bad, like most K-Cups, but the Nespresso pods are passable, particularly the higher-intensity options. I prefer them to many other coffee capsules I’ve sampled.

Lavazza also offers two instant coffees, called Prontissimo! There is a Classic and an Intense option. Neither measures up to freshly brewed coffee, but they’re good in a pinch, and the Intense option makes a nice cup paired with milk.

The Best Brew Methods For Lavazza Coffee

Most Lavazza coffee blends are crafted for traditional Italian espresso. In particular, anything with Robusta beans in the blend is designed to have a rich crema when extracted under pressure, so it should be brewed with an espresso machine or Moka pot. 

Daria Illy, of the famous Illy coffee brand, explains the Italian affinity for espresso (3).

The 100% Arabica blends are a bit more versatile, though I still found I got the best results using immersion methods with metal filters – like a French press or metal-filtered Aeropress. The flavors seemed to benefit from the heavier body. You can brew your Lavazza coffee as a pour-over, but in all honesty, if you’re a pour-over coffee lover, I’d probably point you to a different brand.

Importantly, if you’re buying ground coffee beans, match your brewing method with the grind size. Some Lavazza coffee is ground for use in an espresso machine and brewing using other methods will yield an over-extracted and bitter result.

Improved Sustainability Practices, But Work Remains

In recent years, it has become clear that coffee companies need to consider their environmental and socioeconomic impact. 

The Lavazza Foundation supports coffee-focused sustainability projects worldwide, such as environmental restoration in Honduras and supporting women in the coffee industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Having dug into their practices, I can see the brand is making efforts in the area of sustainability. But given their global scope and massive profits, I suspect they could (and should) be doing more. I can think of far smaller companies cutting into much lower profit margins by, for example, developing compostable packaging or buying carbon offsets. 

Huge brands like Lavazza should be leading the way in this sector, and at present, they seem to be drafting behind.

Don’t Buy Lavazza Coffee If…

• You’re interested in Third Wave coffee: If lighter roast profiles and complex flavors appeal to you more than traditional Italian brands, check out Volcanica Coffee. They offer a huge selection of blends and single origins, including some of the top coffee beans from around the world. Alternatively, Lifeboost Coffee offers a few excellent single-origin beans, though they are pricey.
• You want caffeine above all else: If getting peppy is your main morning requirement, consider Death Wish Coffee. It manages to strike a decent balance between being highly caffeinated and maintaining a pleasant flavor, which is not true of many “extra-strong” coffees. Plus, it’s organic!
• You prefer cold brew coffee over espresso: Brooklyn-based Stone Street Coffee is well known for cold brew blends, which are even sold pre-ground with the appropriate coarseness – a rare find. Alternatively, if you’d rather not brew at home, consider a ready-to-drink cold brew coffee from Wandering Bear Coffee.

The Verdict

The current trend toward light roast coffee with bright acidity isn’t for everyone. If you’re an espresso lover or prefer the traditional rich flavors and heavy body of medium and dark roast blends, Lavazza offers some of that genre’s best examples. Better yet, Lavazza coffees are widely available and affordably priced.