Food & Drink

Non oily coffee bean recommendations

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May 18, 2005
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Non oily coffee bean recommendations

What are some non oily coffee bean recommendations for people who have super automatic coffee machines or people who like non oily coffee beans?

I read on this forum that Lavazza coffee beans (that were sold at Costco) are non oily, but are not sold in my local Costcos anymore (maybe a seasonal thing)
Is it sold at other different stores in Canada as well?

Any other recommendations?
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Oct 7, 2007
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I find medium or light roasts to be less oily.
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Amuse wrote: What are some non oily coffee bean recommendations for people who have super automatic coffee machines or people who like non oily coffee beans?
I read on this forum that Lavazza coffee beans (that were sold at Costco) are non oily, but are not sold in my local Costcos anymore (maybe a seasonal thing)
Is it sold at other different stores in Canada as well?
Any other recommendations?
There are at least 2 other products sold at Costco that are medium roast and not oily.
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Jun 18, 2017
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Just about all of the Italian espresso blends aren't going to be oily (Lavazza, Illy, Maromas, Kimbo, etc). I like the Lavazza Top Class or Super Crema if you're looking for a strong-ish but still drinkable Italian style drink. Maromas Orphea is a bit more mild, less of that bitter twist.

OIly beans are usually reserved for super dark roasts and french roasts. What happens is the longer they roast, it forces the oil to the outside of the bean, giving them an oily sheen.

So why do that? Dark roast does have it's own distinct flavour but I suspect other reasons, especially for the super big companies (Starbucks et al):
- Over roasted beans kind of all taste the same, which means you can sneak in cheaper beans into the mix
- Over roasted beans lose their flavour more slowly, because most of the "expirable" flavour has already been blasted out of it, so longer shelf life

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the Starbucks/Blendz etc. dark roast movement is for logistical reasons as opposed to taste.

This doesn't mean all dark roasts suck, some are delightfully smoky and strong, I'm just commenting on what I suspect the mass consumer guys do.
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I'm glad I stumbled on this thread, it's a good topic especially for those of us who recently invested in a super-automatic espresso machine. We have a Delonghi super-auto and I didn't really know the effects of using oily beans till this morning when the machine was telling us to fill the beans while the bean hopper was still full, and the grinder was essentially free-spinning. This happened after we switched beans to the Kirkland Signature espresso (roasted by Starbucks) from Costco which are quite oily (very shiny beans). I cleaned out the hopper and it felt somewhat oily and a few of the beans had clumped together at the mouth of the grinder blocking the intake.

I found those beans from Costco to be average tasting compared to what we've been using, the A. Genco Della Rossa Espresso beans from London Drugs, which are not oily at all but they have a somewhat mild flavour.

Today we picked up a pack of the Kicking Horse espresso bean (Cliff Hanger) and boy does it have a kick to it, but a very pleasant one. It's not cheap but Sobey's had them on sale for around $12 for a 1 pound bag (I think they're regularly $18?). For medium roast they looked quite oily so I'm not sure if we should use them long-term on our machine.

Still searching for a good quality non-oily but strong tasting bean. I've read that I should look for Medium-Dark roast but all I've seen locally are either Dark or Medium.
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Since the oil is an indication freshness, may be you could let them sit out longer before putting into the machine??
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hdom wrote: Since the oil is an indication freshness, may be you could let them sit out longer before putting into the machine??
Thanks for the tip, I'll have to try that next time. I ended up emailing Kicking Horse inquiring about a less oily bean recommendation and they said the Cliff Hanger is indeed a very oil bean, which I can attest to as it left quite an oily residue in the hopper, they recommended I try their Smart Ass which I have since used. The SA beans are shiny but noticeably less oily. My super-automicaitc had no problem handling this one and it tasted very good too.
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Rob76 wrote: Thanks for the tip, I'll have to try that next time. I ended up emailing Kicking Horse inquiring about a less oily bean recommendation and they said the Cliff Hanger is indeed a very oil bean, which I can attest to as it left quite an oily residue in the hopper, they recommended I try their Smart Ass which I have since used. The SA beans are shiny but noticeably less oily. My super-automicaitc had no problem handling this one and it tasted very good too.
Thx for that Rob76. Finding non oily beans is an hard trip... I'll give a try to Smart Ass!!
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Aug 12, 2012
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I find the Zavida medium roast Columbian beans from Costco to be fairly non-oily, at least compared to Starbucks or Kirkland espresso beans from there. I don't have an espresso machine, but I do notice the oily beans get stuck to the side of the hopper in my grinder and I have to manually push them down.
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if you can find Balzac at your local Costco, I've found them to be less oily compared to Kicking Horse.

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