Italian Espresso Isn’t What You Think: A Data-Driven guide

Ask most specialty coffee people what they think about Italian espresso, and you’ll get the same answer: too dark, burnt, bitter, stuck in the past.

I had similar-ish assumptions before I went to Italy recently. But I’d never actually tested it myself. So I packed my refractometer (a tool to measure espresso strength) and spent ten days measuring shots all over the country – from Milan to Naples.

(Heck, there were even a few shots in the country-side!)

In total I tested the strength of 29 espressos, but I actually consumed even more.

What I found challenged everything I thought I knew about Italian coffee. In this article, I’ll tell you how Italian coffee looks in 2025 from the perspective of a 3rd wave coffee snob – eh – lover.

Where it all began

Italy is the birthplace of espresso. And that fundamentally makes it different from any other place in the world.

While café culture elsewhere is now heavily influenced by the American (aka Starbucks) model, Italy has remained true to the old ways.

When you think about coffee shops, you’re probably also thinking of big milk drinks, signature beverages, and the famous “third place” concept where customers camp out with laptops for hours.

That vibe is almost the opposite in Italy. Everything is fast-paced, energetic, and kinda rustic. Even today.

It can be difficult to understand until you really see the rapid-fire service of an Italian espresso bar. Espresso remains the most consumed beverage and baristas pull shots in quick succession with a kind of muscle memory you don’t see elsewhere.

The workflow is especially a stark contrast to the convoluted routine you see among modern home baristas.

It’s just:

• dose
• tamp
• extract

That’s it.

No single dosing, no scales, no fancy distribution tools.

(Of course, many of their espresso machines and grinders use volumetric measurements, so it’s not completely random what ends up in the cup…)

You also see many more veteran baristas who’ve been working at it for years, instead of the typical young barista you find in Western coffee shops.

In many countries worldwide, being a barista is often a part-time job while studying, it’s not seen as a legit career. But in Italy, it’s actually a real profession that people maintain for decades. These baristas tend to have a “seen it all” kinda attitude.

They can talk to people from all walks of life, they’ll crack jokes with locals hanging out at the bar, discuss the day’s sports news, etc.

The Dark Roast Myth

There’s this persistent idea that Italian coffee is super dark roasted, but that’s not quite the reality when you’re on the ground.

I already had a hint of this before my trip. I’ve previously reviewed Illy and Lavazza blends and noticed that neither brand roasts as darkly as their reputation suggests, at least not their main espresso blends. Yes, they do have some darker offerings in their lineup too, but the core espresso offerings are rather medium from my perspective.

When I arrived in Italy, this observation was confirmed.

Northern Italian espresso is not the charcoal-black coffee that specialty coffee folklore would have you believe.

In fact, the vast majority of what I tasted in Milan, Como, La Spezia, and Rome was lighter than Starbucks’ Pike Place and that sort of stuff.

Another intersting thing I observed: You also see way more brands than just Illy and Lavazza.

Infact, those two aren’t even that prominent. You’ll see just as much Kimbo, Segafredo, and a bunch of regional brands that have no presence abroad.

But then I went to Naples, and everything changed.

The Naples Exception: A Different Coffee World

In Naples (Napoli), you really have a completely different coffee culture. It’s a different world down there.

Not only are the shots much stronger (this is something I measured and got statistical significance to confirm), they’re also pulled with lever espresso machines.

I was really surprised by this, but pretty much 100% of the coffee shops in Naples use an old school La San Marco Leva espresso machine. From what I could tell it was also exactly the same model – the only difference was whether it had 2, 3, or 4 levers!

In the rest of the country, it’s typically a pump-driven espresso machine – very often from the brand La Cimbali.

La San Marco is from almost the opposite end of the country, being located in the Nort East, close to Slovenia, so it would be fascinating to know the story of how they came to completely dominate in the south.

The only shops in Naples that used a regular pump-driven espresso machines (that I saw) were either located in the airport or train station. And I guess they’re probably owned and operated by nation-wide brands rather than Southern ones.

So there are actually two espresso cultures inside one country: South and North. I’m not exactly sure where to draw the line geographically, but the divide definitely exists.

The coffee in Naples is also noticeably darker roasted than what I experienced up north. I try to be openminded about everything coffee, but for my taste buds, it edged too dark. You do start getting some of those bitter, charcoal flavors that are mostly absent elsewhere in Italy.

But here’s the thing: in Naples, it’s almost unthinkable to drink an espresso shot without adding a sachet of sugar. I guess the sugar tames the bitterness.

So when people use terms like “Italian coffee roast,” it would be unfair to assume super darkly roasted coffee. While that exists, it’s mainly one part of the country. The stereotype doesn’t hold up when you actually measure and taste the coffee across different regions.

What the Numbers Say

I recently had coffee veteran and researcher, André Eiermann, on my YouTube channel. Here, he shared a lot of interesting insights from his research measuring the TDS of espresso shots all over the world. So inspired by him, I had brought my refractometer on this trip.

One of the first shots I tested in Milan measured 9.81% TDS. I braced myself for harsh bitterness.

But it was smooth. Cocoa-powder forward. Chocolate and nuts. Easy to drink.

I kept testing. Shot after shot, across different cities and bars. The pattern held. Northern Italy kept delivering strong espresso that somehow never tasted punishing.

Here’s what surprised me most: I kept waiting to make “the pucker face” (you know, that involuntary grimace when espresso is too harsh). But it didn’t happen. Most of the shots were strong, but still very forgiving.

My friend traveling with me, who doesn’t even drink espresso at home, kept saying: “This is actually pretty easy to drink.”

So how does Italy pull off strong coffee that’s still smooth?

The answer became clear the more I tasted: Italian espresso is deliberately roasted and blended to minimize acidity. Almost every shot tasted like cocoa powder, chocolate, or nuts. Only on a few occasions dried fruit. Never citrus. Never the bright, fruity notes that specialty coffee celebrates.

In Italy, fruits are for eating. They are not part of your espresso course. It’s a fun coincidence to see that the World Barista Championship is held in Milan in 2025. Pretty much all of the competitors are serving Geisha-shots with notes like mango, peach and lemon. That couldn’t be further from the reality out in the Italian cafés.

This is the fundamental difference. Specialty coffee pursues complexity and origin expression through lighter roasts and high acidity. Italy pursues drinkability through darker roasts, careful blending (often including Robusta), and low acidity. They don’t want coffee to taste special, they want it to be comforting.

This is fascinating to me as someone who’s used to a lot of (let’s be honest) sour or bitter specialty coffee espresso shots. When a specialty coffee espresso is bad, it’s often very bad. But in most of Italy, you don’t get the extremes.

That is until you visit Naples.

In the city next to Mount Vesuvius, the shots jumped to 12.24% TDS on average and 12.48% median. That’s incredibly strong! Typically espresso is between 8-12% TDS, so this is crazy.

Across all 28 shots I included in the dataset, the average was 10.40% TDS.

However, if I take the Napoli shots out of the equation the average drops down to 9.39 % TDS.

For context, that’s about the same strength as what you’d get in a specialty coffee shop.

André and some of the data collectors helping him with his TDS-project had also gathered data from various parts of Italy. So in combination with my numbers we now have statistically relevant TDS-data on the North/South divide.

(I think the additional data from the South is from Sicily – the average shot looks a bit milder here compared to Napoli).

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Before coming to Italy and measuring all these shots, I had actually assumed that they would be weaker. Probably closer to 8% strength.

There are several reasons for that. The first thing is that commercial coffee in the rest of the world is weaker, while specialty coffee tends to stay in a quite narrow 9-10% range – I know that because of André’s research.

So I had assumed that regular Italian folks would not routinely drink shots that strong.

The other reason, I thought that Italian coffee would be weaker, was that there’s this old school definition of a single shot from the official espresso institute in Brescia:

• Necessary portion of ground coffee 7 g ± 0,5
• Millilitres in the cup (including froth) 25 ml ± 2,5

Normally, in specialty coffee we measure things in grams, which is a weight-based measurement. 7 g in and 25 g out would actually be very long (a 1:3.5 ratio), providing a low TDS shot.

But the 25 here are mililiters and not grams. So it’s a volumetric measurement talking about the size the shot takes up in the cup.

And you also have to count the crema here, which is lightweight, but takes up a lot of space. So how much would be extracted espresso and how much would be crema?

That was hard to say. My guesstimate before arriving was that the average shot would be on the weaker side.

I also thought it might have a lower extraction yield compared to standard specialty coffee (19-20% EY) due to relying on old-fashioned baskets, as well as single baskets.

However, in pretty much all cases, it turned out I was extremely wrong. The classic 1:2 ratio is apparently still very alive in Italy. And they know how to achieve a high and repeatable extraction, even with minimal puck prep.

The highlights!

The main purpose of this trip was to measure TDS and quantify Italian espresso rather than evaluate quality with a critical palate. To be honest, the general average level was quite similar across most bars.

If i were to rank my coffee experiences, probably the best shots I had were at Lavazza’s flagship café in the Napoli airport, which caught me completely off guard.

Things were quite different here from most places in the country: they were grinding on demand instead of using the dosing systems you see everywhere else. And they offered single-origin options alongside their standard blends.

I tried an interesting Ethiopian that tasted fantastic, showcasing what Italian espresso could be when roasters and baristas stepped outside traditional boundaries. But even their standard blend was excellent, pulling a very textured shot with a nice balance in the blending. The chocolate and nuts here came with no sidedish of astringency nor overly roasty flavors. The coffee tasted fresh and alive.

It also helped that the barista who served me was very chatty and open to an inquisitive coffee geek, despite serving a handful of shots every minute. Impressive efficiency simply.

Unfortunately, I had already packed down my TDS meter at this point, so I didn’t get to record the shots. I thought I was about to leave the country – but little did I know that my airplane would get cancelled just one hour later and I’d be stranded in the country for another day, having to backtrack to Rome. So while it was an annoying detour in Napoli, at least I have those shots to look back at.

As mentioned in my review of Lavazza coffees their coffee quality and general roasting is nothing to scoff at – but I had never tried a relatively fresh bag of it until this point.

Another pleasant surprise: the coffee was still the same cheap price as the rest of Italy, even though it was Lavazza-branded and located in the airport. You’d expect airport markup, but they kept it honest.

(Yes, I know Lavazza contradicts what I said earlier about Napoli coffees being dark/pulled on lever machines. Obviously, in an airport with a multinational chain, they do things differently than the local cafés in the city. There were also couple of chain cafés at the train station that relied on pump driven machines.)

Starbucks Reserve: More Museum Than Café

I also visited the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Milan. The experience felt more like a museum/tourist attraction than a real café, which I suppose is the point.

The space is huge and ball-room like, decorated with a unique mix of mosaics, marble, and exposed pipes and steel. There’s a giant roasting machine dominating the center of the room. Outside, there’s a line to get in. A bouncer only lets a certain number of people enter at a time.

The general price level is definitely not cheap compared to traditional Italian cafés, although a single shot at 2 euro is affordable enough in the grand scheme of things. They have tasty-looking pastries, sandwiches, and pizzas, along with both signature and classic espresso-based drinks.

I did enjoy the shot I had there. It was much better than the typical Starbucks experience. It was a pretty developed medium roast with nice texture and balance, pulled on a Victoria Arduino Black Eagle machine. The shot measured 11.55% TDS, quite strong but not overwhelming due to the developed roast. I’d say worth the visit and 5-10 minutes of queuing up outisde, although you’re paying for the experience as much as the coffee.

Robusta and Other Discoveries

A few other shots are also worth highlighting. In Rome, I had a 100% Robusta shot, which was quite the experience. Robusta can be interesting to drink straight if you’re not used to it because it has no acidity at all. The flavor profile is completely different from what most specialty coffee drinkers expect. I also encountered some blends where the majority was Robusta, something you don’t really see in most countries where Robusta is demonized as unacceptable.

I do think Robusta actually shines in espresso format. It can be boring to drink at a typical filter coffee ratio, but once you get it concentrated, it comes alive with earthy, woody notes and a surprising amount of body. From both an intellectual and gustatory point of view, it’s worth it to drink straight Robusta once in a while!

The Curious Case of Missing Illy

The final thing that surprised me: the absence of Illy coffee. Illy is probably the most famous Italian espresso brand internationally, along with Lavazza. But I only had one single Illy shot my entire trip. It tasted fine but perhaps a bit unremarkable.

I expected to see Illy served in far more places given its international reputation.

My theory: Illy seems to appeal more to international tastes rather than local Italian preferences. It’s also probably a more expensive brand because it’s 100% Arabica and they tend to buy higher-scoring coffee. I put “higher-scoring” in quotes here because we’re not talking about 85-87 point specialty scores, but coffees that properly score around 80 points, so just above the commodity scale, and pushing into the lower end of specialty.

Illy’s premium positioning might work better abroad than in the bars where profit margins are razor thin.

The Cultural System That Makes It Work

Italian espresso isn’t just about the coffee. It’s about the entire cultural system that surrounds it.

Price: €1.20 to €1.50 per shot. Sometimes as low as €1. Affordable enough to drink 3-4 times per day without thinking about it.

Then there’s speed: You walk in, order, drink your shot in 60 seconds while standing at the bar, chat briefly with the barista or a stranger next to you, pay, and leave. Total time: 3-5 minutes.

The bar isn’t a workspace or “third place” where you camp out with a laptop. It’s a brief social touchpoint. A punctuation mark in your day.

Nobody’s analyzing tasting notes or discussing processing methods. The espresso is what it is: consistent, familiar, satisfying.

This system works because every element aligns. Commodity beans keep costs low. More developed roasting profiles ensure easy and straightforward extraction. Simple preparation keeps service fast. Standing culture keeps turnover high. Low prices encourage frequent visits.

Compare this to specialty coffee shops elsewhere: $5 per shot, sit-down service, elaborate preparation, high-acidity coffee that demands contemplation (and skilled baristas).

The economics require treating espresso as a premium product. But a punchy, intense shot that’s over in 30 seconds doesn’t feel worth $5 to most customers.

So espresso becomes the red-headed stepchild on many menus.

It’s an ingredient in bestsellers like lattes and iced americanos, but only something that few people order by itself.

And because few people order it, baristas dial in shots to be even stronger, so they can cut through when blended milk. And in turn they become even more undesirable to drink straight. That’s how a vicious cycle begins.

Learn more about it in this video:

What Italy Gets Right

After a week of testing and observing, several things became clear to me.

Italy still uses the classic 1:2 espresso ratio, roughly 14-15 g of coffee in, 28-30 g of liquid out. This ratio spread from Italy to the world along with espresso machines in the mid-20th century.

But the coffee changed along the way.

Italian espresso uses darker roasts, often with 20-30% Robusta, optimized for high solubility and low acidity. The 1:2 ratio works perfectly for this style.

Specialty coffee uses light-to-medium roasts, 100% Arabica, with high acidity and lower solubility. The 1:2 ratio often produces harsh, sour shots that are difficult to drink straight.

The specialty coffee world has spent years trying to make lighter roasts work with Italian parameters. We’ve added better grinders, pressure profiling, elaborate puck prep routines.

But maybe we’re asking the wrong question.

Maybe the issue isn’t that we need better technique. Maybe we just need to find a recipe or drink style that works better for our coffee culture.

So if light roasts, high prices, and longer café visits are non-negotiable, maybe that means lungos are the perfect compromise? It’s easy to brew – even with lighter roasts – and would surely appeal to a wider audience.

Of course, espresso can still play a role as an ingredient in other drinks. But if cafés aren’t able to offer palatable straight shots, then why keep them on the menu?

The Specialty Coffee Tension in Italy

Interestingly, specialty coffee is starting to appear in Italy too, but in a way that doesn’t threaten traditional coffee culture.

Shops like Orsonero in Milano and Gardelli in Forlì are serving lighter roasts, single-origin coffees, and alternative brewing methods (pour over, Aeropress, etc.). These places attract younger, cosmopolitan Italians and international visitors looking for a different vibe.

When I went to visit Orsonero one early sunday morning, it was undeniably popular with a line spilling out onto the pavement.

But I noticed most people were ordering milk drinks. The barista even sounded surprised when I asked for “un caffè” – just a straight single shot. It seems as if, like in the West, specialty coffee in Italy also functions as an identity marker (young, trendy, cosmopolitan, instagrammable) rather than a just a genuine shift toward lighter roasts and beans scoring >82 points.

Specialty coffee in Italy isn’t a competitor; it’s a niche, parallel track. A bit like fine-dining.

My takeaway from this trip is that we can certainly still learn some things from the institution that is Italian espresso. Not by copying their coffee, but by copying their thinking: start with the experience you want to create, then engineer everything else around it.

Italy wanted espresso to be affordable, fast, and easygoing. So they built a system that delivers exactly that. What does specialty coffee actually want to be? Because right now, we’re still using Italy’s ratios and espresso machines with our beans, wondering why it often doesn’t work. Maybe it’s time to stop retrofitting and start redesigning.