SELECTION
The first step towards quality
Upon arrival in Trieste, each bag is numbered and prepared for inspection. The selection process begins as beans are placed on a vibrating screen, a large sieve that separates out foreign matter. A vacuum removes tiny particles, and a magnetic separator removes metallic fragments. Finally, advanced imaging devices "photograph" each bean and eliminate any that are fermented, unripe or otherwise unfit.
BLENDING
The perfect balance
illy blends nine distinct Arabica beans before roasting, assuring each bean’s distinct characteristics develop at the same rate under the roaster’s heat. This is precisely how illy achieves remarkable consistency in its blend, can after can. Blending is truly an art. Coffees from different origins carry distinct aromas, and varying balances of bitter, sweet and body characteristics.
ROASTING
Art and science together
Roasting is coffee’s version of high drama: 15 minutes, the critical time when some 800 substances emerge under heat, each contributing to the taste and aroma of the illy blend—and to its very heritage.
PRESSURIZED PACKAGING
Exclusively illy
illy pioneered a new way, using a remarkably effective, natural pressurization technology – patented throughout the world, and exclusive to illy. Freshly roasted illy coffee is placed in recyclable cans, along with natural, inert nitrogen, under pressure. The process traps essential aromas and protects them for more than a year.
INNOVATION
A heritage of innovation
Innovation runs deep at illycaffè, going back to the company’s very beginning. So perhaps not surprisingly, three of the industry’s eight transformational innovations were developed by illy: pressurized packaging, modern espresso method and E.S.E. Pods.
ORIGINS OF THE BEST: COFFEE ARABICA
ARABICA
ARABICA
Arabica is the finest quality coffee.
FLOWERS AND FRUIT
FLOWERS AND FRUIT
With rain, the fruit flourishes, and a careful harvesting process begins. Precision harvesting is critical.
COFFEE BEANS
COFFEE BEANS
The coffee bean is actually the seed of the coffee plant, found inside a red fruit often called the cherry.
Brazil
With exuberant notes of chocolate and toast, is the foundation for blends optimized for espresso preparation. Brazil is the world’s largest producer of Arabica, responsible for more than one-third of its total production.
Central America
El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and Honduras: all home to Arabica marked by sweet, and pleasantly mild, acidic notes.
Guatemala
Limited production of excellent, very sweet coffee. Its acidity and intense aroma of chocolate make it an ideal complement to any blend, especially those designed for brewed coffee.
Colombia
With its sweet coffee – produced to the tune of nearly 12 million bags per year – Columbia produces 10% of the world’s Arabica.
India
Offers a full-bodied coffee, with the right touch of bitterness and a delightfully spicy aroma.
Ethiopia
Coffee’s ancestral home, offering the world’s best washed Arabica, alive with notes of jasmine and citrus.
Kenya
Produces a relatively small volume of good, aromatic coffee thanks to the country’s mild climate.
HISTORY OF COFFEE AND ITS ORIGINS
500 d.C.
500 d.C.
Legend has it that Kaldi, an Ethiopian shepherd, discovers the invigorating virtues of coffee cherries by trying them roasted and ground.
1500 d.C.
1500 d.C.
Coffee arrives in Damascus, Cairo and Istanbul.
1591 d.C.
1591 d.C.
Prospero Alpini, a doctor from Padua, describes coffee in De Medicina Aegyptiorum, an account of Egyptian medical practices.
1645 d.C.
1645 d.C.
Venice’s first coffee shop opens.
1700 d.C.
1700 d.C.
Coffee spreads throughout Europe, and coffee plants are exported to its colonies.
1753 d.C.
1753 d.C.
Linnaeus classifies the plant under the genus Coffea.
