Sharing My Love for Illy Coffee
The first cup of coffee I ever drank was illy coffee and to this day, it’s still one of my favorites. My mom introduced me to illy when I was younger and I was immediately hooked. So when I started seeing illy caffès popping up throughout San Francisco, you better bet I was excited. And if you’ve been watching my IG stories recently, you’ve probably been seeing a lot of illy.
illy has been perfecting their blend for the past 80 years and it shows. I’m no coffee expert but I can at least identify when a roast is good based on how smooth it is (vs. bitter). Read more about illy’s San Francisco caffès and their University of Coffee classes below!
Photo by @christophersturm
illy currently has 7 caffès in San Francisco serving up both classic and specialty coffee drinks, as well as pastries and a variety of prepared food. The flagship store located downtown on Montgomery Street is the largest location in the city and is complete with a retail section along with their Univeristà del Caffè (University of Coffee). The caffès are spacious, beautifully designed, and even have fun accents such as espresso cup chandeliers. The caffès offer rotating seasonal drinks, such as a coconut cold brew soda or an orange & almond espresso. The food is all pre-prepared so you can easily grab a sandwich or salad to go when you’re in a rush or enjoy it while sitting in the caffe.
Photo by @christophersturm
illy opened its first North America Univeristà del Caffè location in the San Francisco flagship caffè in 2017. The university offers courses for professionals, baristas, and coffee lovers. I was invited to attend a DIY Latte Art Experience, taught by Heidi, which included a crash course in latte art and coffee mixology. Heidi started with a short presentation and demonstration about the basics of latte art before letting us attempt it ourselves. As expected, I realized that making latte art is much harder than it looks and I probably need to practice making at least a hundred more cups before I can even draw anything that closely resembles a leaf (the easiest design). Thankfully, Heidi was a great instructor and left us feeling very encouraged about mastering our latte art sooner than later. And if you still can’t master a leaf, just add some chocolate syrup and draw a design instead (like I did).
Coffee mixology, on the other hand, is much more doable. We learned how to make an illy Espressoda with lime juice, seltzer water, simple syrup, and espresso. Another tasty combination was illy’s Cold Brew Aria with orange juice. I would’ve never thought to combine any of these ingredients but they surprisingly worked well together!
If you’re interested in attending a University of Coffee class or would like to learn more about illy’s Build Your Own Coffee Experiences, click here!
Recently, illy released their newest Art Collection by Olimpia Zagnoli and their Y3.2 espresso machine in white and blue. The Art Collection allows selected contemporary artists to transform a cup into a white canvas to showcase their art. The new Olimpia Zagnoli collection showcases a tale of sisterhood and I wish I was as fabulous as the ladies on the cups.
The Y3.2 is a capsule machine that can make both coffee and espresso. I always love a good latte so now that I am a proud owner of a Y3.2, I can make barista-quality lattes on my own at home (although I still haven’t mastered my latte art skills). I now get excited to start every morning with my homemade latte and it actually gets me out of bed. Additionally, the compact-design of the Y3.2 is also perfect for small San Francisco kitchens (because we all know that countertop real estate is precious).
If you haven’t already, I hope you experience illy coffee for yourself, whether it’s at a caffè or at home. This post was sponsored by illy but all thoughts and comments are my own (if you haven’t noticed, I’m a big fan). To find an illy caffè near you, click here!
