You obviously don't understand the concept of fresh coffee. The mass
coffee sellers would have you believe that coffee is "fresh" for a year
or more. Coffee is much like baked goods, freshly baked is the best,
they flavor and aroma goes and eventually the product is rancid and no
longer fresh for health department purposes. Freshly roasted coffee
give off gas (CO2) and volatile oils and aromatics. It is the volatile
oils that emulsify with water and other compounds in the coffee to make
crema. Once the coffee has lost these volatile oils it is stale for for
brewing purposes. Depending on a number of factors including the type
of beans, the degree of roast and storage conditions coffee is "fresh"
for 1 to 3 weeks. I'm using the term "fresh" for espresso purposes. It
will make crema and a decent tasting shot.

Canned coffee is usually staled before putting in the can or the can
would explode from the de-gassing coffee. Once the coffee is ground the
volatile oils dissipate rapidly -- 10 minutes can make a noticeable
difference in your espresso shot.

Your best bet is to find a local roaster and buy beans that were roasted
on the day of purchase.

R "do you know when your beans were roasted" TF

Charles Turner wrote:
> Hi,
>
> It's not the coffee. I freshly grind it and I've tried lots of different
> types.
>
> If I try the pre-ground espresso it is too fine.
>
> I've even tried Gaggia's own ground coffee and still hardly any crema!
>
> Charles
>
>