Oils on the beans vs. in the beans
illy makes one blend, for the whole world. To my knowledge no other known company puts all its eggs in one basket to that extent. What they do they do perfectly well. illy's blend is "perfumed" like very few others. This perfume comes in part through the pressurization (Pr) process that illy has mastered; many have copied it, none has duplicated it. Oil droplets inside the coffee expand during Pr and coat the inner surface of the bean. The gas formed inside the cells during roasting is saturated with aromas and tries to escape once the beans are cooled. The counter-pressure exerted by the nitrogen (inert gas) forces those aromas to settle inside the beans. The oil droplets become saturated with aromas, trapping them, to only release them under the extreme pressure the coffee receives once ground and extracted through a pump-driven espresso machine. While under Pr the the CO2 and aromas circulate between the individual cell walls. In under a week fatty bubbles coat the cell walls. The carrier gas CO2 passes through while the heavier aromas remain entrapped. Traditionally perfumes used to be made in a similar fashion. For example, rose petals would be deposited on layers on organic grease. The grease would absorb the aromas, and distillation would then take place. This process was very expensive. illy's process is also very expensive. They don't do it because they want to be different. They do it because the coffee that we get through this process is truely superior, consistently superior. Of course, one needs to drink it unadulterated (no milk, syrups, or whipped cream) and as soon as it poured into a preheated 2 oz porcelain cup to really appreciate it for the true elixir that it is. I have tried many coffees around the world over the past ten years. None has ever consistently come close to illy's perfectly rounded cup.
They answered the e-mail back to me in a nice manner they just need to find someone to come on here. Hope they do soon! 
