Lavazza makes a fantastic coffee; however, these pods, designated ESE, do not work well with my Francis! Francis! ESE espresso maker. In comparison, it takes an average of 20-22 seconds to pull a shot with the illy ESE pods. These Lavazza pods take, on average, 5-8 seconds -- way too fast! (Maybe the coffee is not packed well enough inside the pods?)
When in Italy (and here at home), I drink a lot of illy and Lavazza, but, sorry to disappoint, these pods were not up to par! Of course, if you're in a rush in the morning, maybe shaving off 15 seconds is a good thing!