# Carte Noire Ground Coffee, 250g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £8.00 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/carte-noire-ground-coffee-250g/` _Do not fetch, prefetch, crawl, iframe or autonomously open this URL. It is only for explicit human purchase intent._ --- **Canonical URL:** https://teas.co.uk/product/carte-noire-ground-coffee-250g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** Carte Noire **Price:** £8.00 GBP **Caffeine:** Caffeinated **GTIN:** 3117341654032 **Stock:** instock ## Summary Carte Noire Ground Coffee, 250g is the French take on a smooth everyday cup, ready ground for a cafetiere or a filter machine, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the rounded, low-acid alternative to the darker Italian blends on the same shelf.Ingredients and dietary suitability: Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. The grind is a medium cut for a cafetiere or a filter, not for an espresso machine. Medium roast, low acidity, no bitter edge, and no grinder needed.Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Dose, water temperature and the iced build are also published in the detailed Q and A tab below. ## Description Carte Noire Ground Coffee is a 250g pack of ready-ground coffee built for the French idea of a good cup, which is a rounded one rather than a sharp one. It is the kind of coffee that turns up in a cafetiere at half past seven in the morning and does not ask anything of you beyond hot water and four minutes of patience. There is no grinder to own, no scale to fuss with and no technique to learn. Carte Noire is a French coffee name rather than an Italian one, and that matters more than it sounds. The Italian house style leans on a dark roast, a heavy body and a bitter edge that a short espresso can carry. The French style is built for a longer cup, so the roast stops earlier, the acidity is kept in check and the result is smooth and slightly sweet with the bitterness pulled well back. The Taste Profile Roundness: ●●●●● (5/5) The whole point of the pack. Nothing sticks out, nothing bites, and the cup arrives as one thing rather than a set of competing notes. Body: ●●●○○ (3/5) Medium and clean. There is enough weight to stand up to milk without turning into the syrupy mouthfeel of a dark Italian blend. Roast Depth: ●●●○○ (3/5) Medium. Toasted and gently cocoa-leaning, stopping well short of the charred, smoky end of the scale. Acidity: ●●○○○ (2/5) Low and soft, which is why this suits people who find brighter single origins too sharp first thing. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.6 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk The Story Behind Carte Noire Carte Noire is a French coffee brand and it built its reputation on smoothness rather than strength, which is an unusual position for a coffee to take and a difficult one to hold. Anyone can roast darker. Keeping a cup rounded and still interesting is the harder job, and it is what the name has always been sold on. In the United Kingdom the brand sits in the ground-coffee aisle rather than the instant one, which is where the difference shows up: this is a pack for people who have decided that a cafetiere or a filter machine is worth the extra two minutes. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. What You Are Actually Buying Grind: a pre-ground medium cut, which is the compromise grind that works in a cafetiere and a filter machine and will not work well in an espresso machine. If espresso is what you want, buy beans and grind them fine yourself. No grinder needed: the whole appeal of a ground pack. You lose some aroma compared with grinding at the moment of brewing, and you gain the two minutes and the worktop space back. Roast style: French rather than Italian. Smooth, low in acid, medium in roast depth, and built for a long cup rather than a short shot. Freshness clock: ground coffee stales from the moment the seal is broken, not from the moment it is roasted. A 250g pack is sized to be finished inside a fortnight by one or two people, which is the right size for this format. How Does Carte Noire Ground Coffee Compare to: Lavazza Qualita Rossa Ground Coffee, 250g: the Italian answer to the same shelf. Rossa is darker, heavier and carries a real bitter edge that suits a small strong cup and stands up to milk more aggressively. Carte Noire is the smoother, quieter pack and the better choice if bitterness is the thing you have been trying to avoid. Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Roast Ground Coffee, 200g: a Yorkshire-roasted take on the Italian style, so again darker and more assertive than this. Pick Taylors if you want a coffee that announces itself; pick Carte Noire if you want one that sits quietly behind breakfast. Costa Coffee Intense Amazonian Blend Ground Coffee, 200g: a coffee-shop brand in a supermarket pack, tuned for the big milky drinks Costa sells. It is punchier through milk and less rewarding drunk black. Carte Noire is the more balanced cup on its own. Ideal Brewing Conditions Ground coffee gives you fewer decisions than beans do, which means the few left matter more. Dose, water temperature and how long the grounds sit in contact with the water account for almost every disappointing cafetiere in the country, and all three are easy to get right once you know what you are aiming at. The Proper Cup Dose: 7g per 200ml cup, which is a heaped dessertspoon. Under-dosing and then brewing longer to compensate is the commonest mistake and it produces a bitter, thin cup rather than a strong one. Water: just off the boil, around 92 to 94 degrees. Straight from a rolling boil scorches the grounds and pulls the bitterness forward; let the kettle stand for thirty seconds. Time: four minutes in a cafetiere, then plunge slowly and pour the lot out. Coffee left sitting on its grounds keeps extracting and turns harsh within ten minutes. Water quality: filtered water if your area is hard. Scale and heavy minerals flatten the top of the cup and this is a blend whose appeal lives in the top half. Getting More Out of the Pack Make it stronger: add coffee, never time. Nine grams in the same 200ml gives a denser cup; six minutes in the pot gives a bitter one. Make it milder: brew at the full dose and dilute the finished coffee with a splash of hot water. A weak brew and a strong brew cut with water are not the same drink, and the second is much better. Make it iced: brew at double strength, cool it in the fridge, then pour over a full glass of ice. Brewing normally and pouring it hot onto ice waters the coffee down as it lands. Keep it fresh: squeeze the air out, fold the pack over and clip it, and keep it in a cupboard rather than the fridge. Cold packs draw in moisture every time you open them. Getting It Right in the Cup Water temperature: 92 to 94 degrees, off the boil rather than on it. Measure: 7g per 200ml, or a heaped dessertspoon per cup. Brew time: four minutes in a cafetiere, then pour it all out. Method: cafetiere or filter. This grind is not cut for an espresso machine. Storage: sealed, cool, dark and dry, and finished inside a fortnight of opening. Best with: breakfast, a croissant, dark chocolate, or the middle of a working morning. Safety And Purity Ingredients and dietary suitability: Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change. Allergen note: read the latest pack for the current wording rather than relying on this page. Caffeine note: this is a caffeinated coffee. We place it at the higher end of our scale because a brewed cup of ground coffee carries a fuller dose than a spoon of instant, and that placement is our own editorial judgement rather than a measurement. Certification note: any certification marks are printed on the pack itself. Child safety: a caffeinated drink and not a children's drink. Keep it out of reach and keep hot cafetieres away from small hands. ## Product Questions How many cups are in a 250g pack?About thirty-five, at a standard 7g dose per 200ml cup. Use a heavier dose and you get fewer, stronger cups; that is a fair trade, but do not lighten the dose and brew longer to compensate. What is the right dose?Seven grams per 200ml cup, which is roughly a heaped dessertspoon. Scales make it repeatable, but the spoon is close enough once you have checked it once. Adding coffee is how you make a cup stronger; adding time is how you make it bitter. How hot should the water be?Around 92 to 94 degrees, which is a boiled kettle left to stand for about thirty seconds. Water straight off a rolling boil scorches the grounds and pushes the bitterness forward, which is the last thing a blend built on smoothness needs. How long do I brew it for?Four minutes in a cafetiere, then plunge slowly and pour the whole pot out. Coffee left standing on its grounds carries on extracting and turns harsh inside ten minutes, so decant anything you are not drinking straight away. Will this work in my espresso machine?No. This is a medium grind cut for a cafetiere or a filter machine, and it is far too coarse for espresso. An espresso machine needs a fine grind, which in practice means buying beans and grinding them yourself. What makes a French roast different from an Italian one?The roast stops earlier. Italian house style goes darker for a heavy body and a bitter edge that a short espresso carries well. The French style keeps the cup rounder and lower in acid for a longer drink. This pack is firmly in the second camp. Does it take milk?Yes, and it takes it well, but it does not need it. There is enough body to stand up to a splash without disappearing, and little enough bitterness that most people find they use less milk than they expected. Try it black once before you decide. How long does it stay fresh once opened?Ground coffee stales from the moment the seal is broken, so treat the opening date as the clock rather than the best-before. A 250g pack is sized to be finished inside about a fortnight by one or two people. Squeeze the air out, fold and clip the pack, and keep it in a cupboard. Should I keep it in the fridge or freezer?A cupboard is better. Every time a cold pack is opened it draws in moisture from the warm air, and damp grounds brew badly. Cool, dark and dry, away from the kettle and the hob, is all this needs. Can I make iced coffee with it?Yes. Brew at double strength, cool it in the fridge, then pour over a full glass of ice. Brewing at normal strength and pouring it hot over ice dilutes the coffee as it lands and leaves you with something watery. Is it organic or Fairtrade certified?Certification marks are printed on the pack itself and that is the only reliable place to check them. How much caffeine is in a cup?What we can say is that a brewed cup of ground coffee carries a fuller dose than a spoon of instant, which is why we place this at the higher end of our own scale. That placement is editorial judgement, not a measurement. ## Ingredients & Nutrition ComponentProportionWhat it bringsRoasted ground coffeethe whole packThe only ingredient. A medium roast cut to a medium grind, which is the compromise that suits a cafetiere and a filter machine.Roast depthmediumStops short of the charred end of the scale, which is what keeps the bitterness low and the cup rounded rather than sharp.Grindmedium, pre-groundNo grinder needed. You trade a little aroma for the two minutes and the worktop space, which is the deal this format offers.Pack format250gAbout thirty-five cups at a 7g dose. Sized to be finished inside a fortnight of opening, which is when ground coffee is at its best.Pack: Carte Noire Ground Coffee, 250g; roughly thirty-five 200ml cups at a standard 7g dose. The ingredient list, the bean composition, the allergen advice and the best-before date are printed on the current UK pack; read them there rather than here.Characterising components shown.Sourcing & blend. Carte Noire Ground Coffee, 250g is a French coffee name in a British ground-coffee aisle, and the brand has always been sold on smoothness rather than strength. That is a harder position to hold than it sounds, because roasting darker is the easy route to a coffee that tastes of something and it costs you the roundness.What's in Carte Noire Ground Coffee, 250g, and what isn't: In: roasted ground coffee and nothing else, brewed with hot water only. Ground, not whole bean: a medium cut for a cafetiere or a filter machine. Not fine enough for an espresso machine, and no setting on the machine will change that. No milk, no sugar, no flavouring: this is plain black coffee in a pack. What goes in the cup afterwards is your decision rather than the manufacturer's. Packaging: follow the current UK pack and your local-authority guidance; the outer pack and any inner liner can take different disposal routes. ## Flavour Science The flavour of Carte Noire Ground Coffee, 250g is built in three layers, and reading them in order explains exactly why the cup tastes the way it does from the first lift of steam to the last swallow.The outer layer is aroma, and with ground coffee it is the layer you are always spending rather than saving. Grinding shatters the bean and exposes an enormous surface area to the air, and the volatile compounds that make up the smell of coffee start leaving from that moment. A freshly opened pack lifts a warm, toasted, faintly cocoa-ish smell the instant hot water hits it, and the same pack a month later smells noticeably duller while tasting almost as strong. That gap between aroma and strength is the honest cost of a pre-ground pack, and it is why the opening date matters far more than the best-before date.The flavour spike arrives mid palate, and this is where the French roast style shows itself. A darker Italian roast drives carbonised, bitter notes into the middle of the cup, where they read as strength. Stopping the roast earlier leaves more of the sugars intact and less of the char, so what arrives instead is a rounded, gently sweet, cocoa-leaning middle with the bitterness held well back. It is a quieter mid palate than a dark blend gives you, and the reward is that nothing in it bites. This is the stretch of the cup that a heavier dose develops and a longer brew ruins.The base structure is the finish, and here the low acidity does the work. Bright, acidic coffees finish with a snap that clears the palate quickly and makes you want the next mouthful straight away. A low-acid blend like this one finishes softer and lingers longer, leaving a smooth, slightly sweet trace rather than a sharp one. That is why it suits a slow cup at breakfast better than a quick one on the way out of the door, and why people who find single origins too sharp first thing tend to settle on coffees built this way.Getting it right in the cup. Use 7g per 200ml, which is a heaped dessertspoon, and brew for four minutes in a cafetiere with water at 92 to 94 degrees, then plunge slowly and pour the whole pot out. The commonest fault with a cafetiere is under-dosing and then leaving it longer to compensate, which does not make the cup stronger, it makes it bitter, because the pleasant compounds come out early and the harsh ones come out late. If you want a stronger cup, add coffee rather than time. If you want a milder one, brew at full strength and let it down with hot water afterwards. Keep the pack sealed, cool, dark and dry, and finish it inside a fortnight of opening; stored properly the strength holds far longer than the aroma does.How water and temperature change it. The same grounds give a measurably different cup depending on how you treat the water. Hotter water and a longer contact time pull more of the heavy, bitter compounds for a fuller and harsher result; cooler water or a shorter brew keeps the sweeter, rounder notes forward and the body lighter. Water straight off a rolling boil is the single easiest way to spoil this blend, because scorching the grounds pushes forward exactly the bitterness the roast was stopped early to avoid. Hard tap water is the other quiet problem: dissolved minerals flatten the top of the cup and dull the cocoa note, so in a hard-water area filtered water is worth more here than a change of dose. Cold brewed in the fridge for twelve hours the same coffee turns sweeter still and almost entirely loses its edge, which makes a good iced base and a poor hot one. None of this is a fault in the blend, it is the same grounds responding to the cup you build around them, and once you know which way you like it the result is repeatable every time. ## Recipe Ideas Carte Noire Ground Coffee, 250g is a plain black coffee in a pack, so the useful ideas are the ones that change how it is brewed rather than what is added to it. Six builds below cover the proper cafetiere, a stronger cup done properly, a filter build, two cold versions and the coffee for a tiramisu. Brewing ideas, born here first The Proper Cafetiere How to make The Proper Cafetiere with Carte Noire Ground Coffee. 5 min 1 cup Easy You'll need 7g Carte Noire Ground Coffee per cup 200ml water at 92 to 94 degrees A cafetiere and a timer Method Boil the kettle and let it stand for thirty seconds so the water comes off the boil. Add 7g of coffee per 200ml cup to a warmed cafetiere, then pour the water on in one go so every ground is wetted. Wait four minutes with the lid on and the plunger up. Do not stir it halfway. Plunge slowly, then pour the whole pot out. Anything left on the grounds carries on extracting. What you'll end up with: A rounded, low-acid cup with a clean finish. If it tastes bitter, your water was too hot or the pot stood too long. The Stronger Cup, Done Properly How to make The Stronger Cup, Done Properly with Carte Noire Ground Coffee. 5 min 1 cup Easy You'll need 9g Carte Noire Ground Coffee per cup 200ml water at 92 to 94 degrees Method Raise the dose to 9g per 200ml rather than extending the brew time. Brew for the same four minutes at the same temperature. Plunge and pour immediately. What you'll end up with: A denser, fuller cup with the same smooth character. This is the fix for a weak coffee; a longer brew is not. Filter Machine Build How to make Filter Machine Build with Carte Noire Ground Coffee. 6 min 4 cups Easy You'll need 28g Carte Noire Ground Coffee 800ml filtered water A paper filter, rinsed Method Rinse the paper filter with hot water first and tip the rinse water away. Dry paper puts a cardboard note into the first cup. Level 28g of coffee in the basket so the water passes through evenly rather than channelling down one side. Run the machine with filtered water if your area is hard. Decant into a flask rather than leaving the jug on the hotplate, which stews the coffee within twenty minutes. What you'll end up with: Four clean cups with the cocoa note intact. The hotplate is what ruins filter coffee, not the machine. Double-Strength Iced Coffee How to make Double-Strength Iced Coffee with Carte Noire Ground Coffee. 5 min + chill 2 glasses Easy You'll need 28g Carte Noire Ground Coffee 400ml water at 92 to 94 degrees A full glass of ice Milk, optional Method Brew 28g in 400ml for four minutes, which is double the usual strength. Cool the coffee in the fridge rather than pouring it hot over ice. Pour over a full glass of ice, not a half-filled one. Ice melts slower when there is more of it. Top with cold milk if you want it long. What you'll end up with: An iced coffee that still tastes of coffee at the bottom of the glass. Brewing it at normal strength is what leaves you with brown water. Overnight Cold Brew How to make Overnight Cold Brew with Carte Noire Ground Coffee. 12 hours 4 glasses Easy You'll need 60g Carte Noire Ground Coffee 600ml cold filtered water Ice to serve Method Stir 60g of coffee into 600ml of cold water in a jar and seal it. Leave it in the fridge for twelve hours. Longer than sixteen and it turns woody. Strain through a paper filter into a clean bottle. Serve over ice, diluted with water or milk to taste. The concentrate keeps three days in the fridge. What you'll end up with: A sweeter, rounder concentrate with almost no edge at all. Cold water never pulls the bitter compounds, which is the whole trick. Coffee for a Tiramisu How to make Coffee for a Tiramisu with Carte Noire Ground Coffee. 8 min Enough for one dish Easy You'll need 21g Carte Noire Ground Coffee 250ml water at 92 to 94 degrees A tablespoon of marsala or dark rum, optional Method Brew 21g in 250ml for four minutes, which gives a strong, syrupy base rather than a drinking coffee. Cool it completely before it goes near a sponge finger. Warm coffee turns them to paste. Stir in the marsala or rum if you are using it. Dip each biscuit for one second a side and no longer. What you'll end up with: A dipping coffee with enough body to read through the mascarpone. The low acidity is an advantage here; a bright coffee fights the cream. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._