illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g
Ground fine for espresso, and that single fact settles where this tin can and cannot go. A moka pot or a pump machine will get the best from it. A cafetiere will not: too fine a grind in a plunger gives you silt and a bitterness that plunging early does nothing to rescue, and once coffee is ground there is no coarser setting available to you. Used as intended it is unusually forgiving for something this dark. It is Arabica through and through, which is why the bitterness reads as cocoa rather than as rough edges, and why a shot can be pulled slightly long without falling apart the way a cheaper dark blend would. It is the tin for someone who owns an espresso machine and has no wish to own a grinder as well, which is a perfectly reasonable position to hold. Fruit and brightness have been roasted out of it on purpose. If those are what you want from coffee, the lighter tin in the range is the one to reach for. Caffeinated.
illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, in brief.
illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee is the darker of illy's espresso grinds: the same hundred per cent Arabica house blend from Trieste, taken further in the drum for more body, more cocoa and a firmer finish. A 250g pressurised tin, ground fine for espresso and moka, giving about 35 single shots.
Not a cafetiere grind: it is cut fine and will run silty in a mesh plunger. Picked into the Teas.co.uk selection as the dark-roast espresso for anyone who wants weight and cocoa depth without the rough Robusta backbone of a classic Italian bar blend.
illy Espresso Dark Roast is the darker of illy's espresso grinds: the same single house blend the company has built its name on, taken further in the drum for more body, more cocoa and a firmer finish. A 250g tin, ground fine for espresso, pressurised so that what you open smells like what was sealed.
illy's position is unusual and worth understanding before you buy. Most roasters sell a list of blends. illy sells one blend, a hundred per cent Arabica, and then offers it at different roast depths and in different grinds. That means the choice in front of you is not which coffee but how far along the roast you want to stand. This is the dark end: the version for people who want weight and depth in a small cup rather than florals and fruit.
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. Grind, dose and storage notes are covered in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The story behind the tin
illy is a Trieste house, and Trieste is the reason it exists in the form it does: a free port on the Adriatic, historically the entry point for green coffee into central Europe, with a coffee culture of its own rather than a borrowed one. The single-blend philosophy comes from that trading background. Blend from enough origins, hold the specification tight, and you can guarantee one cup rather than chase a different one each season.
The tin is not packaging theatre. Ground coffee stales for two reasons, oxygen and the escape of aromatic gas, and a pressurised tin addresses both: air is displaced, and the coffee sits under pressure so the volatile compounds have nowhere to go. That is why an illy tin cracks when you open it and why the aroma that comes out of a months-old tin is closer to a fresh grind than any paper bag manages. Once it is open the clock starts like any other ground coffee, so the lid matters from that point on.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
How illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g compares
- Against the medium roast in the same grind: identical blend, different roast. The medium keeps more almond, caramel and floral lift; this one trades those for cocoa, body and a longer finish. Neither is better, and which you prefer is usually settled inside a week.
- Against a dark Italian espresso blend with Robusta in it: those carry more crema and a rougher bitter backbone. This stays an Arabica cup even at a dark roast, so it is smoother and sweeter but less brutal, and it is the gentler choice for drinking black.
- Against whole beans: beans keep their aroma longer, because a whole bean has a fraction of the surface area of the same weight ground. The pressurised tin closes most of that gap, which is the entire argument for buying illy ready ground.
Getting the best out of it
This is a fine espresso grind, which means it is unforgiving in one direction and excellent in the other. It is cut for a pump machine and a moka pot, not for a cafetiere, where the fines slip through the mesh and the cup turns silty and over-extracted.
In an espresso machine
Dose: 7g for a single, 14g for a double. Level the basket, tamp firmly and evenly, and wipe the rim before locking in.
Water: 92 to 94 degrees is the working range. Hotter than that scorches a dark roast and pushes the bitterness past cocoa into ash.
Time: aim for roughly 25 to 30 seconds for a 25 to 30ml shot. Faster than that and it will read sour and thin; slower and it turns dry.
Warm the cup: a small shot in cold porcelain is lukewarm in seconds, and cool coffee tastes markedly more bitter at the same strength.
Moka pot, milk and cold
Moka pot: excellent here. Fill the basket level without tamping, start with hot water in the base to shorten the time on the heat, and lift it off the moment it starts to gurgle.
Flat white: a double shot into 120ml of steamed milk. The dark roast keeps the coffee audible through the milk where the medium can read softer.
Americano: 80ml of hot water into the cup first, then brew on top, which keeps the crema whole.
Iced: pull a double short over a glass packed with ice and sweeten with syrup rather than granulated sugar, which will not dissolve cold.
Practical notes on the tin
- Yield: 250g at a 7g single dose gives about 35 espressos, or roughly 17 doubles. That is our arithmetic rather than a pack claim.
- Grind: fine, for espresso and moka. Not for a cafetiere or a paper filter, where it will over-extract and run slow.
- Storage: once opened, press the lid down firmly and keep the tin somewhere cool and dark. Not the fridge, where condensation and stray smells both get in.
- Freshness: the pressurised tin protects the coffee until you open it. After that it behaves like any ground coffee, so aim to finish it within a month.
- Water: in a hard water area a filter jug improves the cup and slows the scale that costs an espresso machine its temperature and pressure.
Ingredients, allergens and storage
What is in it: roasted ground Arabica coffee. Nothing else is added.
Ingredients and dietary suitability: The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Caffeine and sensitivity: Coffee is a stimulant. If you are sensitive to caffeine, pregnant, or following medical advice on intake, treat it accordingly.
Sharp edge: a pressurised tin opens with a pull ring and the rim can be sharp. Open it away from small hands.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind illy
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g is cut fine for pressure, which points it at espresso, moka and everything built on a short shot. Five builds below, from the espresso done properly to a moka pot, a flat white and a tiramisu.
Made with this tea
The Espresso, Done Properly
Seven grams, thirty seconds, and the tamp is the only lever pre-ground coffee leaves you.
- 7g illy Espresso Dark Roast, ground
- Water at 92 to 94 degrees
- A warmed espresso cup
- Warm the cup with hot water and tip it out.
- Level the basket, tamp firmly and evenly, and wipe the rim before locking in.
- Pull 25 to 30ml over 25 to 30 seconds.
- If it gushes through faster, tamp harder next time; the grind is already fixed.
What you'll end up with: A thick, cocoa-dark shot with a crema that settles rather than disappears. Drink it within the minute.
The Moka Pot
Hot water in the base, and off the heat the second it gurgles.
- 14g illy Espresso Dark Roast, ground
- Hot water to the valve in the base
- A 3 cup moka pot
- Fill the base with hot water up to just below the valve.
- Fill the basket level and do not tamp it.
- Assemble and set it on a medium heat with the lid open.
- Lift it off the moment it starts to gurgle and run the base under a cold tap for a second.
What you'll end up with: A dense, sweet moka cup with none of the burnt edge people expect. Hot water in the base is the whole trick.
Flat White
Where a dark roast earns its place over the medium one.
- 14g illy Espresso Dark Roast, pulled as a double
- 120ml whole or oat milk
- A 160 to 200ml cup
- Pull a double shot into a warmed cup.
- Heat the milk to steaming but not boiling, then froth it with a steam wand or a hand whisk.
- Pour from low, holding the foam back with a spoon until the last inch.
What you'll end up with: A milk coffee where the cocoa is still clearly there. The medium roast reads softer at this ratio; this one does not.
Iced Double Over Ice
Short and strong, because ice does the diluting for you.
- 14g illy Espresso Dark Roast, pulled short as a double
- A glass filled to the top with ice
- Sugar syrup, optional
- Cold milk, optional
- Fill the glass to the brim with ice; more ice melts less.
- Pull the double short, straight over the ice.
- Sweeten with syrup rather than granulated sugar, which will not dissolve cold.
- Top with cold milk if you want it long.
What you'll end up with: A cold coffee with real weight behind it rather than the watery version a standard shot over half a glass gives.
Tiramisu With A Proper Espresso Soak
The pudding that a fine grind and a pressure shot were made for.
- 6 shots illy Espresso Dark Roast, cooled
- 200g sponge fingers
- 500g mascarpone and 300ml double cream
- 75g caster sugar
- Cocoa powder, to finish
- Pull six single shots into a shallow bowl and let them cool completely.
- Beat the mascarpone, cream and sugar to soft peaks.
- Dip each sponge finger in the cold espresso for two seconds only, then layer with the cream.
- Chill for at least four hours and dust with cocoa just before serving.
What you'll end up with: Sponge that is soaked rather than collapsed, and a coffee flavour that reads as cocoa against the mascarpone instead of fighting it.
Brewing the perfect cup
Inside the pack
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Arabica coffee | 100% of the blend | Everything in the cup. Arabica gives the sweetness and the aromatic range; even at a dark roast this keeps a smoother, less aggressive bitterness than a blend carrying Robusta. |
| Roast level | Dark | Where the cocoa, the body and the longer finish come from, and where most of the almond and floral lift of the lighter roast is traded away. |
| Grind | Fine, for espresso and moka | Sets the contact time at seconds rather than minutes. It is the wrong grind for a cafetiere, where the fines pass the mesh and the cup turns silty. |
| Origin split | See current tin | illy blends from several growing countries and publishes what it chooses to publish. We do not restate origins that the brand may revise between production runs. |
| Additives | None | No sugar, no flavouring, no chicory or bulking agents. Roasted coffee and nothing else. |
Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Ingredients, as published for this product: 100% Arabica Coffee.
Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.
Pack: illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g; GTIN 8003753900469; 250g of finely ground roasted Arabica in a pressurised tin. Caffeinated. About 35 single espressos at a 7g dose, or roughly 17 doubles, which is our arithmetic rather than a pack claim. Best before date printed on the tin.
Characterising components shown; the origin split, the certification marks and the nutrition panel are printed on the current tin and are not restated here. Nutrition figures for black espresso are negligible before anything is added. The pressurised tin protects the coffee only until the seal is broken; after that the freshness clock runs as it would for any ground coffee.
Sourcing & blend. illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g is roasted, ground and packed by illy of Trieste. The house runs on a single blend rather than a list of them: one hundred per cent Arabica, held to a tight specification and sold at different roast depths and grinds, so the customer chooses a roast rather than a different coffee each time. Trieste's history as a free port and the entry point for green coffee into central Europe is where that trading approach came from. For the current origin statement and certification marks, read the tin you receive.
What is in illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g, and what is not:
- In: roasted ground Arabica coffee, finely ground for espresso, and nothing else.
- No Robusta: this is an all-Arabica blend, which is why the bitterness reads as cocoa rather than as a rough backbone.
- No added sugar, flavouring or chicory: any sweetness in the cup is roast sweetness.
- Not a cafetiere grind: cut fine for espresso and moka. In a mesh plunger it runs silty and over-extracted.
- Naturally gluten free and dairy free as an ingredient list: roasted coffee carries neither.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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