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    "id": 1073172,
    "title": "illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g",
    "slug": "illy-espresso-dark-roast-ground-coffee-250g",
    "type": "product",
    "url": "https://teas.co.uk/product/illy-espresso-dark-roast-ground-coffee-250g/",
    "modified": "2026-09-25T23:28:19+01:00",
    "excerpt": "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.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.Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.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.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.",
    "content_text": "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.\n\nilly'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.\n\n The Taste Profile\n\nIntensity: \u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cb (4/5) The dark end of illy's roast scale, though still an Arabica blend rather than a Robusta-driven Italian bruiser.\nBody: \u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cb (4/5) Thick and syrupy in an espresso cup, with a crema that holds and settles rather than vanishing.\nBitterness: \u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cb\u25cb (3/5) Deliberate and cocoa-like rather than harsh. The roast carries it; there is no Robusta edge underneath.\nAcidity: \u25cf\u25cf\u25cb\u25cb\u25cb (2/5) Low. What survives is a faint dark-fruit lift behind the cocoa, not the almond and caramel brightness of the lighter roast.\n\nTeas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.8 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk.\n\n The story behind the tin\nilly 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.\nThe 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.\nPackaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.\n\n How illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g compares\n\n 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.\n 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.\n 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.\n\n Getting the best out of it\nThis 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.\n\nIn an espresso machine\n\nDose: 7g for a single, 14g for a double. Level the basket, tamp firmly and evenly, and wipe the rim before locking in.\nWater: 92 to 94 degrees is the working range. Hotter than that scorches a dark roast and pushes the bitterness past cocoa into ash.\nTime: 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.\nWarm the cup: a small shot in cold porcelain is lukewarm in seconds, and cool coffee tastes markedly more bitter at the same strength.\n\nMoka pot, milk and cold\n\nMoka 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.\nFlat 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.\nAmericano: 80ml of hot water into the cup first, then brew on top, which keeps the crema whole.\nIced: pull a double short over a glass packed with ice and sweeten with syrup rather than granulated sugar, which will not dissolve cold.\n\n Practical notes on the tin\n\nYield: 250g at a 7g single dose gives about 35 espressos, or roughly 17 doubles. That is our arithmetic rather than a pack claim.\nGrind: fine, for espresso and moka. Not for a cafetiere or a paper filter, where it will over-extract and run slow.\nStorage: 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.\nFreshness: 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.\nWater: in a hard water area a filter jug improves the cup and slows the scale that costs an espresso machine its temperature and pressure.\n\n Ingredients, allergens and storage\nWhat is in it: roasted ground Arabica coffee. Nothing else is added.\nIngredients 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.\n\nCaffeine and sensitivity: Coffee is a stimulant. If you are sensitive to caffeine, pregnant, or following medical advice on intake, treat it accordingly.\nSharp edge: a pressurised tin opens with a pull ring and the rim can be sharp. Open it away from small hands.",
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                "title": "Product Questions",
                "content": "How is this different from the illy medium roast?Same blend, different roast. illy sells one hundred per cent Arabica house blend and offers it at different roast depths. The medium keeps more almond, caramel and floral lift; this one trades those for cocoa, body and a longer finish. The choice is how far along the roast you want to stand, not which coffee. What can I brew it in?It is a fine espresso grind, cut for a pump espresso machine or a moka pot. It is the wrong grind for a cafetiere, where the fines slip through the mesh and the cup turns silty and over-extracted, and it will run slow and bitter in a paper filter. What dose should I use?7g for a single, 14g for a double. Level the basket, tamp firmly and evenly, and wipe the rim before locking in. At a 7g single dose a 250g tin gives about 35 shots, which is our arithmetic rather than a pack claim. What water temperature does it want?92 to 94 degrees. Hotter than that scorches a dark roast and pushes the bitterness past cocoa into ash. If your machine has no temperature control, let it settle properly after the warm-up rather than pulling the first shot immediately. How long should the shot take?Roughly 25 to 30 seconds for a 25 to 30ml single. If it gushes through faster it will read sour and thin, and the fix is a finer grind or a firmer tamp; if it crawls, the puck is too tight. With pre-ground coffee the tamp is the lever you have. Why is the tin pressurised?Ground coffee stales from oxygen and from losing aromatic gas. A pressurised tin deals with both: the air is displaced and the coffee sits under pressure, so the volatiles have nowhere to go. That is why the tin cracks when you open it. Once open, it behaves like any ground coffee, so press the lid down firmly. How long does it keep once opened?Aim to finish it within about a month of opening. Keep the tin somewhere cool and dark with the lid pressed down; do not put it in the fridge, where condensation and stray kitchen smells both get in. The unopened tin is protected until you break the seal. Does it work in a flat white?Yes, and better than the medium roast does at the same ratio. A darker roast stays audible through milk rather than softening into it. A double shot into 120ml of steamed milk is the standard build. Can I use it in a moka pot?It is one of the best uses for it. Fill the basket level and do not tamp, start with hot water in the base so the pot spends less time on the heat, and lift it off the moment it begins to gurgle. Leaving it on past that point is what produces the burnt moka cup people complain about. Does hard water matter?On two counts. It mutes the aromatics and leaves a chalky edge on the finish, which a dark roast shows sooner than a pale one, and over months it scales the boiler and quietly steals the temperature and pressure that crema depends on. A filter jug is the cheap fix. How much caffeine is in a shot?This is a fully caffeinated coffee. A dark roast is not automatically higher or lower in caffeine than a lighter one from the same blend."
            },
            {
                "title": "Ingredients & Nutrition",
                "content": "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.IngredientProportionWhat it bringsArabica coffee100% of the blendEverything 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 levelDarkWhere 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.GrindFine, for espresso and mokaSets 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 splitSee current tinilly 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.AdditivesNoneNo sugar, no flavouring, no chicory or bulking agents. Roasted coffee and nothing else.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."
            },
            {
                "title": "Flavour Science",
                "content": "The flavour of illy Espresso Dark Roast 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. With ground coffee in an espresso machine the levers are the dose, the tamp, the water temperature and the clock, and all four are yours.The outer layer is aromatic: dark cocoa, toasted bread and a faint dark-fruit note underneath, which is what escapes the moment the tin is opened and again when the pump starts. These are the lightest and most volatile compounds in the coffee, the first to arrive and the first to go. The pressurised tin exists precisely to hold this layer: displace the oxygen, keep the coffee under pressure, and the aromatic gas has nowhere to escape to until you break the seal. In the cup the crema takes over the same job, an emulsion of coffee oils and dissolved carbon dioxide forced together under pressure, capping the shot for a minute or so before it collapses and lets the aroma go. That is the honest reason an espresso is better drunk standing at the machine than carried to a desk.The flavour spike arrives mid palate. A dark roast has been taken well along the Maillard range, developing cocoa, toast and a savoury depth while burning off most of the bright acids that the medium roast keeps. Because this is an all-Arabica blend rather than an Italian bar blend with Robusta in it, the bitterness that arrives is cocoa-like rather than rough, and the sweetness underneath survives the roast better than it would in a cheaper coffee. An espresso concentrates all of this into 25 to 30ml, which makes it the densest stretch of any coffee you drink at home. Shot length is the lever you feel most: the early part of an extraction carries the sugars and acids, so stopping short reads thicker and sweeter, while letting it run pulls the later, drier, more bitter compounds and trades sweetness for volume.The base structure is the lingering finish: long, cocoa-dry and clean, holding rather than fading. It is the most assertive of the three layers at this roast, which is what lets the shot hold its line under 120ml of steamed milk instead of softening into it. If the finish turns ashy or hollow rather than cocoa-dry, work through the usual three: water above 94 degrees, a shot pulled too long, or a tin that has been open too many weeks.Getting it right in the cup. Use 7g for a single or 14g for a double, level the basket, tamp firmly and evenly and wipe the rim before you lock in. Hold the water at 92 to 94 degrees; this is a dark roast and it scorches above that. Aim for 25 to 30 seconds to pull 25 to 30ml, and if it gushes through faster the fix with pre-ground coffee is a firmer tamp rather than a finer grind, because the grind is already set. Warm the cup with hot water and tip it out before you pull. In a moka pot, fill the basket level without tamping, start with hot water in the base so the pot spends less time over the flame, and lift it off as soon as it gurgles. For a flat white, pull a double into a warmed cup and add 120ml of steamed milk; for an Americano, put 80ml of hot water in first and brew on top of it so the crema stays whole.How water and temperature change it. The same tin gives a measurably different cup depending on how it is treated. A longer pull dilutes the body while adding bitterness, the classic weak-but-harsh result; a shorter one concentrates the sweetness and the texture, which with a dark roast is usually the better drink. Hard tap water mutes the aromatics and leaves a chalky edge on the finish, and over months it scales the boiler and steals the temperature and pressure that crema depends on, so a filter jug in a hard water area pays for itself twice over. Serving temperature moves things again as you drink: coffee reads more bitter as it cools and more sour when properly cold, which is why an iced version wants a short, strong double over a glass filled to the brim with ice rather than a standard shot over half a glass. None of this is a fault in the coffee; it is the same grounds responding to the cup you build around them, and once you know which way you like it the result repeats every morning."
            },
            {
                "title": "Recipe Ideas",
                "content": "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.\nWays to brew it, born here first\n\n \n The Espresso, Done Properly\n \n Seven grams, thirty seconds, and the tamp is the only lever pre-ground coffee leaves you.\n \n 3 min\n 1 espresso\n Medium\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 7g illy Espresso Dark Roast, ground\n Water at 92 to 94 degrees\n A warmed espresso cup\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Warm the cup with hot water and tip it out.\n Level the basket, tamp firmly and evenly, and wipe the rim before locking in.\n Pull 25 to 30ml over 25 to 30 seconds.\n If it gushes through faster, tamp harder next time; the grind is already fixed.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: A thick, cocoa-dark shot with a crema that settles rather than disappears. Drink it within the minute.\n\n \n The Moka Pot\n \n Hot water in the base, and off the heat the second it gurgles.\n \n 8 min\n 2 small cups\n Medium\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 14g illy Espresso Dark Roast, ground\n Hot water to the valve in the base\n A 3 cup moka pot\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Fill the base with hot water up to just below the valve.\n Fill the basket level and do not tamp it.\n Assemble and set it on a medium heat with the lid open.\n Lift it off the moment it starts to gurgle and run the base under a cold tap for a second.\n \n \n \n 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.\n\n \n Flat White\n \n Where a dark roast earns its place over the medium one.\n \n 5 min\n 1 cup\n Medium\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 14g illy Espresso Dark Roast, pulled as a double\n 120ml whole or oat milk\n A 160 to 200ml cup\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Pull a double shot into a warmed cup.\n Heat the milk to steaming but not boiling, then froth it with a steam wand or a hand whisk.\n Pour from low, holding the foam back with a spoon until the last inch.\n \n \n \n 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.\n\n \n Iced Double Over Ice\n \n Short and strong, because ice does the diluting for you.\n \n 3 min\n 1 glass\n Easy\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 14g illy Espresso Dark Roast, pulled short as a double\n A glass filled to the top with ice\n Sugar syrup, optional\n Cold milk, optional\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Fill the glass to the brim with ice; more ice melts less.\n Pull the double short, straight over the ice.\n Sweeten with syrup rather than granulated sugar, which will not dissolve cold.\n Top with cold milk if you want it long.\n \n \n \n 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.\n\n \n Tiramisu With A Proper Espresso Soak\n \n The pudding that a fine grind and a pressure shot were made for.\n \n 25 min + 4 hours\n 6 portions\n Medium\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 6 shots illy Espresso Dark Roast, cooled\n 200g sponge fingers\n 500g mascarpone and 300ml double cream\n 75g caster sugar\n Cocoa powder, to finish\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Pull six single shots into a shallow bowl and let them cool completely.\n Beat the mascarpone, cream and sugar to soft peaks.\n Dip each sponge finger in the cold espresso for two seconds only, then layer with the cream.\n Chill for at least four hours and dust with cocoa just before serving.\n \n \n \n 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."
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