# Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £19.20 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/lavazza-espresso-barista-intenso-coffee-beans-500g/` _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/lavazza-espresso-barista-intenso-coffee-beans-500g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** Lavazza **Price:** £19.20 GBP **Caffeine:** Caffeinated **GTIN:** 8000070050983 **Stock:** instock ## Summary Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso is the darker member of Lavazza's bar-style Barista line, sold as whole beans in a 500g bag, roasted for a short shot in a small cup with a thick, lasting crema. Picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the home espresso bean that holds its shape under milk.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.A fortnight of daily doubles from one bag, priced in the step-up tier rather than the everyday one, and worth it if your flat whites have been coming out thin on a cheaper bean.Curator notes: the tasting profile reflects our own editorial review of the current pack format and the brand's published description for this blend. We usually dispatch this line within 1 to 2 working days. Storage notes, grind guidance and brewing temperature ranges are also published in the detailed Q and A tab below. ## Description Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso is the bar-style bean, sold in the 500g size that a home espresso machine gets through in about a fortnight of proper use. The Barista line is Lavazza's answer to the question of what the caffes actually pull, and Intenso is the darker, heavier member of it: built for a short shot in a small cup, with enough weight left over to survive steamed milk. If you have been working through supermarket beans and finding that your espresso either runs sour and thin or turns to ash the moment you lengthen it, this is a useful bag to try next. It is forgiving in the middle of its range, which is not the same as being bland. The roast is deliberately pushed, the crema comes thick and lasts, and the finish is long rather than sharp. The Taste Profile Roast Depth: ●●●●○ (4/5) Dark, properly developed, stopping short of the burnt end of the scale. Body: ●●●●● (5/5) Thick and coating. This is the strongest thing about the cup. Bitterness: ●●●○○ (3/5) Structural rather than aggressive, sitting under the sweetness instead of on top of it. Acidity: ●●○○○ (2/5) Low. A rounded, cocoa-leaning cup rather than a bright one. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.5 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk. The Story Behind Lavazza Lavazza started in Turin in 1895, when Luigi Lavazza was running a grocer's shop and began blending green coffees from different origins to get a more consistent cup than any single sack could give him. That idea, that a blend is more reliable than an origin, is still the house argument and it is what the Barista range is for: a bean whose job is to taste the same on a Tuesday in November as it did in June. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. How Does Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g Compare to: Lavazza Qualita Rossa Coffee Beans: Rossa is the everyday supermarket staple and sits lighter, nuttier and thinner. Barista Intenso is the step up in body, and the difference is most obvious in the second half of a flat white, where Rossa starts to thin out. illy Classico Coffee Beans: illy sits lighter and more aromatic, aimed at drinking black. Barista Intenso is the one to pick if most of your cups end up with milk in them. Ideal Brewing Conditions This is an espresso bean before it is anything else, and everything below assumes a pressurised extraction or something close to it. It will work in a moka pot and a cafetiere, but it was designed for a basket and a pump, and it rewards you for treating it that way. The Espresso Serve Dose:18g in a double basket, ground fine and distributed level before tamping. Water:92 to 94 degrees Celsius. This roast takes slightly more heat than a very dark bean without turning harsh. Time:25 to 30 seconds for 36g in the cup. A 1:2 ratio is the starting point; go to 1:1.5 if you want it heavier still. Finish:A thick hazelnut crema that holds for a good minute. If it collapses instantly the beans are stale, not the technique. The Moka Pot Serve Grind:Between espresso and filter. Too fine and the pot stalls and sputters. Fill:Level the basket but never tamp it, and start with hot water in the base so the coffee is not sitting over a slow heat. Heat:Medium, lid open, and pull it off the hob the moment the flow turns pale and gurgles. Result:A concentrated, syrupy brew that takes hot milk into something close to a caffe latte. Brewing Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g Water temperature: 92 to 94°C for espresso, 92°C for anything longer. Not boiling. Grind: Fine for espresso, medium-fine for moka, coarse for cafetiere. Grind to order; a dark roast loses its aromatics fast once broken open. Dose: 18g per double espresso, 60g per litre for cafetiere and filter. Time: 25 to 30 seconds for espresso, four minutes for cafetiere. Service: Built for milk, dairy or barista oat, and good enough black in a small cup to be worth drinking that way. Iced version: Sweeten the shot while it is hot, pour over a full glass of ice, top with cold milk and stir once. Caffeine note: A fully caffeinated roasted coffee. A morning and early afternoon bag. Best with: A plain biscotti, dark chocolate, a croissant, or nothing at all after dinner. Storage, Allergens And Small Print Storage: Seal the bag properly after every use and keep it in a cupboard rather than on the worktop by the kettle, where steam and daylight both get at it. Room temperature, not the fridge. A 500g bag is roughly a fortnight of daily doubles, which is about the window in which beans stay genuinely fresh anyway. Ingredients and dietary suitability: Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change. Caffeinated coffee is not suitable for younger children. ## Product Questions What is the Lavazza Barista range and how is Intenso different?Barista is Lavazza's bar-style line, roasted for the kind of short shot a caffe pulls rather than for a long filter mug. Intenso is the darker, heavier option within it, so you get more body and more roast depth and less of the bright acidity you would find in a lighter espresso bean.Are these whole beans, and do I need a grinder?Whole beans, so yes, you need a grinder or a bean-to-cup machine that has one built in. Whole bean is how the aromatic oils stay sealed inside the bean; a burr grinder run at the last minute is the single biggest upgrade most home setups can make.What dose and ratio should I start with?18g in a double basket out to roughly 36g in the cup in 25 to 30 seconds. That is a 1:2 ratio and it is the sensible starting point. Pull it shorter, to about 27g out, and the cup gets heavier and sweeter; pull it longer and it thins and the bitterness steps forward.What water temperature should the machine be set to?92 to 94 degrees Celsius. This roast is dark but not scorched, so it takes a little more heat than a very dark bean without turning harsh. If your machine has no temperature control, it is almost certainly in that window already; worry about the grind first.How many shots do I get from a 500g bag?Around 27 double shots at an 18g dose, so roughly a fortnight if you drink two a day. That is arithmetic on the pack weight rather than a claim on the pack, and it does not allow for the shots you throw away while dialling in a new bag, which is usually two or three.Does it work in milk drinks?That is what it is for. The body and the low acidity are exactly what survives steamed milk, and the same holds for barista oat. In a flat white or a cortado the coffee is still clearly the thing you are tasting, which is not true of every supermarket bean at this size.Can I use it in a moka pot or a cafetiere?Yes to both, with the grind adjusted. Moka wants a grind between espresso and filter, levelled but never tamped, with hot water in the base. A cafetiere wants a coarse grind at 60g per litre for four minutes. Neither is what the roast was designed around, but both work well.Why has my crema collapsed straight away?Crema is carbon dioxide left over from roasting, held in suspension. It fades as beans age, so a shot that goes flat immediately usually means an old bag rather than bad technique. Very fresh beans can also be a problem, fizzing and channelling for the first few days; a week off roast is the sweet spot.How should I store the bag between uses?Sealed, cool, dark and at room temperature, in a cupboard rather than on the worktop next to the kettle where steam and light both reach it. Not the fridge. Beans are porous, they take on fridge smells, and the condensation that forms every time you take them out does real damage.Who are Lavazza?A Turin house founded in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza, who started blending green coffees from different origins in his grocer's shop to get a cup more consistent than any one sack could give. Blending for consistency rather than chasing a single origin is still the company's argument, and the Barista line is built on it.What is in the blend, and where does the coffee come from?Roasted coffee beans and nothing else. Check the current pack for the composition and sourcing detail Lavazza print on it.Does it make a decent iced coffee?Yes. Sweeten the hot shot before it hits the ice, because syrup will not dissolve in a cold drink, then pour it over a glass filled to the top with ice and top with cold milk. A full glass of ice melts more slowly than a half-full one, which is why the drink stays strong. ## Ingredients & Nutrition IngredientProportionWhat it bringsRoasted coffee beans100%The only ingredient. Whole bean coffee is a single-ingredient product: no flavouring, no carrier, no bulking agent.Dark roast developmentNot quantified on packThe Intenso profile is taken further into the roast than the rest of the Barista line. That is where the cocoa depth, the syrupy body and the low acidity come from.Blend components by origin and speciesNot publishedLavazza do not publish an origin or species split for this blend in a form we can verify, so we do not restate one. Check the current pack for the composition printed on it.Pack: Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g; whole roasted beans, caffeinated. Around 27 double espressos at an 18g dose, which is roughly a fortnight at two a day.Proportions shown are the ones we can stand behind. Black coffee carries no meaningful calorie load; anything added in the cup is yours, not ours.Sourcing & blend. Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g comes from Lavazza, founded in Turin in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza, who began blending green coffees from different origins in his grocer's shop because no single sack gave him a cup he could repeat. That is still the house method: green coffee bought to a fixed specification and roasted to a set profile, so the bag opened in November tastes like the one opened in June. For an espresso bean that consistency is not a nicety, it is the whole point, because a shot is dialled in to a specific bean and every change of character means starting again on the grinder.What is in Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g, and what is not:In: roasted coffee beans, whole, and nothing else in the bag.No artificial flavourings, colours, preservatives or added sugar: the sweetness in the cup is caramelisation from the roast, not an ingredient.Not decaffeinated: a fully caffeinated coffee. Lavazza Decaf Classico is the same house style without the caffeine.Packaging: follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; the bag, its one-way valve and the label can require different disposal routes. ## Flavour Science The flavour of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g 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 an espresso bean the layers are decided twice: once by the roaster, and once by you, in the twenty five seconds the pump is running.The outer layer is aromatic, and in whole bean coffee it is physically locked away. Roasting forces several hundred volatile compounds into the oils held in the bean's cell walls, along with a charge of carbon dioxide that keeps leaking out through the bag's one-way valve for days. That trapped gas is why fresh grounds bloom in a moka basket and why a fresh shot carries a thick hazelnut crema: the crema is not fat or foam, it is dissolved carbon dioxide coming out of suspension. It is also the clock on the bag. Grinding exposes the entire interior surface to air at once, which is why coffee ground on Sunday tastes tired by Wednesday and why grinding to order is not a fussy habit but the cheapest improvement available.The flavour spike arrives mid palate, and in the Intenso profile it belongs to the roast rather than the origin. Pushing the roast further converts more of the bean's sugars through caramelisation and Maillard reaction into heavier compounds: cocoa, toasted hazelnut, a dark molasses edge. Those heavier compounds dissolve readily, which is the practical fact that governs the shot. A darker roast surrenders its solids faster than a light one, so the window between a cup that tastes full and sweet and one that tastes drying and ashy is narrower and arrives sooner. This is the densest stretch of the cup and the part your grind setting controls more than anything else you can adjust.The base structure is the finish: the weight left coating the tongue after the swallow, and the bitterness sitting underneath it. Dark roasting builds melanoidins, the large brown molecules that carry coffee's viscosity, and they are why this bean reads as syrupy rather than watery and why it comes through a flat white instead of being drowned by it. A properly pulled shot should still be interesting on the last sip, with the bitterness functioning as structure rather than as the headline.Getting it right in the cup. Start at 18g in a double basket, water at 92 to 94 degrees, and aim for about 36g in the cup in 25 to 30 seconds. If the shot gushes through in under twenty seconds and tastes thin and sharp, the grind is too coarse. If it drips past thirty five seconds and tastes drying and burnt, it is too fine. Change the grind, not the dose, and change it one step at a time; two variables at once tells you nothing. Pull the same shot shorter, to around 27g out, and the cup thickens and sweetens, which is the version to use under milk. In a moka pot, grind between espresso and filter, level but never tamp, start with hot water in the base so the coffee is not slowly stewing over the heat, and take the pot off the hob as soon as the flow turns pale and starts to gurgle. In a cafetiere, 60g per litre, coarse, four minutes, break the crust, skim, plunge slowly and decant straight away.How water and temperature change it. The same beans give a measurably different cup depending on how you treat the water. Hotter water extracts faster and pulls more of the heavy bitter fraction, so at 96 degrees this roast turns harsh where at 92 it stays round and sweet. Cooler water or a shorter contact keeps the sweetness forward and the body lighter. Water chemistry matters as much as heat: very soft or distilled water has too few dissolved minerals to carry flavour compounds out of the grounds and gives a flat, sour cup, while very hard water over-extracts the bitter end and scales the machine besides. Filtered tap water in a moderately hard area is close to ideal, and in a hard water area a jug filter improves the cup more than any change of bean will. Cold water changes the rules completely: cold brewed coarse at 80g per litre for sixteen hours in the fridge, the same beans come out rounder, sweeter and far lower in perceived bitterness, because most of the compounds responsible for that bitterness need heat to dissolve at all. None of this is a fault in the coffee. It is one roast responding to the cup you build around it, and once you have found the version you like, it repeats every morning. ## Recipe Ideas Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g is an espresso bean first, so the builds below begin at the basket and work outwards: the shot itself, the two milk drinks it was made for, an Italian stovetop serve, and three cold or sweet uses for the days you want something else. Brewing methods and serving ideas, born here first The Dialled In Double How to set up a new bag of Barista Intenso so every shot after it is right. 10 min first time 1 double Medium You will need 18g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso, ground fine Water at 92 to 94°C Scales that read to 0.1g A timer Method Grind 18g of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g into the basket, level it, tamp flat and firm. Pull and weigh the shot. You want about 36g out in 25 to 30 seconds. Adjust the grind only, one step at a time: finer if it ran fast and tasted thin, coarser if it crawled and tasted drying. Leave the dose alone while you do this. Changing two things at once teaches you nothing. What you will end up with: A repeatable shot with a thick hazelnut crema, and a grinder setting you can leave alone until the bag runs out. Cortada, The Small Strong Milk Drink How to make a cortado where the coffee is still the loudest thing in the cup. 4 min 1 small glass Easy You will need 18g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso 60ml whole milk or barista oat A 4oz glass A small steaming jug Method Pull a short 27g shot of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g rather than a full 36g, so the cup stays heavy. Steam 60ml of milk to about 60°C with almost no stretch, so it is warm and glossy rather than foamy. Pour straight in, one steady movement, no latte art required. What you will end up with: A four ounce glass that tastes of coffee softened by milk, not milk flavoured with coffee. The short shot is what makes the difference. Flat White How to build a flat white with this bean under it. 5 min 1 cup Medium You will need 18g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso 130ml whole milk or barista oat A warmed 6oz cup A milk jug Method Pull a 36g double of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g into a warmed cup. Steam 130ml of milk to 60°C, stretching for two or three seconds only, then swirl the jug until the surface looks like wet paint. Pour from height first to cut through the crema, then drop the jug close to the surface to finish. What you will end up with: A six ounce cup with a glossy surface and a long cocoa finish. If your flat whites usually taste thin, the roast weight here is the reason this one will not. Moka Pot, The Italian Stovetop How to work a moka pot without the burnt, metallic edge most people get. 7 min 2 small cups Medium You will need 17g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso, ground medium-fine Hot water to the valve line A three cup moka pot A cloth, the handle gets hot Method Fill the base with hot water up to just below the valve, so the coffee does not sit stewing over a slow heat. Level 17g of medium-fine ground Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g into the basket without tamping it. Heat on medium with the lid open and watch it. Pull the pot off the hob the moment the stream turns pale and begins to gurgle, and run the base under a cold tap to stop it. What you will end up with: A thick, concentrated brew for two small cups. The gurgle is steam, not coffee, and everything that comes out after it is what makes moka taste burnt. Iced Latte How to make an iced latte that holds its strength to the bottom of the glass. 4 min 1 tall glass Easy You will need 18g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso A glass filled to the top with ice 150ml cold milk or oat milk 1 teaspoon sugar syrup, optional Method Pull a 36g double of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g and stir in the syrup while it is still hot. Fill a tall glass completely with ice, then pour in 150ml of cold milk. Float the espresso over the back of a spoon so it sits in a layer on top. Stir once when you sit down. What you will end up with: A layered glass that does not go watery. A full glass of ice melts more slowly than a half one, which is the whole trick. Affogato How to turn one shot into a pudding in two minutes. 2 min 1 serving Easy You will need 18g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso 1 scoop vanilla ice cream A chilled glass Toasted hazelnuts, optional Method Scoop the ice cream into a chilled glass and return it to the freezer while the machine warms. Pull a 36g double of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g. Pour it over at the table and eat straight away. Chopped toasted hazelnuts on top pick up the nutty side of the roast. What you will end up with: The best pudding in the house for two minutes of work. The roast bitterness is what stops it being simply sweet. Espresso Martini (Adult) How to get a proper tan foam without cheating. 5 min 1 glass Medium You will need 18g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso 50ml vodka 15ml coffee liqueur 5ml sugar syrup Plenty of ice Method Pull a 36g double of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g and let it stand two minutes so it is warm rather than hot. Shake it hard with the vodka, coffee liqueur, syrup and a shaker full of ice for a full fifteen seconds. Double strain into a chilled coupe and leave the foam to settle for ten seconds before carrying it. What you will end up with: A cold, bitter-sweet drink with a tight head. The foam comes from fresh crema and hard shaking, which is why instant coffee never quite manages it. Tiramisu Soak How to make the coffee part of a tiramisu the part people notice. 20 min + chill 6 servings Medium You will need 36g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso, for 4 double shots 200g savoiardi sponge fingers 500g mascarpone, 3 eggs, 90g caster sugar 30ml marsala, optional Cocoa powder to dust Method Pull four doubles of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Coffee Beans, 500g into a shallow dish and let them cool completely. Warm coffee turns sponge fingers to mush. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until pale, fold in the mascarpone, then fold in the whites beaten to soft peaks. Dip each finger in the cooled coffee for one second per side, no longer, and layer into a dish alternating with the cream. Chill for at least six hours and dust heavily with cocoa just before serving. What you will end up with: Six servings that keep two days covered in the fridge. A dark espresso is the only coffee strong enough to read through mascarpone. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._