Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g
Some coffee is bought to learn something and some is bought because the question is closed. This is the second kind: a dark Turin espresso grind giving caramelised sugar and cocoa, low acidity, a thick body and a long bittersweet tail, with nothing in it that is looking for your approval. Check the machine before you spend. It is ground, and ground fine, so it belongs in an espresso basket or a stovetop pot. A bean-to-cup machine wants whole beans in its hopper, and fine grounds in there are a repair bill rather than a coffee.
Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, in brief.
Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso is a 250g pack of coffee ground fine for espresso from the Turin house, dark in the Italian style with a thick body and a structural bitterness, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the pack for a domestic espresso machine or a moka pot.
The grind is the buying decision: fine, cut for pressure brewing in twenty five seconds, which makes it right for an espresso basket and wrong for a cafetière.
Ground coffee is not one product. An espresso grind is fine, close to table salt on the way to flour, because water is going to be forced through the bed under pressure in about twenty five seconds and needs resistance to work against. Put that same grind in a cafetière and you get a silty, bitter mug, because four minutes of immersion pulls far too much out of particles that small. So this is the bag for a pump espresso machine, and at a push for a moka pot. If you own a cafetière, buy a coffee ground for one instead.
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. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
What Pre-Ground Espresso Can And Cannot Do
Buying espresso coffee ready ground is a trade, and it is worth stating both sides of it honestly. What you lose is adjustment. A grinder lets you go finer when the shot runs too fast and coarser when it chokes, and that single control is how a cafe dials a coffee in. A bag has one setting, chosen by the roaster to suit the broadest range of domestic machines. What you gain is everything else: no grinder to buy, no burrs to clean, no retained grounds going stale in a hopper, and a consistency from bag to bag that most home grinders struggle to match. For anyone making two shots a day on a domestic machine, that is a perfectly sensible trade, and Lavazza has spent decades making that exact setting work.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
What You Are Actually Buying
- Weight: 250g of finely ground roasted coffee in a vacuum pack.
- Cups per pack: at a standard 7g single espresso dose, roughly 35 shots. If you pull doubles at 14g, halve that to around 17.
- Preparation: an espresso machine and a tamper, or a moka pot. No grinder needed, which is the point.
Ideal Preparation
Pre-ground espresso removes your ability to change the grind, which means everything else has to be right. The good news is that the remaining variables are all free and all under your control.
The Standard Espresso
- Dose: 7g for a single, 14g for a double, level in the basket. Weigh it a few times until the eye is trained.
- Tamp: flat and firm. Level matters far more than force; a tilted tamp lets water find a channel and the shot runs thin down one side.
- Water: 92 to 94 degrees Celsius, which most domestic machines hold well enough once properly warmed up. Run a blank shot through the group first.
- Time: 25 to 30 seconds for about 30ml from a single. Faster means the shot is sour and thin; slower means it is bitter and over extracted.
The Moka Pot
- Fill: the boiler to just below the valve with hot water, not cold, so the coffee spends less time heating.
- Load: the basket level and do not tamp. A moka pot works at far lower pressure than a machine and a tamped bed will choke it.
- Heat: medium, lid open, and take it off the moment the flow turns pale and starts to sputter.
- Result: a strong, syrupy coffee that is not espresso but is the closest thing to it without a pump, and it suits this darker grind particularly well.
Getting It Right in the Cup
- Water temperature: 92 to 94 degrees Celsius through the group head.
- Measure: 7g single, 14g double, and 25 to 30 seconds of extraction.
- Storage: this is a vacuum pack for a reason. Once it is open the clock starts, so seal it tightly, keep it in a cool dark cupboard, and use it within two to three weeks. Ground espresso coffee stales faster than any other format because of the surface area.
- Iced: pull a double, stir in sugar while it is hot if you want it, then pour over a full glass of ice and top with cold milk.
- Caffeine note: this is a caffeinated coffee. A morning and daytime pack; a double espresso after dinner is a decision rather than a habit.
- Best with: a cornetto or plain pastry, dark chocolate, or nothing at all after a meal, in the Italian manner.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Lavazza
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
How does it compare
Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g is cut fine for pressure brewing, which makes it the right pack for an espresso machine, a moka pot and every milk drink built on a shot. Six builds below cover the standard espresso, the moka pot, two milk drinks hot and cold, and two puddings where a dark bitter shot is an advantage.
Made with this tea
The Standard Espresso
How to make The Standard Espresso with Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso.
- 7g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso
- Water at 92 to 94 degrees
- Warm the machine properly and run a blank shot through the group head.
- Dose 7g of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g into the basket and level it with a finger.
- Tamp flat and firm, checking the bed is level rather than tilted.
- Pull about 30ml in 25 to 30 seconds and drink it at once.
What you'll end up with: Level tamping matters more than hard tamping. A tilted bed lets water channel down one side, and no amount of pressure will fix that.
The Moka Pot
How to make The Moka Pot with Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso.
- 15g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso
- Hot water to the valve
- Fill the boiler with hot water to just below the safety valve, so the coffee spends less time heating.
- Load the basket level with Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g and do not tamp it.
- Heat on medium with the lid open.
- Remove from the heat the moment the flow turns pale and begins to sputter.
What you'll end up with: Hot water in the boiler and no tamping are the two rules. A moka pot runs at far lower pressure than a machine and a compressed bed will choke it.
Flat White At Home
How to make Flat White At Home with Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso.
- 14g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso
- 120ml whole milk
- Pull a double shot of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g into a small cup.
- Steam 120ml of milk to about 60 degrees, keeping the texture tight rather than foamy.
- Swirl the milk in the jug, then pour it through the crema in one steady movement.
What you'll end up with: The dark roast is what stops it tasting thin under the milk.
Iced Latte
How to make Iced Latte with Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso.
- 14g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso
- A full glass of ice
- 200ml cold milk
- Sugar to taste
- Pull a double shot of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g.
- Stir in sugar while the shot is still hot, if you take it sweet, because sugar will not dissolve in a cold drink.
- Fill a glass with ice, pour over 200ml of cold milk, then add the shot.
What you'll end up with: Sugar goes in while the coffee is hot. That is the difference between a sweet iced latte and a glass with grit in the bottom.
Affogato
How to make Affogato with Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso.
- 7g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso
- 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
- Put 2 scoops of good vanilla ice cream into a chilled glass.
- Pull a single shot of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g.
- Pour it straight over and eat immediately, while the contrast is still there.
What you'll end up with: The one pudding where a bitter, dark shot is an advantage rather than a compromise. Vanilla and roast bitterness need each other.
Tiramisu Soaking Coffee
How to make Tiramisu Soaking Coffee with Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso.
- 28g Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso
- 200ml hot water
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- Pull four single shots of Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g, or brew the equivalent in a moka pot.
- Stir in 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and let it cool completely.
- Dip the biscuits for one second each, no longer, and build the dish as usual.
What you'll end up with: One second per side. Soaked biscuits collapse, and a dark bitter coffee is what keeps the finished dish from being sickly.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Component | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Roasted coffee | the whole pack | Roasted coffee and nothing else. A plain ground coffee pack holds no chicory, no filler and no added flavouring. |
| Grind size | fine, cut for espresso | The single most important thing in this pack. A fine grind gives the resistance a pump needs to build pressure against in twenty five seconds, and is far too fine for any immersion brewer. |
| Roast level | dark, Italian style | A long dark roast caramelises more of the sugars in the bean, which is where the bittersweet register, the syrupy body and the low acidity all come from. |
Pack: Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g; finely ground roasted coffee in a vacuum pack, caffeinated. Roughly 35 single shots at a 7g dose, or 17 doubles. See the pack for the best before date; once opened, seal it tightly and use it within two to three weeks.
Composition shown at process level rather than by percentage. No origin, species split, intensity score or caffeine figure per cup is quoted here, because none of those is declared in a form we can verify, and a made-up number is worse than no number.
Sourcing & blend. Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g comes from Lavazza, the Turin coffee house, which is heritage rather than a claim about where this pack's beans were grown. The Espresso Barista line is built around the domestic espresso machine, which shapes both decisions in the pack: a dark Italian roast for body and low acidity, and a fine grind chosen to suit the broadest spread of home machines rather than any one of them perfectly. Vacuum packing is part of the same brief, because ground espresso coffee has an enormous surface area and begins to stale the moment air reaches it. Batch to batch consistency is the point of buying a blend like this rather than a seasonal single lot.
What's in Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g, and what isn't:
- In: roasted coffee, ground fine for espresso, and nothing else at all.
- No artificial colours, preservatives, added sugar or flavouring: the bittersweet character comes from the roast.
- Energy: pulled black with nothing added, a shot contributes negligible energy. The calories come from the milk and sugar you add afterwards.
- Packaging: a vacuum pack. Disposal routes differ by component and by council, so follow the current UK pack and your local authority guidance.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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