# Lavazza Espresso Italiano Classico Ground Coffee, 250g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £8.80 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/lavazza-espresso-italiano-classico-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/lavazza-espresso-italiano-classico-ground-coffee-250g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** Lavazza **Price:** £8.80 GBP **Caffeine:** Caffeinated **GTIN:** 8000070018686 **Stock:** instock ## Summary Lavazza Espresso Italiano Classico is the everyday Italian espresso blend in a 250g vacuum brick, ground for moka pots and domestic espresso baskets. Rounded dark-chocolate depth, low acidity and a clean finish: the cup most Italians mean when they say espresso, from a house that has been roasting in Turin since 1895.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.Roughly 30 to 35 espresso doses a pack. Picked into the Teas.co.uk selection as the sane default for anyone with a stovetop pot or a home machine who wants the same cup every morning rather than a different experiment each week.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. ## Description Lavazza Espresso Italiano Classico is the pack that sits on more Italian kitchen shelves than any of the specialist roasts people write about, and it earns that place by being consistent rather than clever. It is ground coffee in a 250g vacuum brick, built around the flavour most Italians mean when they say espresso: rounded, dark-chocolate depth, a touch of dried fruit, and a finish that stays clean instead of drying the mouth out. Lavazza has been roasting in Turin since 1895, when Luigi Lavazza opened a grocery shop and started blending beans behind the counter rather than selling them as single origins. That decision is still the whole idea of a pack like this one: blending is what lets a roaster hold the same cup steady year after year while the harvests underneath it move around. A single origin tells you where it came from. A blend like Classico tells you what it will taste like on a Tuesday morning in March, which for a daily coffee matters more. The Taste Profile Roast depth: ●●●●○ (4/5) A proper Italian medium-dark, taken far enough for cocoa and toasted bread without tipping into ash. Body: ●●●●○ (4/5) Full and syrupy pulled as espresso; still substantial when you stretch it into a long cup. Bitterness: ●●●○○ (3/5) Balanced rather than aggressive. It carries milk without disappearing and drinks fine black. Acidity: ●●○○○ (2/5) Low and rounded, which is the point of the style. Nobody buys an Italian espresso blend for bright fruit. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.6 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk. The story behind the pack Lavazza is still a family company, four generations on from the Turin grocery shop, and the Classico line is the plainest expression of the house style. The pack itself does more work than people credit: ground coffee goes stale through oxidation far faster than beans do, so the 250g brick is vacuum sealed and hard as a board until you open it. That hardness is the seal working. Once you break it, the clock starts. The grind is set for espresso and moka rather than for filter. That makes it straightforward in a stovetop pot or a domestic espresso basket, and workable but fussy in a cafetiere, where a finer grind wants a shorter steep and a very gentle plunge to avoid sediment in the cup. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. What is printed on the pack is the authority. Lavazza states the blend composition, the intensity figure and the roast on the front of the current pack. Those are the numbers to trust, not a description written weeks before the box reached you. How Lavazza Espresso Italiano Classico Ground Coffee, 250g compares Against Lavazza Qualita Rossa: Rossa is the sharper, more assertive everyday blend with more bite in the finish. Classico is rounder and more chocolatey, and it takes milk more gracefully. Against Lavazza Decaf Classico: the same house character without the caffeine. Plenty of households keep both and switch after about four o'clock, which is the sensible use of the pair. Against capsules from the same brand: a 250g pack of ground gives you a long way more coffee for the money than the equivalent in capsules, at the cost of two extra minutes and something to wash up. Getting the best out of it This is a fine grind, so the mistakes people make with it are all the same mistake in different clothes: too much contact time between water and coffee. Moka pot, the way it is meant to be drunk Fill:Water in the base to just below the valve, and the basket filled level with the coffee. Do not tamp it in a moka pot; the pressure is low and packing it down will choke the flow. Start warm:Use hot water in the base. It shortens the time the coffee spends heating on the hob, which is the main source of that scorched, metallic taste. Heat:Medium, not high. You want a steady stream, not a spitting one. Stop early:Pull it off the heat when the stream turns pale and starts to gurgle. The last of the extraction is the bitter part. Espresso machine Dose:Roughly 7 to 9g in a single basket, 16 to 18g in a double, levelled and tamped flat. Target:About double the dry weight in liquid out, in roughly 25 to 30 seconds. Faster than that and the cup will be thin and sour; slower and it turns bitter. Adjust:With a pre-ground coffee you cannot change the grind, so change the dose. A gram more slows the shot down, a gram less speeds it up. Milk:It holds up well in a flat white or a cortado; the cocoa note comes through the milk rather than under it. Practical notes on the pack Yield: 250g gives roughly 30 to 35 espresso doses at 7 to 8g a shot, or around 14 to 16 cafetiere mugs at a heavier dose. Grind: fine, set for espresso and moka. Usable in a cafetiere with a shorter steep and a slow plunge. Once opened: the vacuum is gone for good. Fold the pack over hard, clip it, and keep it in an airtight tin somewhere cool and dark. Aim to finish it within a fortnight or so of opening while the aroma still has lift. Not the fridge: ground coffee picks up moisture and fridge smells. A cupboard away from the hob beats a fridge every time. Best with: a plain biscuit, dark chocolate, or straight after a meal in the Italian manner. Ingredients, allergens and storage What is in it:roasted ground coffee. Nothing else goes into the pack. Ingredients and dietary suitability: 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 this as you would any other caffeinated coffee and follow the guidance you have been given. Traditional use:in Italy a short black espresso after a meal is the ordinary end to lunch and dinner, which is the habit this blend was built around. ## Product Questions What grind is this, and what can I brew it in?It is ground for espresso and moka, which means fine. It works straight out of the pack in a stovetop pot or a domestic espresso basket. You can use it in a cafetiere, but shorten the steep to around three minutes and plunge slowly, or you will get sediment in the cup. It is too fine for most paper filter cones.Why is the pack rock hard?Because it is vacuum sealed. Ground coffee stales through contact with oxygen far faster than whole beans do, so the air is drawn out and the brick sets solid. A hard pack is a good sign. A soft or puffy one means the seal has failed somewhere and the coffee inside will taste dull.How long does it last once I open it?The vacuum cannot be restored, so treat the opening as the start of the clock. Fold the pack down hard, clip it, and keep it in an airtight tin somewhere cool and dark. Aim to finish it within a couple of weeks while the aroma still lifts out of the tin. It will remain safe well beyond that, it just goes progressively flatter.Should I keep coffee in the fridge or freezer?Not the fridge. Ground coffee is porous and picks up moisture and fridge odours, and every time you take it out it condenses. A cupboard away from the hob and away from spices beats a fridge comfortably. Freezing whole beans has its defenders; freezing an opened pack of ground coffee you open daily does not.How do I stop my moka pot coffee tasting burnt?Start with hot water in the base so the coffee spends less time heating; keep the hob on medium rather than full; and take the pot off the heat the moment the stream turns pale and begins to gurgle. That last gasp is the bitter, over-extracted part and it will ruin what came before it.How much should I use per cup?For espresso, about 7 to 9g in a single basket and 16 to 18g in a double, aiming for roughly twice the dry weight in liquid out over 25 to 30 seconds. In a moka pot, fill the basket level and do not tamp it. In a cafetiere, around 15 to 18g per mug. A 250g pack works out at roughly 30 to 35 espressos.Does it work with milk?Well. The blend is roasted to a rounded, cocoa-led profile with low acidity, which is exactly the shape that survives milk instead of vanishing into it. It makes a solid flat white or cortado. Lighter, brighter, more acidic roasts often taste thin once milk goes in; this one does not.What does Lavazza actually mean by Classico?It is the house's plainest, most traditional espresso profile rather than a specialist or limited blend: medium-dark roast, low acidity, cocoa and toasted bread. Lavazza has been blending in Turin since 1895, and blending, rather than single origin, is what lets a roaster hold the same cup steady as harvests change underneath it.What is the intensity number and the blend composition?Both are printed on the front of the current pack, and that is the figure to trust. Lavazza revises specifications from time to time and we will not quote a number that might not match the box you are sent. Read the pack when it arrives.How much caffeine is in a cup?It is a fully caffeinated coffee, and the amount in your cup depends on how much you dose and how you brew it, so a single figure would be misleading. If you want the same blend without the caffeine, the decaffeinated Classico is the direct swap.Does my tap water matter?More than most people expect. Hard water flattens the aromatics and leaves a chalky edge on the finish, and it scales up a machine or a kettle quietly over months. A simple filter jug improves the cup and lengthens the gap between descales. Always use fresh cold water rather than reboiling what is already in the kettle.How do I dispose of the pack and the grounds?Used grounds go on the compost or in your food waste collection; they are good on the garden around acid-loving plants. For the pack itself, follow the current pack and local-authority guidance, because vacuum bricks have components that can require different routes and councils differ. ## Ingredients & Nutrition IngredientProportionWhat it bringsRoasted ground coffee100%The entire pack. A medium-dark Italian espresso roast: cocoa, toasted bread and a little dried fruit, with the acidity deliberately kept low.Blend compositionPrinted on the current packLavazza states the make-up of the blend and its intensity score on the front of the pack. We do not restate figures that the brand may revise between production runs.GrindFine, set for espresso and mokaDecides how fast water passes through the bed, and therefore the strength and the bitterness of the cup more than any other single factor.AdditivesNoneNo sugar, no flavouring, no chicory, no bulking agents. Coffee and nothing else.Pack: Lavazza Espresso Italiano Classico Ground Coffee, 250g; GTIN 08000070018686; 250g vacuum sealed brick. Roughly 30 to 35 espresso doses at 7 to 8g a shot, or around 14 to 16 cafetiere mugs at a heavier dose. Caffeinated. Best before date printed on the pack.Yields above are arithmetic from standard dose ranges, not a manufacturer claim; your own dose will move them. Nutrition figures for black coffee are negligible before anything is added, but the panel on the pack you receive is the reference. Origin countries are not published for this blend and we have not invented any.Sourcing & blend. Lavazza Espresso Italiano Classico Ground Coffee, 250g is roasted and blended by Lavazza, the family coffee house trading from Turin since 1895. The company built its name on blending rather than single origin, which is the mechanism behind a pack like this one: a blend can be rebalanced harvest by harvest so that the finished cup stays where the roaster wants it while the green coffee underneath moves. The coffee is roasted, ground to an espresso fineness and vacuum packed to keep oxygen away from it until you open it. For the certifications carried by your particular pack, read the current pack rather than a description written earlier.What is in Lavazza Espresso Italiano Classico Ground Coffee, 250g, and what is not:In: roasted ground coffee, and nothing else.No added sugar, flavouring, chicory or bulking agents: the sweetness in the cup is roast sweetness.No artificial colours or preservatives: the vacuum pack is the preservative.Naturally gluten free and dairy free as an ingredient list: roasted coffee carries neither.Storage note: the vacuum cannot be restored once broken. Clip the pack shut, keep it airtight, cool and dark, and finish it within a fortnight or so for the best of it. ## Flavour Science The flavour of Lavazza Espresso Italiano Classico 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 you hold two levers the capsule drinker does not: the dose and the contact time. Both of them move all three layers at once.The outer layer is aromatic: cocoa, warm toast and a faint dried-fruit sweetness that arrives the moment hot water wets the bed. These volatiles are the most fragile part of the coffee. They are the reason the pack smells so loud when you first break the vacuum and progressively quieter each week after, and they are the reason a cup poured and left on the desk smells flat long before it tastes flat. In an espresso the crema holds them at the surface for a minute or two; in a moka pot there is less crema and the aroma escapes faster, which is why an Italian household drinks it standing at the hob rather than carrying it to another room.The flavour spike arrives mid palate, where the roast does its work. A medium-dark Italian roast takes the bean past the bright, acidic stage into caramelisation and on into the darker Maillard range: that is where cocoa, toasted bread and a rounded, low-acid sweetness come from. Push the roast further and you get ash; stop it earlier and you get the fruity, sharper cup that Nordic roasters favour and that Italians generally do not. Classico sits deliberately in the middle of that, which is why it carries milk without being swamped and still drinks cleanly black. This is the densest part of the cup, and the part a heavier dose thickens most.The base structure is the lingering finish: a dry, cocoa-bitter note that clears the palate rather than coating it. Good bitterness here is structural, not a fault; it is what stops a full-bodied espresso tasting heavy and cloying. When the finish turns harsh, sour or ashy, the cause is almost always extraction rather than the coffee. Sour and thin means the water went through too fast; harsh and drying means it went through too slowly or too hot. A well-pulled cup should still be pleasant to taste thirty seconds after you have swallowed it.Getting it right in the cup. Dose by weight if you can: 7 to 9g in a single espresso basket, 16 to 18g in a double, aiming for around twice the dry weight in liquid out over 25 to 30 seconds. Because the grind is fixed in the pack, the dose is your adjustment: add a gram to slow a fast shot down, take a gram out to speed a slow one up. In a moka pot, fill the basket level and never tamp it, start with hot water in the base, keep the heat moderate and take the pot off as soon as the stream pales and gurgles. In a cafetiere, use about 15 to 18g a mug, steep three minutes rather than four because the grind is finer than cafetiere coffee usually is, and plunge slowly to keep the sediment down. Pre-warm the cup in every case; espresso is a small volume and it loses heat alarmingly fast into cold porcelain.How water and temperature change it. The same pack gives a measurably different cup depending on the water you run through it. Hotter water and longer contact pull more of the heavy, late-extracting compounds for a fuller, more bitter, more drying result; cooler water or a shorter contact keeps the cup sweeter and lighter but risks a sour, underdeveloped middle. Hard tap water mutes the aromatics and leaves a chalky edge on the finish, so in a hard water area a filter jug does more for the cup than any change of technique, and it slows the scale that steals brewing temperature from a machine over time. Serving temperature matters too: coffee tastes more bitter as it cools and more sour when it is properly cold, which is why iced coffee wants a stronger brew than you would drink hot. None of this is a fault in the blend; it is the same ground coffee responding to the cup you build around it, and once you know which way you like it the result is repeatable every morning. ## Recipe Ideas Lavazza Espresso Italiano Classico Ground Coffee, 250g is ground for pressure and for the hob, so the builds below start there rather than in a filter cone. Six methods and serves, from the standard moka pot to an affogato and a batch of iced coffee for the fridge. Ways to brew it, born here first Moka Pot, Done Properly The stovetop method this grind was made for, without the scorched taste. 6 min 2 small cups Easy You'll need Ground coffee to fill the basket level Hot water to just below the base valve A hob on medium heat Method Fill the base with hot water to just below the safety valve. Spoon coffee into the basket and level it off. Do not tamp. Assemble and set on a medium hob with the lid up so you can watch the stream. Pull it off the heat as soon as the flow turns pale and gurgles, and run the base under a cold tap for a second to stop it. What you'll end up with: A dense, cocoa-led stovetop coffee with none of the metallic burn that comes from letting the pot run dry. Home Machine Espresso Dialling in a pre-ground coffee when you cannot change the grind. 3 min 1 double Medium You'll need 16 to 18g ground coffee A double basket and a tamper A timer or a phone Method Dose 16 to 18g into a double basket, level the bed with a finger and tamp flat. Pull for roughly twice the dry weight in liquid, aiming for 25 to 30 seconds. Adjust by dose: a gram more slows a fast shot, a gram less speeds up a slow one. Warm the cup first; a double espresso in cold porcelain is lukewarm by the second sip. What you'll end up with: A syrupy shot with a thick hazel crema, sweet through the middle and dry on the finish. Cafetiere, With the Fine Grind Allowed For How to use an espresso grind in a press without a mouthful of silt. 5 min 2 mugs Easy You'll need 30 to 36g ground coffee 500ml water off the boil A spoon for the crust Method Pour water that has stood off the boil for thirty seconds over the coffee. Steep three minutes, not four; the grind is finer than a press usually takes. Break the crust with a spoon and lift off the foam and floating grounds. Plunge slowly, and decant straight away so it stops extracting. What you'll end up with: A full-bodied press coffee. There will be a little sediment at the bottom; leave the last centimetre in the mug. Caffe Shakerato The Italian summer bar drink: espresso, ice and a hard shake. 4 min 1 glass Easy You'll need 1 double espresso, freshly pulled 1 teaspoon sugar, while hot A cocktail shaker full of ice Method Stir the sugar into the hot espresso until it dissolves completely. Tip it into a shaker packed with ice. Shake hard for fifteen seconds, until the outside of the shaker frosts. Strain into a chilled glass, foam and all. What you'll end up with: A cold coffee with a thick pale head that lasts a minute or two. Dissolve the sugar while it is hot or it will sit in the bottom. Affogato Two ingredients, thirty seconds, and the best use of a cocoa-led espresso. 2 min 1 portion Easy You'll need 1 single or double espresso 2 scoops vanilla ice cream Grated dark chocolate, optional Method Scoop the ice cream into a small glass and take it to the table first. Pull the espresso and pour it over at the table, not in the kitchen. Grate a little dark chocolate over the top if you like. What you'll end up with: Hot and cold at once, which only works for about a minute. That minute is the whole dish. Fridge Batch of Iced Coffee Brew once on Sunday, pour all week. 10 min + chill 4 glasses Easy You'll need 60g ground coffee 500ml water off the boil An ice tray Milk to serve Method Brew 60g in 500ml in a cafetiere for three minutes, deliberately stronger than you would drink hot. Strain through a paper filter or fine sieve into a jug and cool it fast. Freeze a tray of the same coffee as ice cubes so the glass never dilutes. Serve over the coffee cubes with a splash of milk. Keeps three days covered in the fridge. What you'll end up with: Iced coffee that still tastes of coffee at the bottom of the glass, because the ice is coffee too. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._