Lavazza Qualità Oro Coffee Beans, 1kg
Sugar stops being necessary somewhere around the second cup. Oro is the all-Arabica bag in the Lavazza range and it carries its own sweetness: floral and dried fruit off the grinder, honey through the middle, a clean cocoa finish with almost none of the harsh edge that makes people reach for the sugar bowl at home. It never makes a show of itself, though. Anybody who wants coffee to arrive with a thump will find it polite to the point of being unmemorable, and no amount of extra dose will change that. Short, black, in a warm cup, first thing, is where it is at its best.
Lavazza Qualità Oro Coffee Beans, in brief.
Lavazza Qualità Oro is the 100 per cent Arabica blend from the Turin family roaster, sold here as whole beans in a one kilogram bag for espresso machines, bean to cup machines and moka pots. It is the sweet, low bitterness end of the Lavazza range, picked into the teas.co.uk curator selection as the everyday bean for people who grind fresh and drink their coffee short.
Lavazza Qualità Oro is the blend most people mean when they say they drink Lavazza properly. It is Lavazza's 100 per cent Arabica line, sold as whole beans in a one kilogram bag, and it is built for people who grind fresh and want a sweet, rounded espresso rather than a bitter one. If you have a bean to cup machine, a domestic espresso machine with a decent grinder, or a moka pot you actually use every morning, this is the bag that keeps the hopper full for weeks.
The one kilogram format is the reason to buy it here. It also means one purchase instead of four, which matters if you have ever run out of beans on a Sunday morning.
Curator notes: our tasting profile comes from the current kilo of Oro measured against its stated brief, and the brewing numbers are the starting points we would use, not instructions printed on the bag. Oro kilo bags typically take us 1 to 2 working days to dispatch. Read on for how Oro differs from the rest of the range, where to start the grinder, milk, cups per kilo and keeping an open bag.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Lavazza
Lavazza was founded in Turin in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza, and the business is still run by the family that started it. The idea the company is built on is blending: taking coffees from different origins and combining them so that the finished cup is more consistent, year to year, than any single harvest could be on its own. Qualità Oro sits at the top of the everyday range as the all Arabica option, which is why it reads sweeter and less aggressive than the blends that carry Robusta.
Lavazza prints its own intensity rating and the full origin statement on the pack, and those details can change between production runs. Check the bag in front of you rather than taking a number from a website, ours included.
Sourcing And Packaging
Arabica is the harder of the two commercial coffee species to grow. What you get back for that is acidity that reads as fruit rather than sourness, and a sweetness that survives milk.
Packaging: the gold kilo comes sealed in foil, with a one way degassing valve that releases carbon dioxide from the fresh roast but admits no oxygen. Before the empty kilo goes out with the rubbish, check how the UK pack and your local authority want its foil, valve and label handled.
Ideal Extraction Conditions
Whole beans give you control that pre ground never will, but they also give you more ways to get it wrong. The three things that decide whether Qualità Oro tastes sweet or sharp are grind size, dose and water temperature, in that order.
The Espresso Serve
- Dose: 18g in a double basket of the usual size, smoothed level and tamped down flat.
- Water: 92 to 94 degrees Celsius. Hotter than that and the low bitterness advantage of an all Arabica blend is wasted.
- Yield: 36g in the cup, so a 1:2 ratio.
- Time: 25 to 30 seconds, measured from when the pump engages. Running faster means grinding finer; running slower means grinding coarser.
- Read the shot: sour and thin means under extracted, so go finer. Dry and bitter at the back of the tongue means over extracted, so go coarser.
The Bean To Cup And Filter Serve
- Bean to cup: start at the middle grind setting and the medium strength preset. These machines run shorter and hotter than a manual group head, so if the cup tastes thin, raise the dose before you change the grind.
- Moka pot: grind a notch coarser than for espresso and level the basket without tamping; begin with water already hot in the bottom chamber, and lift the moka clear of the heat as soon as its stream goes pale.
- Cafetière: grind coarse, 60g of coffee per litre of water at 94 degrees, four minutes, then break the crust and plunge slowly.
- Pour over: medium grind, 60g per litre, a 30 second bloom with twice the coffee weight in water, then pour in stages to finish around three minutes.
Grinding, Dosing And Storage
- Grind to order: ground coffee loses its aromatics within minutes. That is the whole case for buying whole beans.
- Rest after roast: very fresh beans can gas heavily and pull unevenly. If the shots are gushing and the crema is bubbly, give the bag a few days.
- Storage: keep the bag sealed, cool and dark, and out of the fridge. Condensation is worse for beans than air is. Decant into an airtight container once opened if the bag has no resealable closure.
- Open bag window: a kilogram takes a while to get through. Aim to finish it within a month or so of opening for the aroma, and store the bulk of it sealed rather than sitting in the hopper.
Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Lavazza Qualità Oro Coffee Beans, 1kg, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Lavazza
Packaging: since foil, valve and label may each be recycled differently, check your council's rules alongside the current UK pack.
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 Qualità Oro Coffee Beans, 1kg is sweet enough to drink short and black, and steady enough to survive milk without disappearing. Seven builds below cover the everyday espresso, the hob and plunger methods, a cold brew for the fridge and two evening drinks.
Made with this tea
The House Double Espresso
How to pull a balanced double shot of Lavazza Qualità Oro.
- 18g Lavazza Qualità Oro beans
- Filtered water at 92 to 94°C
- Scales that read to 0.1g
- A warmed cup
- Grind 18g fresh into a dry double basket, level it with a finger and tamp flat.
- Flush the group head for a second, lock in and start the pump immediately.
- Pull to 36g in the cup, which should take 25 to 30 seconds.
- Faster than that, grind finer. Slower, grind coarser. Change one thing at a time.
What you'll end up with: A sweet, low-bitterness shot with a hazelnut-coloured crema. This is the reference cup to judge every other setting against.
Flat White
A small flat white that lets Oro's sweetness come through the milk.
- 18g Lavazza Qualità Oro beans
- 130ml whole or oat milk, fridge cold
- A milk thermometer if you have one
- A 160 to 180ml cup
- Pull a double shot straight into the cup.
- Steam the milk with the tip of the wand just under the surface for two seconds of air, then bury it to spin the jug.
- Stop at 60 to 65°C. Hotter than that and the milk sugars scald and turn thin.
- Pour from height to combine, then drop the jug close to the surface to finish.
What you'll end up with: A small, dense milk drink where the Arabica sweetness still reads through. If it tastes mild, use a bigger dose rather than a bigger cup.
Moka Pot on the Hob
How to make stovetop coffee with Lavazza Qualità Oro without scorching it.
- About 17g Lavazza Qualità Oro beans
- Hot water to the valve line
- A three-cup moka pot
- A damp cloth
- Fill the bottom of the pot with hot water, keeping the level under the safety valve. Starting hot shortens the time the coffee spends over the heat.
- Grind a little coarser than espresso, fill the basket level and do not tamp.
- Assemble the pieces and stand the pot on a medium burner, lid up.
- Pull it off the moment the flow turns pale and starts to sputter, and stand the base on the damp cloth.
What you'll end up with: A strong, syrupy coffee to drink short or lengthen with hot water. The damp cloth is what stops the last of the brew boiling bitter.
Cafetière for Four
How to brew a clean plunger pot of Lavazza Qualità Oro.
- 60g Lavazza Qualità Oro beans
- 1 litre water at 94°C
- A long spoon
- A timer
- Grind coarse, like coarse sea salt, and tip it into a warmed pot.
- Pour the water in one steady go and start the timer.
- Break through the crust once four minutes are up, and clear away the foam.
- Plunge slowly and decant straight away so it does not keep brewing in the pot.
What you'll end up with: A rounder, fruitier cup than the same beans give as espresso. Decanting is the step most people skip and the reason the second mug tastes worse than the first.
Fridge Cold Brew Concentrate
How to make cold brew with Lavazza Qualità Oro for the week ahead.
- 70g Lavazza Qualità Oro beans
- 1 litre cold water
- Ice
- A large jar and a fine filter
- Grind coarse and stir into the cold water in a jar.
- Refrigerate for 14 to 18 hours, giving it one stir partway through if you remember.
- Strain through a paper filter or a fine cloth and keep the liquid sealed in the fridge.
- Serve over a full glass of ice, neat or cut half and half with milk.
What you'll end up with: A sweet, almost bitterless concentrate that keeps three or four days in the fridge. Cold water pulls sugars and leaves most of the bitter compounds behind.
Affogato
How to serve Lavazza Qualità Oro as a pudding.
- 18g Lavazza Qualità Oro beans
- Two scoops of vanilla ice cream
- Dark chocolate to grate over
- A splash of cream, optional
- Scoop the ice cream into a cold glass and put it back in the freezer while you work.
- Pull a double shot.
- Pour the double onto the scoops once the glass reaches the table.
- Grate dark chocolate over the top and eat it before it collapses.
What you'll end up with: The simplest pudding in the house. A sweet, low-bitterness blend is the right choice here because a harsher one fights the vanilla.
Espresso Martini (Adult)
How to make an espresso martini with Lavazza Qualità Oro.
- 18g Lavazza Qualità Oro beans
- 50ml vodka
- 15ml coffee liqueur
- 5ml sugar syrup
- Ice
- Pull a double, then give it a minute to cool off. Hot espresso melts the ice and thins the drink.
- Shake everything hard with plenty of ice for a good fifteen seconds.
- Strain into a chilled coupe.
- Float three coffee beans on the foam.
What you'll end up with: A thick foam and a clean coffee finish. The foam comes from shaking hard and from the oils in a fresh shot, not from the sugar.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Roasted Arabica coffee beans | 100% | The whole of the product. Arabica is the sweeter, lower-bitterness coffee species, and an all-Arabica blend is what gives this bag its floral lift and soft finish. |
| Robusta | None | Deliberately absent. Robusta adds body, crema and caffeine but also the hard, rubbery bitterness that people who dislike espresso are usually reacting to. |
| Additives, flavourings, sugar | None | Nothing is added to roasted coffee beans. Any sweetness in the cup is developed in the roast, not poured in afterwards. |
Pack: Qualità Oro by the kilogram: whole beans, roasted, with caffeine. The bag gives a best before date, though the aroma is freshest in the first month or so after opening.
Composition shown as stated on the pack. Lavazza prints its own intensity rating and origin statement on the bag and these can change between production runs, so read the bag in front of you rather than a figure from any website.
Sourcing & blend. Oro is blended by Lavazza, a Turin house in business since 1895 and still in the founding family's hands. The company's whole method is blending: coffees from several origins combined to a fixed specification so that the cup stays the same from one harvest to the next, rather than following the ups and downs of a single crop. To protect them, the beans are sealed in foil with a valve that lets roasting gas out and keeps oxygen away.
What's in Lavazza Qualità Oro Coffee Beans, 1kg, and what isn't:
- In: roasted Arabica beans, a kilo of them, and no other ingredient.
- No artificial colours, preservatives, flavourings or added sugar: any sweetness is developed during roasting.
- No dairy, cereals, egg, soya or nuts as ingredients: a black cup brewed with nothing added is practically calorie free.
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Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Lavazza Qualità Oro Coffee Beans, 1kg, please cite teas.co.uk.
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