Lavazza Qualita Rossa Coffee Beans, 1kg
Robusta in the blend is what makes Rossa forgiving. A slightly stale grinder, a dose thrown in by eye, water a couple of degrees off: this bag still comes out tasting of coffee where a delicate all-Arabica would have gone thin and sour on you. Toasted nut, dark cocoa, a long dry finish, plenty of body. That tolerance is the whole reason it ends up as the house bean in so many kitchens, and it is why the kilogram makes sense here rather than a bag you finish in a fortnight. Drunk very short and black it is blunt, and that is fair enough.
Lavazza Qualita Rossa Coffee Beans, in brief.
Lavazza Qualità Rossa is the red bag, the everyday Arabica and Robusta blend from the Turin family roaster, sold here as whole beans in a one kilogram bag for espresso machines, bean to cup machines, moka pots and cafetieres. It is the strong, chocolatey, forgiving end of the range, picked into the teas.co.uk curator selection as the household workhorse bean.
Lavazza Qualità Rossa is the red bag, and it is the one most British households already recognise. It is Lavazza's everyday blend, sold here as whole beans in a one kilogram bag, and it is the workhorse of the range rather than the show pony: a blend of Arabica and Robusta built to give body, a thick crema and enough punch to survive milk, sugar and a distracted morning.
The kilogram is the format that makes it worth owning a grinder. A 250g pack lasts a fortnight and costs meaningfully more per 100g; a kilogram covers roughly two months at two coffees a day, which brings the cost of a cup down to loose change and means you stop thinking about running out. If you have a bean to cup machine on the counter, this is the bag that keeps the hopper topped up without an argument about the shopping bill.
Curator notes: we judged the red bag's flavour ourselves against what Rossa is designed to do, and the brewing numbers are our own suggested starting points; the pack does not give them. A kilo of Rossa usually leaves our building 1 to 2 working days after checkout. Rossa against Oro, Robusta, espresso settings, big lattes, cold brew and storing an open kilo are all answered further down.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Lavazza
Lavazza has traded from Turin since 1895, founded by Luigi Lavazza and still run by the same family. Blending is the entire method: coffees from several origins brought together to a fixed specification so the finished cup is steadier year to year than any single harvest could be. Qualità Rossa is the blend that carries that idea into ordinary kitchens, which is why it turns up on more shelves than anything else the company makes.
Lavazza prints the bean composition and its own intensity rating on the pack, and both can change between production runs. The red bag on your counter beats any figure found online, this page's figures included.
Sourcing And Packaging
Robusta gets a bad press, mostly deserved when it is used badly, but it is doing real work in a blend like this. It brings more caffeine, a heavier body and a crema that holds, and it brings the cost down so the finished bag is affordable. Arabica supplies the sweetness and the aromatics that stop the cup tasting flat. Getting the ratio right is the skill, and a blend that has been on sale for decades has had a long time to settle on it.
Packaging: one kilogram bean bags are sealed foil with a one way degassing valve, letting carbon dioxide escape from freshly roasted beans without letting oxygen in. Once the red bag is empty, its foil, valve and label may have to go their separate ways; your council and the UK pack explain how.
Ideal Extraction Conditions
Whole beans hand you the controls, and with a blend this forgiving you have room to experiment. Grind size, dose and water temperature decide the cup, in that order.
The Espresso Serve
- Dose: Weigh 18g into a normal double basket, level the bed and tamp it flat.
- Water: 92 to 94 degrees Celsius. Robusta in the blend means bitterness arrives quickly if you push the temperature.
- Yield: 36g in the cup, a 1:2 ratio. If you drink it with milk, a shorter 30g shot keeps more body.
- Time: 25 to 30 seconds, with the clock started by the pump.
- Read the shot: harsh and rubbery at the back of the tongue means over extracted, so go coarser. Thin and sour means under extracted, so go finer.
The Bean To Cup, Cafetiere And Filter Serve
- Bean to cup: middle grind, medium strength. This blend is the safest choice in the range for an automatic machine because it tolerates a wide grind window without falling apart.
- Cafetiere: grind coarse, 60g per litre at 94 degrees, four minutes, break the crust, plunge slowly and decant straight away.
- Filter machine: medium grind, 60g per litre. It makes a strong, dark jug that takes milk well, which is what most office filter machines are actually being asked for.
- Moka pot: just coarser than espresso, basket filled level and untamped, hot water in the base, off the heat as soon as the flow turns pale.
Grinding, Dosing And Storage
- Grind to order: ground coffee loses its aromatics in minutes. That alone justifies buying the kilo as beans.
- Dial in once: a forgiving blend does not need chasing. Find a setting that works, write it down, and leave the grinder alone.
- Storage: sealed, cool, dark, never the fridge. Condensation does more damage than air. Decant into an airtight jar if the bag does not reseal.
- Open bag window: finish an opened kilogram inside about a month for the aroma, and keep the bulk sealed rather than standing in a warm hopper.
Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Lavazza Qualita Rossa Coffee Beans, 1kg, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Lavazza
Packaging: the foil, valve and label can go separate ways, so read the UK pack and check with your local authority.
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 Qualita Rossa Coffee Beans, 1kg is the most forgiving bag in the Lavazza range, so it will take whatever method you own without complaint. Six builds below cover the everyday shot, the big milk drink it is best at, the plunger, the hob, a cold brew for the fridge and a Sunday pudding.
Made with this tea
The Everyday Double Shot
How to pull a balanced double of Lavazza Qualità Rossa.
- 18g Qualità Rossa beans
- Filtered water at 92 to 94°C
- Scales that read to 0.1g
- A warmed cup
- Grind 18g freshly, straight into a bone dry double basket, then level and tamp.
- Lock in and start the pump immediately after a short flush.
- Pull 36g into the cup across 25 to 30 seconds.
- Harsh and rubbery, go coarser. Thin and sour, go finer. One change at a time.
What you'll end up with: A dark, chocolatey shot with a thick crema. Write the setting down once it works; this blend does not need chasing.
The Big Morning Latte
How to build a 300ml milk coffee with Lavazza Qualità Rossa that still tastes of coffee.
- 21g Qualità Rossa beans
- 230ml whole or oat milk, fridge cold
- A milk thermometer if you have one
- A 300ml mug
- Grind a bigger dose than usual into a triple basket if you have one, and stop the shot at 30g rather than 36g.
- Steam the milk with two seconds of air, then bury the wand to spin the jug smooth.
- Stop at 60 to 65°C. Past that the milk sugars scald and the drink turns thin.
- Pour from height to combine, then close in to finish.
What you'll end up with: Coffee that is still the loudest thing in a large mug. More coffee is the fix for a weak latte, not more syrup.
Cafetiere for Four
How to brew a plunger pot of Lavazza Qualità Rossa for the table.
- 60g Qualità Rossa beans
- 1 litre water at 94°C
- A long spoon
- A timer
- Grind coarse, like coarse sea salt, into a warmed pot.
- Pour the water in one go and start the timer.
- Break the crust when four minutes have passed and spoon the foam off.
- Plunge slowly and decant straight away, or the second mug will taste worse than the first.
What you'll end up with: A dark, heavy jug that takes milk well. Decanting is the step most people skip and the one that matters most.
Moka Pot on the Hob
How to make stovetop coffee with Lavazza Qualità Rossa without scorching it.
- About 17g Qualità Rossa beans
- Hot water to the valve line
- A three-cup moka pot
- A damp cloth
- Fill the base with hot water to just under the safety valve.
- Grind a little coarser than espresso, fill the basket level, do not tamp.
- Set it on the hob at medium, with the lid open.
- Lift off when the flow pales and sputters, 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. Rossa suits this method because the Robusta body holds up to the heat.
Strong Fridge Cold Brew
How to make cold brew with Lavazza Qualità Rossa for the week ahead.
- 70g Qualità Rossa 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 14 to 18 hours, stirring once partway through if you remember.
- Strain through paper or a fine cloth and keep 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 concentrate that keeps three or four days. Cold water leaves the bitter compounds behind, so a strong blend turns out smooth rather than harsh.
Coffee and Walnut Loaf
How to bake with Lavazza Qualità Rossa.
- 18g Qualità Rossa beans
- 225g self raising flour
- 175g soft brown sugar
- 175g soft butter
- 75g chopped walnuts
- Pull a double shot and let it cool. A strong blend is the right choice here because sugar and butter flatten a mild one.
- Cream the butter and sugar, beat in three eggs, then fold in the flour and the cold coffee.
- Stir through the walnuts and tip into a lined 2lb loaf tin.
- Bake at 170°C for 45 to 50 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
What you'll end up with: A walnut loaf where the coffee comes through as flavour, not merely as colour. Keeps four days in a tin.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Roasted Arabica coffee beans | Majority of the blend | Sweetness, aroma and the toasted-nut character. Arabica is the species that keeps a strong blend from tasting flat. |
| Roasted Robusta coffee beans | Balance of the blend | Body, a thick and slow-breaking crema, extra caffeine and the dark cocoa edge that survives milk. Robusta is also what keeps the bag affordable. |
| Exact ratio | Printed on the pack | Lavazza states the composition and its own intensity rating on the bag, and both can change between production runs. Figures repeated online can lag behind the bag. |
| Additives, flavourings, sugar | None | Nothing is added to roasted coffee beans. The chocolate note in the cup is roast development, not flavouring. |
Ingredients and allergens. For this barcode, the ingredient list on record shows none of the 14 major allergens. Even so, formulations do change, so the current UK bag deserves a read before you buy.
Ingredients, as published for this barcode: roasted coffee beans.
Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. Should they differ, go with the printed bag.
Pack: Qualità Rossa, 1kg of caffeinated beans, roasted and left whole. Best before is stamped on the bag; open it and you have roughly a month of full aroma.
Composition shown as stated on the pack; the precise Arabica to Robusta ratio is Lavazza's own and is not published as a percentage.
Sourcing & blend. Rossa comes from Lavazza, still owned by the family that began trading coffee in Turin in 1895. Blending is the whole method: coffees from several origins combined to a fixed specification so the cup holds steady from one harvest to the next rather than following a single crop up and down. Rossa is the blend that carries that idea into ordinary kitchens, which is why it appears on more shelves than anything else the company makes. A sealed foil bag carries them, its one way valve letting the roast's gas leave and keeping oxygen from getting in.
What's in Lavazza Qualita Rossa Coffee Beans, 1kg, and what isn't:
- In: roasted Arabica and Robusta beans, and that is all.
- 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, nothing added, has a negligible calorie count.
Asked about this product
Ask the curator
Send a product question through the contact form; replies usually come within one working day.
Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Lavazza Qualita Rossa Coffee Beans, 1kg, please cite teas.co.uk.
What buyers say
No customer reviews of Lavazza Qualita Rossa Coffee Beans, 1kg yet.
Bought this from us? Log in to your account, then come back to this page to review it. Only verified buyers can review, and every review is checked before it appears; approved reviews earn 50 reward points.
More from Lavazza
Other Coffee worth comparing
