# L'Or Artiste Vigoroso Intensity 8 Instant Coffee, 95g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £8.80 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/lor-artiste-vigoroso-intensity-8-instant-coffee-95g/` _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/lor-artiste-vigoroso-intensity-8-instant-coffee-95g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** L'Or **Price:** £8.80 GBP **Caffeine:** Caffeinated **GTIN:** 8711000702062 **Stock:** instock ## Summary L'Or Artiste Vigoroso Intensity 8 is the dark, full-bodied end of L'Or's soluble range in a 95g pack. The number is L'Or's own scale, describing roast and body within their range: it is not an industry standard and it is not a caffeine rating.Ingredients and dietary suitability: The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. 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 47 mugs at a rounded 2g measure, with the spoon as the only real strength control.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. ## Description L'Or Artiste Vigoroso Intensity 8 is a 95g pack of soluble coffee from the premium end of the mainstream instant shelf, and the number on the front is the thing most worth explaining. Intensity 8 is L'Or's own scale. It is not an industry standard, it does not map onto any other brand's numbering, and above all it is not a measure of caffeine. It describes where this blend sits on the roast and body ladder within L'Or's own range, and nothing more. That distinction matters because people buy intensity numbers expecting a stronger stimulant and get a darker, heavier cup instead. Those are different things. Roast intensity is about how far the beans were taken in the roaster and how much body and bitterness that leaves behind. Caffeine content is largely a matter of the bean and the dose, and if anything long roasting reduces it slightly rather than increasing it. If you want a coffee that wakes you up harder, use more of it. If you want a coffee that tastes deeper and drier, that is what an eight is for. Artiste is L'Or's soluble range, and Vigoroso is the vigorous one in it: dark, full-bodied and unmistakably bitter-forward, aimed at people who drink their coffee black and strong or who pour enough milk in that a mild blend would simply disappear. It is not a subtle cup and it is not trying to be. Judged against what it is for rather than against a filter coffee, it does the job squarely. The Taste Profile Roast depth: ●●●●○ (4/5) Dark and confident, which is what an eight on L'Or's own ladder is describing. Body: ●●●●○ (4/5) Heavy for a soluble coffee, and the reason it survives a generous pour of milk. Bitterness: ●●●○○ (3/5) Deliberate. If you find standard instant sharp already, this is the wrong end of the range for you. Sweetness: ●●○○○ (2/5) Low. Roast character rather than caramel notes is what this blend is built on. 4.5 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk What an intensity number actually tells you Every coffee brand that prints an intensity number invented its own scale, and none of them are comparable. A six from one company and a six from another are not the same cup, because each ladder is calibrated only against the rest of that company's own range. The number is therefore genuinely useful for choosing within a brand and completely useless for choosing between brands, which is the opposite of how most people read it on a shelf. What sits behind the number is roast development, and to a lesser extent the bean mix. Longer, darker roasting breaks down the acids that give a light roast its brightness and builds heavier compounds in their place, so the cup gains body and bitterness while losing aromatic complexity. That trade is the whole design of a high-intensity blend, and it is a deliberate one rather than a shortcut. What the number never tells you is caffeine. Caffeine survives roasting almost intact, so a dark roast is not a stronger stimulant than a light one at the same dose; by weight it can even be marginally lower, because roasting drives off mass. In a soluble coffee the dose is entirely yours, which means the spoon is the only honest strength control in the house and the number on the front has nothing to do with it. How L'Or Artiste Vigoroso Intensity 8, 95g compares Against a lower-intensity L'Or: this is the darker, drier end of the same range. Within one brand the ladder means something, so if you have found a L'Or you liked, the numbers tell you which direction to move. Against a mainstream supermarket jar: a bigger jar of a household brand will give you a flatter cup. This is the pack you buy when you have decided instant is what you drink and you would rather drink a better one. Against ground coffee in a cafetiere: the cafetiere gives more aroma and more texture, and asks for a grinder, four minutes and a wash-up. This asks for a kettle. For one cup at a desk that is not a close contest. Getting the best out of it A high-intensity instant has one characteristic failure, and it is not weakness. It is harshness, and it comes from boiling water meeting an already bitter-forward roast. Fix that and everything else is straightforward. The standard mug Dose: A rounded 2g measure in a 200ml mug is the house starting point, and gives roughly 47 mugs from this pack. Water: Let the kettle stand about thirty seconds after it clicks off. On a dark roast that pause is the difference between deep and scorched. Order: Granules first, a splash of hot water, stir to a smooth paste, then fill. It removes the specks and softens the first mouthful. Milk: After the coffee has dissolved, never onto dry granules. This blend is built to take a decent amount of it. The stronger cup Add coffee, not heat: More granules make it stronger. Hotter water only makes it harsher, and the two get confused constantly. Under a lot of milk: A heaped measure. Even a blend this dark will fade under a large mug of milk at a level spoon. Iced: Dissolve in a little hot water first, then over a full glass of ice. A high-intensity blend is the right choice here, because cold flattens bitterness and you need some in reserve. Practical notes on the pack Pack: 95g of soluble coffee. At a rounded 2g measure that is roughly 47 mugs. Intensity 8 is L'Or's own scale: it describes roast and body within their range. It is not a caffeine rating and it does not compare across brands. Storage: Cool, dry, dark and closed. Soluble coffee pulls moisture out of the air and cakes into a block. Dry spoon only: A wet teaspoon does more damage to a pack of instant than anything else in the kitchen. No machine needed: A kettle and a mug, which is the entire equipment list. Ingredients, allergens and storage What is in it: Soluble coffee. The full declared ingredient list, the allergen statement and the nutrition panel are printed on the pack you receive, and that is the reference rather than a formulation restated by us. Ingredients and dietary suitability: The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. 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. Certifications: any marks this blend carries are printed on the pack itself. Caffeine and sensitivity: Coffee is a stimulant. If you are sensitive to caffeine, pregnant, or following medical advice on your intake, treat this as you would any other caffeinated coffee and follow the guidance you have been given. The intensity number on the front is not a guide to how much caffeine is in your mug. Keep out of reach of small children: and keep the pack closed between uses. ## Product Questions What does Intensity 8 actually mean?It means eight on L'Or's own scale, which describes roast depth and body across their range and nothing else. It is not an industry standard, so it does not compare with another brand's numbering, and it is not a measure of caffeine. Useful for choosing within the range, useless for choosing between brands. Does a higher intensity mean more caffeine?No, and this is the misunderstanding the numbers cause most often. Caffeine survives roasting almost intact, so a darker roast is not a stronger stimulant at the same dose. With a soluble coffee the dose is entirely yours, which makes the spoon the only real strength control you have. How many mugs will I get from 95g?Roughly 47 mugs at a rounded 2g measure in a 200ml cup. That is our own calculation at a stated dose rather than a figure printed on the pack. Taken strong, work on nearer 32. Why does it taste harsh rather than strong?Almost always the water temperature. Boiling water on a dark roast scorches it: the bitterness sharpens, the body flattens and the finish goes metallic. Wait about thirty seconds after the kettle clicks off and the same spoonful reads deep instead of harsh. How do I make it stronger?Add more granules. That is the whole answer and it is the one advantage instant has over every other format. Do not reduce the water, because a smaller mug of the same coffee is simply a smaller mug, and do not raise the temperature, because that adds harshness rather than strength. Is it any good with milk?It is one of the better instants for it, because the dark roast and heavy body still read as coffee through a generous pour of milk where a mild blend fades to beige. Use a heaped measure if the milk is generous. Does it work iced?Well, and better than a mild blend does, because cold flattens bitterness and this one has some to spare. Dissolve the granules in a small amount of hot water first, then pour over a glass filled to the top with ice. Granules stirred into cold water never fully dissolve. Should I buy this or a lower-intensity L'Or?This is the darker, drier end of the same range. Within one brand the ladder genuinely means something, so if you have had a L'Or you liked, the number tells you which way to move. If you already find supermarket instant sharp, move down rather than up. Is it freeze-dried?Read the pack. Spray drying is fast and hard on aroma; freeze drying is gentler and keeps more of it, which is why freeze-dried granules look like broken glass rather than round powder. How should I store it?Cool, dry, dark and tightly closed, with a dry spoon every time. Soluble coffee takes moisture straight out of kitchen air, and damp granules cake into a block, dissolve badly and lose aroma well before the date on the pack. Can I cook with it?It is a good instant for it, because a dark roast holds its shape against sugar and cocoa. A teaspoon dissolved in a spoonful of boiling water gives a cake, a ganache or an icing real coffee depth without the extra liquid that brewed coffee would add. ## Ingredients & Nutrition Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Ingredients, as published for this product: Instant Coffee, Roast and Ground Coffee (5%).Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.IngredientProportionWhat it bringsSoluble coffeeThe whole packCoffee brewed at scale, concentrated and dried back to a solid. The bean mix, the roast and the drying route are where everything in the cup comes from.Roast developmentHigh, an eight on L'Or's scaleWhat the number on the front is actually describing. Longer roasting breaks down the bright acids and builds heavier compounds, giving body and bitterness in place of aromatic complexity.CaffeineNot published per servingUnrelated to the intensity number. Caffeine survives roasting largely intact, so the figure on the front tells you about flavour rather than about stimulation.Water (added by you)The bulk of the finished mugAbout 200ml a mug at roughly thirty seconds off the boil. On a high-intensity blend the water temperature decides whether the cup reads deep or scorched.Full declared ingredientsPrinted on the packThe pack you receive carries the complete ingredient list, the allergen declaration and the nutrition panel. We have not restated a formulation we cannot check.Pack: L'Or Artiste Vigoroso Intensity 8 Instant Coffee, 95g; GTIN 8711000702062; 95g of soluble coffee, roughly 47 mugs at a rounded 2g measure in a 200ml cup. Caffeinated. Best before date printed on the pack.The 47-mug figure is our own calculation at a stated 2g dose, not a claim printed on the pack. Black soluble coffee carries negligible nutrition before anything is added, and the figures on your own pack are the ones to use.Sourcing & blend. L'Or Artiste Vigoroso Intensity 8 Instant Coffee, 95g sits at the premium end of the mainstream instant shelf, and Vigoroso is the vigorous member of the Artiste soluble range rather than a separate product line. The intensity number deserves the attention this page gives it, because it is the single most misread figure in the coffee aisle: every brand that prints one invented its own ladder, calibrated only against the rest of its own range, so the number is genuinely helpful for choosing within L'Or and meaningless as a comparison with anyone else. What sits behind it is roast development, and a high number means a longer, darker roast that has traded aromatic brightness for body and bitterness. L'Or does not publish an origin composition or a drying process for this blend in a form we can verify, so the statement on the current UK pack is the reference and we have not invented one. For certifications and the full ingredient declaration, read the current pack rather than a description written earlier.What is in L'Or Artiste Vigoroso Intensity 8 Instant Coffee, 95g, and what is not:In: soluble coffee, as a dark, high-intensity blend for black coffee and for milk drinks.No added flavouring: this is a plain coffee, not a flavoured, sweetened or milk-added one.No caffeine claim in the number: the intensity figure describes roast and body, not stimulation. Anyone buying on caffeine is reading the wrong field.Certification note: we make no organic, Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance claim for this blend; any marks it carries are printed on the pack.Storage note: keep it closed and use a dry spoon. Soluble coffee takes moisture out of the air and cakes. ## Flavour Science The flavour of L'Or Artiste Vigoroso Intensity 8 Instant Coffee, 95g is built in three layers, and with a soluble coffee the first two were settled before the pack was sealed. Reading them in order explains what a high intensity number is buying, what it is spending to get there, and why the same spoonful can make a deep mug or a scorched one.The outer layer is aromatic, and a dark roast's aroma is powerful rather than intricate. Roasting further breaks down the delicate, bright compounds a light roast would have kept and builds heavier ones in their place, which is why this smells of toasted grain, dark chocolate and a trace of smoke rather than of fruit or flowers. That narrowness is quietly an advantage in an instant, because the drying step every soluble coffee goes through is hardest on exactly the fragile aromatics this roast has already given up. It is also the first layer a damp pack destroys, which is why the closed lid and the dry spoon are not fussiness.The flavour spike arrives mid palate and it is where the intensity number cashes out. Body and bitterness were built together in the roaster and both land in the middle of the mouthful, which is what makes the cup survive milk: a mild instant under a large pour stops tasting of coffee, while this one still reads as coffee at the same dose. It is also the stretch that responds to your spoon, and only to your spoon, because a soluble coffee has already been extracted once and there is no second extraction to manage. A level measure reads thinner than the front of the pack promises; a rounded one delivers what the number suggests.The base structure is a long, dry finish with a clear bitter tail. Whether that is a virtue depends entirely on what you sat down wanting. Black and strong it is exactly right, and it is why this blend works over ice and in baking, where cold and sugar both need something left standing to push against. For someone who already finds ordinary instant sharp, it is the wrong end of the range, and the fix is a lower intensity rather than a smaller spoon, because a weak dark coffee tastes thin and bitter at the same time.Getting it right in the cup. Start with a rounded 2g measure in a 200ml mug and go up rather than down if you want more. Let the kettle stand about thirty seconds after it clicks off, which on a high-intensity blend is the single most useful habit on this page. Put the granules in the mug on their own, add a splash of hot water, stir them to a smooth paste, then fill; on a bitter-forward coffee that step noticeably softens the first mouthful as well as removing undissolved specks. Add milk after the coffee has dissolved and use a heaped measure if you are pouring a lot of it. Use a dry spoon every time. If the cup reads thin, add coffee rather than sugar, because sweetening a weak dark roast gives you a sweet weak dark roast and nothing better.How water and temperature change it. Water is doing two jobs here that pull against each other, and on a high-intensity roast the gap between them is at its narrowest. It has to dissolve the granules completely, which wants heat, and it has to avoid tipping the roast into harshness, which wants restraint. At a rolling boil this coffee dissolves instantly and tastes scorched: sharper, flatter and faintly metallic at the finish, and nothing added afterwards recovers it. Merely warm, it leaves granules undissolved, which reads as gritty and weak at once. About thirty seconds off the boil is the window and it is wide enough that nobody needs a thermometer. Hard water matters more here than on a mild blend, because heavy mineral content mutes aroma and exaggerates a dry finish, so the same pack can read considerably harsher in one part of the country than another; a filter jug is a cheap way to test that. And temperature over time behaves differently with a dark roast: as the mug cools the bitterness becomes more prominent rather than less, so a cup left standing twenty minutes is usually better poured away than reheated. ## Recipe Ideas L'Or Artiste Vigoroso Intensity 8 Instant Coffee, 95g has already been brewed once, so the builds below are about dose, water and what goes in afterwards rather than about extraction. Five serves that use a high-intensity roast where depth and bitterness are an advantage rather than a cost. Ways to serve it, born here first The Deep Black Mug What an eight on the scale is actually for, made so it reads deep rather than scorched. 2 min 1 mug Easy You'll need A rounded 2g measure of granules 200ml water, thirty seconds off the boil A dry spoon Method Boil the kettle and count to thirty before pouring. Put the granules in the mug with a splash of hot water. Stir to a smooth paste, then fill the mug. Taste before adding anything. If it is thin, add coffee, not heat. What you'll end up with: A dark, weighty black coffee with a dry finish and none of the metallic edge boiling water gives it. The Milk Mug That Still Tastes Of Coffee The job a high-intensity blend does that a mild one cannot. 3 min 1 large mug Easy You'll need A heaped measure of granules 60ml hot water 150ml milk, hot or cold Method Dissolve the heaped measure in 60ml of hot water first. Stir until nothing is left in the bottom of the mug. Pour the milk in and stir again. Sweeten after tasting, if at all. What you'll end up with: A milk coffee where the roast still comes through, which is the whole reason to buy the dark end of a range. The Iced Coffee With Something Left Cold flattens bitterness, so an iced coffee needs a roast with some in reserve. 3 min 1 tall glass Easy You'll need A heaped measure of granules 60ml hot water A glass filled to the top with ice Cold milk, optional Method Dissolve the granules fully in the hot water. Never stir them into cold. Fill the glass right to the top with ice, more than looks sensible. Pour the hot concentrate straight over the ice. Top with cold milk or water and stir once. What you'll end up with: A cold coffee that still tastes of coffee once the ice has done its work to it. The Espresso Martini Base No machine, no grinder, and a dark roast is the right shape for it anyway. 4 min 2 glasses Medium You'll need 2 heaped measures of granules 60ml hot water Your usual spirits and coffee liqueur A cocktail shaker full of ice Method Dissolve the granules in the hot water to make a strong concentrate. Chill it completely. A warm base will not foam properly. Shake hard with ice and your usual measures. Strain into a chilled glass and drink it while the foam holds. What you'll end up with: A dense, properly bitter coffee base that stands up to sugar and alcohol, made with a kettle. Coffee For Chocolate Baking Concentrated coffee with almost no added liquid, which is what a bake actually needs. 1 min Any recipe Easy You'll need 1 to 2 teaspoons of granules 1 tablespoon boiling water Your batter, ganache or icing Method Dissolve the granules in one tablespoon of boiling water. Stir until completely smooth with no specks. Fold it into the mixture. Taste first. Coffee deepens chocolate long before it tastes of coffee. What you'll end up with: Chocolate that tastes more of itself, which is what coffee is doing in a brownie in the first place. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._