Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g
What stops this being merely strong is the caramel underneath it. A lot of breakfast roasts are all depth and bite; here there is a dark sweetness sitting below the roast, and that is the part still present at the bottom of a big mug. No brightness at all, so a lively, fruity cup means starting somewhere else. Where it does its best work is next to breakfast food. Bacon, toast and marmalade will flatten a mild coffee completely, and this one is still audible underneath all three.
Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, in brief.
Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee is a breakfast coffee and makes no pretence otherwise, roasted to strength 5 on the Taylors 1 to 6 scale for a full bodied cup with real presence, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the morning pack to sit opposite the mellow Brasilia.
A 200g pack giving roughly 28 cups at a 7g measure. Deep roasted with a dark caramel sweetness underneath, low in acidity, and built with enough body to read clearly through milk at seven in the morning. Taylors have been roasting in Harrogate since 1886, under the same family group as Bettys.
Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee is a morning coffee, and it does not pretend otherwise. The name is the brief. This is the pack for the first cup of the day, the one that has a job to do before anyone in the house is properly awake, and it is roasted with enough depth and enough bite to get through milk, through a rushed breakfast and through the fog of a Monday.
Taylors put Flying Start at roast strength 5 on their own 1 to 6 scale, which is a strong roast without going all the way to the dark, bitter end where the espresso blends live. In practice that means a full bodied cup with real presence: a proper roasted depth up front, a dark caramel sweetness underneath, and a finish that holds rather than fading out halfway down the mug. It is the opposite proposition to the gentle, nutty Brasilia in the same range.
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
The Story Behind Taylors of Harrogate
Taylors of Harrogate was founded in 1886 by Charles Taylor and is still run from Harrogate by the same family business that owns Bettys, the Yorkshire tea rooms, as part of the Bettys and Taylors Group. Most people in Britain know the company through Yorkshire Tea without ever realising the coffee comes from the same house, and coffee is in fact the older half of the story. The roast strength numbers printed on the front of every Taylors coffee pack are one of the more genuinely useful things on a British supermarket shelf: a single figure tells you more than a paragraph of adjectives, and it makes the range navigable without tasting your way through it.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
What You Are Actually Buying
- Weight: 200g of ground coffee.
- Cups per pack: at a standard 7g measure, roughly 28 cups. In a cafetiere at 15g per 250ml, about 13 mugs.
- Roast strength: 5 on the Taylors 1 to 6 scale.
- Grind: a general purpose grind that suits a cafetiere, a filter machine and a pour over without any adjustment.
Getting It Right in the Cup
- Water temperature: 92 degrees Celsius, and never straight off a rolling boil.
- Measure: 7g per cup, 15g per 250ml in a cafetiere, 60g per litre in a filter machine.
- Milk: it takes milk very well, which is largely the point of a breakfast roast. The body carries through where a lighter coffee would vanish.
- Storage: fold the pack down tight, clip it, cool dark cupboard. Not the fridge.
- Freshness: finish an opened pack within two to four weeks. After that it goes quiet rather than bad.
- Best with: breakfast, toast, a bacon sandwich, and any morning where the coffee needs to do some work.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Taylors of Harrogate | Yorkshire Tea
Yorkshire Tea is the family-owned blend out of Harrogate that became Britain's favourite. The Original is the everyday workhorse; Gold steps it up with stronger Assam character; Hard Water powers through limescale areas. Taylors has been in the same family since 1886, sources ethically through the Rainforest Alliance, and famously refuses gimmicks.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
The taste profile
How does it compare
A roast this deep gives you a wide margin on strength and a narrow one on temperature. Get the water right and it is very hard to make a bad cup from this pack.
The Morning Cafetiere
The Big Filter Jug
Made with this tea
The Morning Cafetiere
How to make The Morning Cafetiere with Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start.
- 30g Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start
- 500ml water at 92°C
- Milk to taste
- Boil the kettle and let it stand a full thirty to forty seconds. A deep roast is more sensitive to over hot water than a light one.
- Add 30g of Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g and pour on 500ml of water. Use 34g if you take a lot of milk.
- Steep 4 minutes with the lid on, then break the crust and skim the foam.
- Plunge slowly and decant both mugs immediately.
What you'll end up with: A deep, full mug that still reads as coffee under milk. If it comes out harsh, drop the water temperature before you touch the dose.
The Filter Jug That Survives Breakfast
How to make The Filter Jug That Survives Breakfast with Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start.
- 60g Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start
- 1 litre of water
- A paper filter
- An insulated flask
- Rinse the paper filter with hot water first if the machine allows it, and pour that water away.
- Measure 60g of Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g per litre of water.
- Brew as normal.
- Decant into an insulated flask the moment it finishes. Do not leave the jug sitting on the hot plate.
What you'll end up with: Coffee that is still drinkable an hour later. The hot plate is what stews a jug, not the coffee, and this roast survives a flask better than a delicate one.
Night Before Flask for an Early Start
How to make Night Before Flask for an Early Start with Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start.
- 60g Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start
- 700ml cold water
- A jar and a paper filter
- Ice, or hot milk to warm it
- Stir 60g of Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g into 700ml of cold water so every ground is wet.
- Leave in the fridge for 14 to 18 hours.
- Strain through a paper filter without squeezing the bed.
- Serve over ice, or warm a measure with hot milk if you want it hot without waiting for a kettle.
What you'll end up with: A deep roast gives a chocolatey, thick, low acidity concentrate. Keeps about a week, so one batch covers several early starts.
Breakfast Mocha
How to make Breakfast Mocha with Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start.
- 18g Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start
- 2 teaspoons cocoa
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 180ml hot milk
- Brew 18g of Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g strong in 100ml of water.
- Mix 2 teaspoons of cocoa and 1 teaspoon of sugar in the mug with a splash of the hot coffee, working it into a smooth paste first.
- Add the rest of the coffee and stir.
- Top with 180ml of hot milk.
What you'll end up with: The paste step is the whole trick; tip the cocoa in loose and it stays in lumps. The roast depth here stands up to chocolate where a mild coffee would get buried.
Coffee Braised Beef
How to make Coffee Braised Beef with Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start.
- 300ml strong Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start
- 1kg beef shin or brisket
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1 tablespoon black treacle
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- Brown 1kg of beef shin or brisket hard in a casserole, then set it aside and soften 2 sliced onions in the same pan.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons of tomato puree and 1 tablespoon of black treacle.
- Pour in 300ml of strong Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g and return the beef.
- Cover and cook at 150°C for 3 hours, until the meat pulls apart with a fork.
What you'll end up with: The coffee reads as savoury depth rather than as coffee. A deep roast is the right one for this; a mellow coffee would disappear entirely.
Coffee and Treacle Tray Bake
How to make Coffee and Treacle Tray Bake with Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start.
- 80ml strong Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start, cooled
- 225g self raising flour
- 150g dark muscovado sugar
- 150g soft butter
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons black treacle
- Brew 80ml of Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g strong and leave it to go completely cold.
- Beat 150g of soft butter with 150g of dark muscovado sugar and 2 tablespoons of black treacle until combined.
- Add 2 large eggs one at a time, then fold in 225g of self raising flour and the cold coffee.
- Bake in a lined 20cm square tin at 180°C for 30 to 35 minutes, then cool in the tin before cutting.
What you'll end up with: Keeps 4 days in a tin and improves on the second day. Use the coffee cold, or it will start cooking the eggs as you fold.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Component | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Roasted ground coffee | the whole pack | Nothing else is in it. No chicory, no filler, no flavouring; plain roast and ground coffee is a single ingredient product. |
| Roast strength | 5 of 6 | Taylors' own scale, printed on the front of the pack. Firmly in the strong half without reaching the dark, bitter end where the espresso blends sit. |
| Body | full | The reason it reads clearly through a good splash of milk at breakfast, where a lighter coffee would simply vanish. |
| Dark caramel note | developed in the roast | The sweetness underneath the roast depth, and what stops the cup from being merely strong. |
| Grind | general purpose | Cut to work across cafetiere, filter and pour over without adjustment. |
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.
Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.
Pack: Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g; roast and ground coffee, caffeinated, roast strength 5. Roughly 28 cups at a 7g measure, or about 13 cafetiere mugs at 15g per 250ml. Best within two to four weeks of opening for full aroma; see the pack for the unopened best before date.
The roast strength number and the certification marks are both printed on the current UK pack.
Sourcing & blend. Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g is roasted by Taylors of Harrogate, the Yorkshire family business founded in 1886 by Charles Taylor and still run from Harrogate as part of the Bettys and Taylors Group. Most British households know the company through Yorkshire Tea without realising the coffee comes from the same house; coffee is in fact the older half of the story. Taylors buy, blend and roast in Yorkshire, and the roast strength number on the front of every pack makes their range navigable without having to taste your way through it. Flying Start is their morning coffee and is built to a brief rather than to a fashion.
What's in Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g, and what isn't:
- In: roasted and ground coffee beans and nothing else.
- No artificial colours, preservatives or added sugar: the dark caramel sweetness is roast sugar developed inside the bean, not anything added afterwards.
- Energy: brewed black with nothing added, coffee contributes negligible energy. The calories come from the milk and sugar added afterwards.
- Packaging: follow the current UK pack and your local authority guidance, since disposal routes differ by component and by council.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Taylors of Harrogate Flying Start Roast Ground Coffee, 200g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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