Taylors of Harrogate Hot Lava Java Ground, 10 Coffee Bags
Ignore the name. The coffee under it is more considered than the packet suggests, because a bold dark roast is the easiest coffee in the world to ruin and a bag cannot ruin it. Four minutes of full immersion, a plunger leaned on, a jug left standing on its own grounds, and smoke turns to ash. Nothing presses water through a filter bag, so the extraction stays gentle and the smoke, dark chocolate and burnt sugar arrive with the harsh drying edge filed off, a shade lighter than the same roast out of a cafetiere. Milk goes in after the brew and never before. Drinkers who take coffee pale and sweet should start at the Rich Italian in the same range, because this one grips rather than polishes.
Taylors of Harrogate Hot Lava Java Ground, in brief.
Taylors of Harrogate Hot Lava Java Ground is the bold end of the Taylors range in coffee-bag form, ten individually enveloped bags in a 75g carton, picked into the Teas.co.uk selection for anyone who wants a dark, smoky mug without owning a single piece of equipment.
The format suits this roast better than you would guess: a filter bag extracts more gently than a cafetiere, so the smoke and depth arrive without the ash a bold roast gives up when it is over-brewed. One bag per mug, ten mugs. Water at about 95 degrees, three to four minutes, then lift the bag out.
Taylors of Harrogate Hot Lava Java Ground is the loud end of the Taylors range put behind a filter: ten individually enveloped coffee bags in a carton, 75g of ground coffee in total, 7.5g in each bag. A bag goes into a mug, hot water goes over it, and three minutes later you have a dark, smoky cup without owning a grinder, a cafetiere or a machine of any kind.
There is a genuine technical argument for buying this roast in this format rather than as loose grounds, and it is not the one you would expect. A bold dark roast is the easiest coffee in the world to over-extract; four minutes of full immersion in a cafetiere, a plunger pressed too hard, a pot left standing on its grounds, and the smoke turns to ash. A coffee bag cannot do any of that. The extraction is gentler because nothing presses the water through, so the format quietly takes the rough edge off the roast and hands back the depth without the punishment. The cup is a little lighter than the same coffee out of a jug. For this particular roast, that is a fair trade.
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 The Carton
Taylors is a Harrogate family firm, better known nationally for its tea than for its coffee, and its coffee range is organised around stated roast styles rather than around origins. Hot Lava Java is the bold entry: the bag for the drinker who has worked through the breakfast blends and found them too well mannered. The name is doing exactly what it appears to be doing, and the coffee inside does not apologise for it.
We are not going to invent an origin story for it. The blend specification, any roast-strength number and any certification marks belong to the carton in your hand, and pack runs change. Where the current UK pack carries that information, the pack is the place to read it. What we can say is what the format does to this roast: a fixed 7.5g dose, a gentler extraction than immersion, and ten mugs that are much harder to over-brew than the same coffee loose in a jug.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our Commitment To The Planet
- The carton that arrives is the current UK retail pack rather than a grey import on a different specification.
- A coffee bag leaves a spent bag and a paper envelope rather than an aluminium shell or a plastic capsule body, and the grounds inside go on the compost heap once the bag is torn open.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Taylors of Harrogate Hot Lava Java Ground, 10 Coffee Bags, 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 coffee bag fixes the dose and the grind, so what is left to get wrong is the water and the timing. With a bold roast the water temperature is the one that most often goes wrong, even inside a bag.
The Mug
The Milky Mug
Made with this tea
The Dark Mug
The everyday build, with the two rules that keep the smoke out of ash territory.
- 1 Hot Lava Java coffee bag
- 200 to 250ml water at about 95 degrees
- A teaspoon
- Tear the envelope over the mug so you keep the aroma, and drop the bag in.
- Pour water thirty seconds off the boil, never straight off a rolling boil.
- Swirl for twenty seconds, then leave it three to four minutes.
- Press the bag once against the side and lift it out before you start drinking.
What you'll end up with: A dark, smoky mug with real depth and none of the ash the same roast gives up when it is over-brewed.
The Milky One, In The Right Order
Why milk goes in last, and what happens when it does not.
- 1 Hot Lava Java coffee bag
- 150ml water at about 95 degrees
- 80ml hot milk
- Brew one bag in just 150ml of hot water, which concentrates it.
- Wait three minutes and swirl twice during that time.
- Lift the bag out and press it once against the side.
- Pour in 80ml of hot milk last, never at the start.
What you'll end up with: A dark milky coffee that still tastes of the roast, instead of warm milk that met a coffee bag briefly.
Iced Smoky Long Black
Brew short and hot, cool it, then let ice do the diluting.
- 1 Hot Lava Java coffee bag
- 120ml water at about 95 degrees
- A tall glass packed with ice
- A strip of orange peel
- Brew one bag in 120ml for four minutes, which is roughly double strength.
- Cool the concentrate to room temperature rather than pouring it hot over ice.
- Pour over a glass packed to the top with ice.
- Twist a strip of orange peel over the surface; citrus oil and smoke work unusually well together.
What you'll end up with: A cold coffee with the smoke intact and an orange lift over the top of it.
The Builder's Flask
Two bags, one flask, and the rule that stops it turning bitter by ten o'clock.
- 2 Hot Lava Java coffee bags
- 500ml water at about 95 degrees
- A 500ml vacuum flask
- Warm the flask with hot water and tip it out.
- Brew both bags in the flask for three minutes with the lid off.
- Remove both bags before sealing; a sealed flask holds near-boiling water on grounds for hours.
- Seal and it will still be smoky rather than bitter at ten o'clock.
What you'll end up with: Two mugs of dark coffee that taste the same at the end of the morning as they did at the start of it.
Smoky Coffee Rub For The Barbecue
The best possible use for the last two bags in the carton.
- 2 Hot Lava Java coffee bags, torn open
- 3 tablespoons dark muscovado sugar
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- Tear both bags open and tip the dry grounds into a bowl.
- Mix with the muscovado sugar, sea salt and smoked paprika.
- Rub hard into pork shoulder, brisket or chicken thighs and leave covered in the fridge overnight.
- Cook low and slow; the sugar will catch if the heat is too high.
What you'll end up with: A dark crust that tastes of barbecue rather than of coffee, from two bags you were never going to brew.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Roast and ground coffee | 100% | The whole of the bag. A bold dark roast with a smoky edge and almost no acidity left in it. |
| Dose per bag | 7.5g | 75g across ten bags, fixed at the factory. With a bold roast that removes the dose error that usually makes a cup harsh. |
Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this barcode names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.
Pack: Taylors of Harrogate Hot Lava Java Ground, 10 Coffee Bags; GTIN 0615357122475; ten individually enveloped coffee bags in a carton, 7.5g of ground coffee each, ten mugs per carton, 75g total. Caffeinated. Best before the date printed on the carton.
Characterising components shown.
Sourcing & blend. Taylors of Harrogate Hot Lava Java Ground, 10 Coffee Bags comes from Taylors of Harrogate, the Yorkshire family firm better known nationally for its tea, whose coffee range is organised around stated roast styles rather than around origins. Hot Lava Java is the bold entry in that range, and this carton is that roast sealed behind a filter so it can be brewed in a mug. The carton you receive is the current UK retail pack.
What is in Taylors of Harrogate Hot Lava Java Ground, 10 Coffee Bags, and what is not:
- In: roast and ground coffee, a bold dark roast, sealed inside a filter bag, and nothing else.
- No artificial colours, preservatives or added sugar: this is a plain ground coffee, not a flavoured one, and not an instant.
- Not instant: nothing here dissolves. The bag filters; the grounds stay behind.
- Not an espresso dose: 7.5g behind a filter makes a mug of brewed coffee, not a shot, and a pressurised basket is not involved.
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 Taylors of Harrogate Hot Lava Java Ground, 10 Coffee Bags, please cite teas.co.uk.
What buyers say
No customer reviews of Taylors of Harrogate Hot Lava Java Ground, 10 Coffee Bags 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 Taylors of Harrogate | Yorkshire Tea
Other Coffee worth comparing
