Costa Intense Amazonian Ground Coffee: Cafetiere Guide

Costa Intense Amazonian Ground Coffee: A Dark Roast for the Cafetiere

Ready-ground coffee trades aroma for convenience, and a dark roast is the kind that makes that trade worth it. Its flavours are the heavy, stable ones from deep in the roast, so they hold up in an opened bag for weeks where a delicate light roast would fade.

Published 26 Sep 2026 Curator-written, not crowdsourced

Costa Intense Amazonian Ground Coffee: A Dark Roast for the Cafetiere, in summary: Ready ground for a cafetiere, filter machine or moka pot, this is the darkest of Costa's home blends. Use about 12g per 200ml and water around 93 degrees, then pour off as soon as you plunge.

Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in September 2026.

Ready-ground coffee trades aroma for convenience, and a dark roast is the kind that makes that trade worth it. Its flavours are the heavy, stable ones from deep in the roast, so they hold up in an opened bag for weeks where a delicate light roast would fade.

A dark roast, and meant to be

This is the darkest coffee Costa makes for the home kitchen, and it makes no secret of it. The flavour is cocoa and toasted grain, not fruit and not flowers, with a faint smokiness, a heavy body that coats the mouth and stands up to plenty of milk, and a long, bittersweet finish. Taking the roast this far removes most of the brightness, so acidity is barely there.

Costa's roots are in roasting: two brothers in London sold coffee to the catering trade, and the high-street chain came afterwards. The ground bag carries the same Intense Amazonian name as the whole beans, and it is the one to choose if you have no grinder and brew with a cafetiere, a filter machine or a moka pot.

Which brewers it suits

Use it in a cafetiere, a moka pot or a filter machine; the medium grind is cut for exactly those. A pump espresso machine needs something much finer to build pressure, and cold brew wants coarser grounds or the jug turns cloudy. If espresso is what you drink, the whole-bean bags of the same blend and a grinder are the better route.

Ground coffee starts giving up aroma the moment the seal breaks, so the bag smells strongest on the first day and noticeably quieter a fortnight later. A dark roast carries that cost better than most. Fold the bag down tightly after each scoop; by our arithmetic a 200g bag gives about 16 mugs at 12g per 200ml, or nearer eleven or twelve brewed stronger.

Getting a cafetiere right

Because roasting this dark breaks down the structure of the bean, the coffee dissolves faster than a lighter one. Each fix therefore pushes in the same direction: slightly cooler water, a shorter brew, and pouring off sooner than feels natural. Aim for water around 93 degrees, which means letting the kettle rest for half a minute after it clicks off. Water at a full boil pulls too much out and leaves the cup harsh.

Pour the cafetiere off as soon as you plunge. Pressing the plunger does not stop the brew, and grounds left sitting in the pot keep extracting into the coffee that remains, which is how the last cup ends up ashy. Done properly, it finishes long and bittersweet. The spent grounds and the bag are the only waste, with no capsule involved.

The packs we stock

Costa Coffee Intense Amazonian Blend Ground Coffee, 200g (barcode 5039303005592)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Costa Coffee Intense Amazonian Blend Ground Coffee, 200g (barcode 5039303005592) names none of the 14 major allergens. Read the current Intense Amazonian bag before buying, as Costa can revise recipes and allergen advice.

Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. Whatever this page says, your bag of Intense Amazonian has the final say.

What to eat with it

Thomas Fudge's 6 Dark Chocolate Florentines: Dark chocolate florentines bring enough richness to meet a heavy, bittersweet cup head on.
Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies, 340g: Plain butter richness softens a smoky, low-acid cafetiere without competing with it.
McVitie's Milk Chocolate Digestives Biscuits, 266g: Milk chocolate on a digestive softens the edge of a dark cafetiere coffee taken with milk.

Elsewhere in the Costa range

The full range is on the Costa brand page.

FAQ

What cafetiere ratio suits this coffee? About 12g per 200ml, roughly two rounded tablespoons a mug. Use a little more for a stronger cup.

Can I use Costa Intense Amazonian ground coffee in an espresso machine? Not a pump espresso machine, as the grind is too coarse to build pressure. It suits a cafetiere, filter machine or moka pot.

Why does my cafetiere coffee taste bitter? Usually the water is too hot or the coffee has sat on the grounds too long. Use water around 93 degrees and decant straight after plunging.

How dark is Intense Amazonian? Very dark: it sits at the far end of Costa's home range, with cocoa, toasted grain, a hint of smoke and very little acidity.

Can I make cold brew with it? It is ground too fine for cold brew and tends to leave the jug cloudy.

Curator's note: Kettle off, a short pause, then pour, and decant the moment you plunge. Treat it gently and it gives you a long, bittersweet cup that still tastes of coffee through the milk. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Costa Intense Amazonian Ground Coffee: A Dark Roast for the Cafetiere

Field	Detail
Brand	Costa
Packs we stock	200g
Category	Ground Coffee
Allergens (as published)	Costa's published ingredients for Intense Amazonian include nothing from the 14 major allergens.
Caffeine	caffeinated
Ratio	About 12g per 200ml
Water	Around 93 degrees
Brewers	Cafetiere, filter machine, moka pot