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The medium roast is the sweeter of illy's two espresso grinds, roasted long enough to build caramel and body and stopped well short of the burnt edge darker Italian espresso can carry. Buy it if your coffee is made on a moka pot or pump machine and there is no grinder in the house.
What medium means in an illy tin
illy does not sell a long list of recipes. It sells one blend of nine arabica origins and changes two things around it: the roast and the format. The medium roast is the middle setting, and what separates it from the dark tin beside it is time in the roaster, not a different set of beans. That makes choosing simpler, because the question becomes how much sweetness and lift you want.
As espresso it opens floral and toasted, then settles into caramel and milk chocolate through the middle, notes that show most clearly once the shot has cooled a little. Bitterness is restrained and finishes on cocoa rather than char. illy's Trieste style reads lighter and more aromatic than the Milanese and Neapolitan houses, without the robusta-driven bite much of southern Italy prefers, and this roast shows that house character most plainly.
Moka pot, pump machine or AeroPress
The grind is fine, cut for brewers that push hot water through packed coffee under pressure. A domestic pump espresso machine is the obvious home, and a stovetop moka pot suits it just as well. An AeroPress works too if you keep the steep short. A cafetiere is the one to avoid: plungers want a coarser grind, and fine coffee in one tends to give a gritty, over-extracted cup.
Water temperature matters more than most people expect. Aim for 92 to 94 degrees; water straight off a rolling boil pushes bitterness forward and flattens the caramel that makes this roast worth buying. Pouring by hand, leave the kettle for about thirty seconds once it clicks off. At 7g per single shot the tin gives roughly 35 shots, which is our own arithmetic rather than a figure from the pack.
The case for ground coffee in a pressurised tin
Grinding multiplies the surface of coffee that meets the air, which is why ground coffee in an ordinary bag goes flat so quickly once opened. illy's answer, patented in 1934 and still in use, is to replace the air in the tin with inert nitrogen under pressure. Sealed, the aroma is held in. Once opened, press the lid down firmly after each use, and the coffee you spoon out in the third week stays far closer to the first than a paper bag would allow.
Which illy to choose, then? With a grinder at home, the Classico beans are the better buy, because whole beans hold their aroma longer than any grind. For more weight and cocoa, and less floral lift, move to the dark roast. If your machine takes Nespresso Original capsules, the Classico Lungo capsules are made for it, though not for Vertuo. With no equipment at all, illy's instant is the kettle-and-spoon version.
The packs we stock
- illy Espresso Medium Roast Ground Coffee, 250g (barcode 8003753900438)
What to eat with it
- McVitie's Milk Chocolate Digestives Biscuits, 266g: milk chocolate on the biscuit echoes the milk chocolate note in the middle of the cup.
- McVitie's Digestives Dark Chocolate Biscuits, 433g: darker chocolate meets the cocoa finish and gives a moka pot coffee something firm to stand beside.
- Border Lemon Drizzle Melts Organic Biscuits, 150g: a bright lemon biscuit plays against the floral top notes of a morning shot.
Elsewhere in the illy range
- illy Classico Coffee Beans - Classic Roast, 250g
- illy Classico Roast Lungo Aluminium Coffee, 10 Capsules
- illy Espresso Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 250g
- illy Instant Coffee Smooth Taste, 95g
The full range is on the illy brand page.
FAQ
Is illy medium roast the same coffee as the dark roast? Yes, it is the same blend taken to a different roast. The medium keeps more sweetness and floral lift; the dark swaps them for cocoa and body.
Can I use it in a moka pot? Yes. It is ground fine for pressure brewing, and a stovetop moka pot is one of the two brewers it is cut for, alongside a pump espresso machine.
Should I buy the ground tin or the beans? The ground tin if you have no grinder, since the pressurised tin keeps it fresh far longer than a bag. With a grinder, the Classico beans are the better choice.
Does it contain caffeine? Yes. It is a standard caffeinated coffee.
Why does my shot taste bitter? Check the water first: straight off a rolling boil it drags bitterness forward. Keep it between 92 and 94 degrees and the caramel comes back to the front.
Curator's note: Give the shot a minute to cool before you judge it; the caramel only really shows once the heat comes off. A milk chocolate digestive beside it is the easy win. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.
In short: illy Espresso Medium Roast Ground Coffee: the sweet spot of the blend
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Brand | illy |
| Packs we stock | 250g |
| Category | Ground Coffee |
| Caffeine | caffeinated |
| Brew in | Moka pot, pump machine or AeroPress |
| Flavour | Floral, caramel, milk chocolate |
| Best with | A milk chocolate biscuit mid-morning |
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