Lavazza A Modo Mio Passionale: the intense capsule

Passionale is made for people who want an espresso to arrive with force. Its weight is the whole point, so the useful questions are how short to pull it and how much milk it can carry.

Dark is not the same as burnt

People often use strong and burnt as if they meant one thing, and with Passionale the difference matters. The cup is dark, thick and low in acidity, and its bitterness is designed in rather than a sign of scorching. The aroma leans towards dark cocoa and toast with a faint woody sweetness, and in a small cup the body is syrupy, under a dense crema that lasts about a minute.

That crema has a job. Pressure whips coffee oil and carbon dioxide into a fine foam, and the foam traps the most fleeting aromas until it collapses. Once it goes, much of the smell goes with it, so this is a capsule to drink promptly, ideally standing by the machine, rather than one to carry to a desk and forget about.

Short, long or under milk

With a capsule this strong, a shorter pull is usually kinder. Stopped at ristretto length, the shot turns sweeter and denser and loses most of its bitter tail, while a full espresso gives more volume and more bite. Unusually, it also holds together when run long as a lungo, where a milder capsule would turn thin and papery. If you drink doubles, a box of sixteen becomes eight servings.

Milk is where the strength earns its place. A dark, low-acid roast stays audible through a flat white or a latte instead of vanishing into it, so Passionale suits anyone who has watched gentler capsules disappear under steamed milk. Taken neat, it can be a lot for someone used to long milky coffee, and no machine setting will soften it, because the dose was fixed when the capsule was sealed.

Choosing between the A Modo Mio lines

A Modo Mio is Lavazza's own closed system, so these capsules go into A Modo Mio machines only, not a Nespresso, a Dolce Gusto or a Tassimo. Within the system we also stock Lungo Dolce, Qualita Rossa and the Dek decaf in Eco Caps. Passionale sits towards the intense end of that line-up, so it is the box to try once the milder capsules have started to taste polite.

In our view it belongs to the cup that has to register: the espresso after lunch, or the one in the middle of a flat afternoon. Be warned that a fortnight of it can make gentler capsules seem like warm water. If your household splits between people who want weight and people who want softness, keep a box of something milder beside it.

The packs we stock

• Lavazza A Modo Mio Passionale Coffee, 16 Capsules (barcode 8000070086005)

What to eat with it

• Border Dark Chocolate Ginger Organic Biscuits, 150g: Dark chocolate and warm ginger are bold enough to meet a dark, bitter shot head on.
• Maryland Cookies Double Chocolate, 200g: A sweet, chocolate-heavy cookie that takes the edge off a short, thick espresso.
• McVitie's Hobnobs Milk Choc Jumbo Pack Biscuits, 431g: Oats and milk chocolate for the flat white, where Passionale keeps its voice through the milk.

Elsewhere in the Lavazza range

• Lavazza A Modo Mio Dek, Decaf Eco Caps, 16 Capsules 120g
• Lavazza A Modo Mio Lungo Dolce Coffee, 16 Capsules
• Lavazza A Modo Mio Qualita Rossa Coffee, 16 Capsules 120g
• Lavazza Crema e Gusto Classico Coffee Beans, 1kg
• Lavazza Crema E Gusto Classico Ground Roasted Coffee, 500g
• Lavazza Crema e Gusto Dolce Ground Coffee, 250g

The full range is on the Lavazza brand page.

FAQ

How strong is Lavazza Passionale? Among A Modo Mio capsules it is one of the fullest: dark, full bodied and deliberately bitter. For a number, check the intensity figure Lavazza prints on the pack.

Will Passionale fit my Nespresso machine? No. It is an A Modo Mio capsule and fits Lavazza A Modo Mio machines only; it will not go into Nespresso, Dolce Gusto or Tassimo machines.

Is it better as a ristretto or a lungo? Both work. A shorter pull is sweeter and thicker, and a longer one holds together far better than a milder capsule would.

Does it work in a latte? Yes. The dark, low-acid roast carries through steamed milk, which is exactly where many gentler capsules lose their flavour.

Why does it taste so bitter? The bitterness is part of a dark, heavy style rather than a burnt note. If it is too much neat, pull it shorter or add milk.

Curator's note: Keep it for the espresso that has to count, and drink it before the crema drops. Anyone who takes long milky coffee all day should meet it in a flat white first. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Lavazza A Modo Mio Passionale: the intense capsule

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