Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee: The Espresso Grind

The most useful word on this pack is Espresso, because it tells you the grind before it tells you anything about the taste. Match it to the right brewer and Barista Intenso gives a thick, bittersweet shot; put it in the wrong one and no amount of care rescues the cup.

A grind made for pressure

Espresso coffee is ground fine for a reason. A pump machine drives hot water through the coffee in roughly twenty-five seconds, and only a fine, even bed slows it down enough to extract properly. That same fineness makes this bag a poor fit for steeping. Leave grounds this small in a cafetière for four minutes and too much comes out of them, while the mesh lets the smallest particles through into the mug.

So the right homes are a pump espresso machine and a stovetop moka pot. The one to watch is the bean-to-cup machine: its hopper expects whole beans, and ground coffee tipped in there means a repair rather than a drink. If a cafetière or a bean-to-cup machine does most of the work in your kitchen, we would point you towards Classico or Qualità Oro in the right format instead.

Getting a good shot from a fixed grind

Buying espresso ready ground is a trade. You give up the one control a café depends on, going finer or coarser until the shot runs right. In return there is no grinder to buy or clean and no old grounds going stale in a hopper, and the grind is consistent from bag to bag. For a home machine making a couple of shots a day, that is a sensible exchange, as long as you know which levers remain.

Aim for about 30ml from a single in 25 to 30 seconds. A shot that gushes tastes thin and sour, so put a gram more in the basket, check the bed is level and tamp evenly rather than harder. A shot that crawls tastes bitter, so take a little coffee out. At a 7g single the pack gives roughly 35 shots; pulling 14g doubles, count on around 17.

Moka pots, milk and the rest of the range

In a moka pot it behaves well, provided you treat it gently. Warm water goes into the base to just under the safety valve, the coffee is levelled in the funnel but never pressed down, and the heat stays moderate. A stovetop pot works at far less pressure than a pump machine, so a packed bed simply chokes it.

The roast is dark and bittersweet, leaning to caramel and cocoa rather than fruit, with almost no acidity and a thick, syrupy body. That profile is what milk wants underneath it, so this is a strong choice for cappuccinos and flat whites. Within Lavazza, Qualità Rossa is the other blend we reach for when milk is going in, while Classico and the more aromatic Qualità Oro are where we would start for other brewers.

The packs we stock

• Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee, 250g (barcode 8000070014602)

What to eat with it

• McVitie's Digestives Dark Chocolate Biscuits, 433g: Dark chocolate meets the cocoa bitterness of the roast head on, a match for a short shot taken black.
• McVitie's Digestives Seriously Chocolatey Biscuits, 250g: A heavily chocolate biscuit suits a milky cappuccino made on this caramel-leaning roast.
• Oreo Vanilla Cookie Chocolate Sandwich Biscuit Twin Pack, 2 x 154g: A chocolate and vanilla sandwich biscuit is a sweet contrast to a short, bitter espresso.
• Border Classic Biscuit Sharing Pack, 400g: A sharing pack for when the moka pot comes out after a meal and there are several cups to pour.

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 Passionale 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

The full range is on the Lavazza brand page.

FAQ

Can Barista Intenso go in a cafetière? We would not use it that way. The grind is too fine for four minutes of steeping, so the mug turns bitter and silty; choose a coffee ground for a cafetière instead.

Will it work in a bean-to-cup machine? No. Those machines grind whole beans from a hopper, and pre-ground coffee does not belong in there.

How many espressos does a 250g pack make? Roughly 35 singles at 7g, or around 17 doubles at 14g.

Is it good with milk? Yes. The dark roast, heavy body and low acidity carry through steamed milk, which is why it suits cappuccinos and flat whites.

What can I adjust if I cannot change the grind? The dose and the tamp. Add or remove about a gram, keep the bed level and tamp evenly until a single takes 25 to 30 seconds.

Curator's note: Pull it short into a warmed cup and resist chasing more volume from the same dose. If you want a bigger drink, add steamed milk, not water. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Lavazza Espresso Barista Intenso Ground Coffee: The Espresso Grind

More from the tea wiki

• Tea vs Coffee: Taste, Caffeine and Switching
• Caffeine in Tea
• Tea vs Coffee
• Tea for Coffee Drinkers: Where to Start
• Chai vs Coffee

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