Nescafé Dolce Gusto Americano Intenso: The Darker Long Black

The difference between the Americano and the Americano Intenso lies in the roast, not in the amount of coffee in the capsule. Taking the beans darker gives a heavier cup with a cocoa and toast character, and it changes how much water the pod wants.

What the darker roast changes

Roast depth decides how far the sugars in the bean are developed. In the Intenso they are pushed until cocoa and toasted, caramel-like notes take over from any fruit, the style often described as a continental roast. The cup is fuller across the tongue than the standard Americano, with a firmer and more deliberate bitterness. The dark roast also throws more aroma: the kitchen smells of cocoa and toast the moment the machine finishes, though that scent fades within minutes while the coffee stays as strong.

One thing it does not settle is caffeine. How dark a bean is roasted and how much caffeine it holds are two separate questions, so a darker capsule is not automatically a more caffeinated one; if the figure matters to you, check the current pack. Intenso is about flavour and weight, which is why it is the capsule for the first cup of the morning, when the standard Americano can feel a little too polite.

Start short, then work outwards

With a capsule, the only thing you control is the volume of water. Run the Intenso all the way to the printed line and it can turn austere, with the bitterness coming in early and dominating the middle of the mouthful. Stop sooner and the same grounds give a denser, cocoa-heavy mug with a caramelised edge, which is a far better thing to have on a cold morning.

Our advice is to begin well short of the mark and add a little more water on each brew until the cup lands where you like it. The same short pour is the answer if you take milk. Compared with the standard Americano, this is the capsule that holds up under milk, and a concentrated draw gives the roast enough weight to come through.

Where it sits in the Dolce Gusto cupboard

Like the standard Americano, it makes one cup per capsule, so a box of sixteen gives sixteen mugs. The milk drinks in the range each need a coffee pod plus a milk pod, so their boxes of sixteen stretch to eight, which is worth remembering before comparing boxes. Each capsule stays sealed until the machine pierces it, so the ground coffee does not meet the air until it is brewed.

Americano is the name of a way of serving coffee, a short shot topped up with hot water, rather than a clue to where the beans grew, and the blend's origins are not published for the capsule. The pods fit Nescafé Dolce Gusto machines only, so they are no use in a Nespresso or a Tassimo, and no other system's capsules will fit a Dolce Gusto either.

The packs we stock

• Nescafe Dolce Gusto Americano Intenso Coffee (16 Servings), 16 Pods (barcode 8445290442437)

What to eat with it

• Lotus Biscoff Caramelised Biscuits, 250g: A caramelised biscuit against a caramel-edged dark roast: the two meet on the same toasted note.
• McVitie's Digestives Dark Chocolate Biscuits, 433g: Dark chocolate matches the cocoa in the cup, and a digestive is sturdy enough for a quick dunk in a strong black mug.
• Border Classic Biscuit Sharing Pack, 400g: A sharing pack puts a plate of biscuits on the table when the Intenso is being made for more than one on a cold morning.

Elsewhere in the Nescafé range

• Nescafe Azera Americano Decaff Instant Coffee, 90g
• Nescafe Azera Americano Instant Coffee, 140g
• Nescafe Azera Americano Intense Instant Coffee with Finely Ground Beans, 140g
• Nescafe Azera Decaf Americano Instant Coffee with Finely Ground Beans, 135g
• Nescafe Cappuccino Decaf Unsweetened Taste Instant Coffee Sachets, 7 Sachets 105g
• Nescafe Cappuccino Instant Coffee, 7 Sachets

The full range is on the Nescafé brand page.

FAQ

What is the difference between the Americano and the Americano Intenso? The roast. Intenso is taken darker, giving more body, more cocoa and a firmer bitterness; it is not a bigger dose of coffee.

Does Intenso have more caffeine? Not necessarily. Roast colour tells you about flavour, not caffeine, so check the current pack if you need the figure.

How many cups are in a box? Sixteen, one for each capsule.

Is it good with milk? Yes, it is the Americano that stands up best to milk. Draw it short first, then add the milk.

Does Americano mean the beans are American? No. It names the drink, a short shot topped up with hot water, not the origin of the beans.

Curator's note: Start it well short of the line on a cold morning and you get a dense, cocoa-rich mug. Run it to the full mark and it bites back. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Nescafé Dolce Gusto Americano Intenso: The Darker Long Black

More from the tea wiki

• Nescafé: The Instant Coffee Benchmark
• 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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