Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Coffee Beans: A Bean for Pressure

On a coffee bag, Italian roast names a degree of roasting rather than a place: these beans were taken to the dark end of the scale, and nothing in the name says they grew in Italy. On Taylors Rich Italian that means glossy, brittle beans, bittersweet cocoa and almost no acidity, which is why they reward a short, pressurised brew and punish a long soak.

What the Italian roast name tells you

Taylors sell Rich Italian as the darkest bean they roast, and the style sits at the opposite end of the scale from a pale Scandinavian roast. The long roast pushes oil out onto the bean, so the coffee arrives shiny, and it swaps bright fruit acidity for bittersweet cocoa, molasses and a long, toasty finish. The body is heavy and coats the mouth.

That shine matters in the kitchen. Oil sitting on the outside of the bean means the aroma is exposed rather than sealed in, so keep the bag closed with its one-way valve doing its work and grind only what the next shot needs. The same long roast leaves the bean brittle, and it shatters finer than a medium roast would at an identical grinder setting.

Espresso basket or moka pot, not a plunger

Our curators are blunt about this bag: it does one job. At this depth of roast the sugars are close to charring, and only a short contact time under pressure turns that into sweetness. An espresso machine or a stovetop moka pot keeps water moving through the grounds; a cafetiere or a filter leaves it sitting there long enough to draw out ash and a flat, dusty finish.

If the shots start choking, resist the urge to change everything at once. Move the grinder one notch coarser and pull again before touching the dose. Water wants to be cooler than for the other beans in this part of the Taylors range, around 90 to 92 degrees; without a thermometer, let the kettle stand for forty seconds after it clicks off. Hotter than that and the bitter edge takes over.

Choosing between the 200g and 700g bags

Both bags hold the same bean, so the choice comes down to how quickly your household gets through it. The 700g bag works out at roughly 38 double shots at an 18g dose, which is several weeks of coffee for one espresso drinker. Buy it only if pressure brewing is how you always make coffee, because a bean this specialised has few second uses.

The 200g bag is the sensible first purchase. It lets you find out whether a coffee with effectively no acidity suits you before committing, and it empties quickly enough that the last shot tastes close to the first. Whichever size you choose, fold the top down tight, keep it somewhere cool and dark, and grind each dose just before brewing.

The packs we stock

• Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Beans Roast Coffee, 200g (barcode 615357242425)
• Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Beans Roast Coffee, 700g (barcode 615357242920)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Beans Roast Coffee, 700g names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.

Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.

What to eat with it

• Lotus Biscoff Caramelised Biscuits, 250g: a caramelised biscuit that echoes the molasses side of a short, dark espresso.
• Maryland Cookies Caramel & Chocolate Chip, 200g: caramel and chocolate chips sit comfortably beside the cocoa weight of a moka-pot cup.
• Border Butterscotch Crunch Organic Biscuits, 135g: a butterscotch biscuit for a milky cappuccino pulled from these beans.
• McVitie's Original Hobnobs Biscuits - The Oaty One, 255g: an oaty biscuit with enough crunch to stand beside a heavy, coating shot.

Elsewhere in the Taylors of Harrogate range

• Taylors of Harrogate After Dark Roast Ground Coffee, 200g
• Taylors of Harrogate Brasilia Ground Coffee, 200g
• Taylors of Harrogate Decaffe Beans Roast Coffee, 200g
• Taylors of Harrogate Decaffe Ground, 10 Coffee Bags
• Taylors of Harrogate Decaffé Roast Ground Coffee, 200g
• Taylors of Harrogate Decaffeinated Yorkshire, 160 Tea Bags 500g

The full range is on the Taylors of Harrogate coffee page.

FAQ

Is Taylors Rich Italian coffee from Italy? No. Italian roast is a roasting style, so the name describes how dark the beans are, not where they grew.

Can I use Rich Italian beans in a cafetiere? You can, but it is not where they shine. A long soak pulls a flat, ashy finish from a roast this dark; Flying Start, from the same house, is the easier cafetiere bean.

What water temperature suits these beans? About 90 to 92 degrees, the coolest of the Taylors beans in this part of the range. Boil the kettle and wait around forty seconds if you have no temperature control.

Why is my espresso running slowly with this bean? Dark beans are brittle and grind finer at the same setting. Go one notch coarser and change nothing else until you have tasted the result.

Does Rich Italian take milk and sugar? Yes. Our curators note that both survive it, which is unusual for a bag this dark, so it works for a cappuccino or a sweetened moka cup.

Curator's note: Buy these for the espresso machine or the moka pot and nothing else. Grind them just before the shot, keep the water off the boil, and let the bittersweet cocoa do the rest. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Coffee Beans: A Bean for Pressure

More from the tea wiki

• Yorkshire Tea: Range and Buying Guide
• 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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