Taylors Rich Italian Ground Coffee: Dose, Water, Bag Size

Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Ground Coffee: The Dark End of the Range, in summary: Dark-roasted arabica from the deep end of the Taylors range, with dry cocoa weight and almost no acidity. Seven grams a mug, water a minute off the boil, milk welcome, and a bag size you can finish within weeks.

Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in September 2026.

Taylors arrange their coffee by how dark it is roasted rather than where it grew, and Rich Italian is the one at the dark end. That single fact tells you how to brew it: a dark roast gives up its flavour easily, so the job is to hold back heat and time rather than push them.

Where Rich Italian sits among Taylors coffees

At the gentle end of the Taylors shelf you find Flying Start and Lazy Sunday; Hot Lava Java sits in between with more intensity; Rich Italian takes the dark end. In the cup that means a dry cocoa weight across the middle of the mouthful, a firm bitterness that is deliberate rather than harsh, and almost no brightness, because a roast this dark trades acidity for depth.

That weight is there for a reason. Rich Italian is built to stand up to milk, not for sipping black from a tiny cup, and its roast depth still tastes of coffee when half the mug is milk. The label is equally direct: a single ingredient, arabica coffee, with none of the major allergens named in the published list.

Seven grams, a rested kettle and four minutes

Seven grams suits a 200ml mug, which is about one heaped tablespoon; a filter machine wants sixty grams to the litre. Skimp on the dose and the temptation is to brew for longer, which is where bitterness creeps in, since the water carries on pulling from coffee that is already spent. Get the amount right first and the brew can stay short.

Water matters as much as dose. Aim for 92 to 96 degrees: boil the kettle, then give it roughly a minute to settle before pouring, because a rolling boil drags the bitter compounds out of a dark roast too fast. In a cafetiere, allow four minutes, plunge gently and pour the whole pot straight away rather than leaving it sitting on the grounds.

The 200g bag or the 400g bag

Ground coffee offers a huge surface for air to work on, so it dulls noticeably two or three weeks after opening, whatever the date on the bag says. At seven grams a mug the 400g bag gives about 57 mugs, which is around eight weeks for one person drinking one mug a day. That runs well past the point where the aroma starts to fade.

So the 200g bag suits a single drinker or a weekend pot, and the 400g bag earns its place in a house where several people drink it, or where a full cafetiere goes round the table. If you buy the big bag for one, decant a week's worth into a small airtight jar and keep the main bag rolled down and clipped shut.

The packs we stock

Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Roast Ground Coffee, 200g (barcode 615357752665)
Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Roast Ground Coffee, 400g (barcode 615357752672)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Roast Ground Coffee, 400g (barcode 615357752672) names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.

Ingredients, as published: arabica coffee.

Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.

What to eat with it

Thomas Fudge's 6 Dark Chocolate Florentines: dark chocolate florentines meet the dry cocoa of the cup halfway.
Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies, 340g: plain butter cookies soften the firm bitterness of a milky mug without adding more chocolate.
Lu Le Petit Cookie with Chunky Rich Chocolate Chips, 184g: chunky chocolate chips for a black cup, where the cocoa notes line up.
Border Dark Chocolate Ginger Organic Biscuits, 150g: ginger warmth and dark chocolate give a big pot for guests something bold to sit beside.

Elsewhere in the Taylors of Harrogate range

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

FAQ

What does Taylors Rich Italian ground coffee taste like? Dark and weighty, with dry cocoa through the middle, a firm bitterness and almost no acidity. It is the most plainly coffee-flavoured cup in the Taylors range.

Is Rich Italian good with milk? That is what it is built for. The roast depth still tastes of coffee when half the mug is milk.

How many mugs does the 400g bag make? About 57 at seven grams a mug. That is our own sum from the pack weight, not a figure printed on the bag.

Why does my cafetiere taste harsh? Usually the water is too hot or the dose too small. Let the kettle settle for a minute and use a full seven grams rather than brewing longer.

What is in the bag? The published ingredient list reads simply arabica coffee, and it names none of the major allergens. Check the current pack, as blends are adjusted from time to time.

Curator's note: Pour it and walk away for a minute. Scalding hot, a roast this dark is all bitterness; a few degrees cooler, the cocoa and toasted sugar finally show up. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Ground Coffee: The Dark End of the Range

Field	Detail
Brand	Taylors of Harrogate
Packs we stock	200g; 400g
Category	Ground Coffee
Allergens (as published)	The published ingredient list for this barcode names none of the 14 major allergens.
Caffeine	caffeinated
Dose	Seven grams per 200ml mug
Water	92 to 96 degrees
Best with	Plenty of milk