Strong coffee beans and ground coffee

What makes coffee strong?

When people say strong, they usually mean flavour intensity: a full body, little acidity and bitter-sweet notes of dark chocolate and roast. Three things decide it:

• Roast level. A darker roast tastes more intense and less acidic.
• The blend. Robusta beans have more body and more caffeine than arabica, and give a thicker crema. Many Italian espresso blends use them for exactly that reason.
• How you brew. More coffee per cup, a finer grind and a shorter drink all make it taste stronger.

Strength is not the same as caffeine

A dark-roasted espresso tastes more intense than a light filter roast, but it doesn't necessarily contain more caffeine. Caffeine depends mainly on the bean, with Robusta containing roughly twice as much as arabica, and on how much coffee ends up in your cup. A large mug of filter coffee can contain more caffeine than a single espresso. If you are sensitive to caffeine, keep an eye on how many cups you drink, whatever the strength on the pack.

Strong coffee brands in this category

Most of the range is espresso blends. Strong coffee brands to compare:

• Italian blends such as Lavazza Super Crema Espresso, Segafredo Intermezzo, Kimbo Caffé Crema Classico, Pellini Espresso Bar No 82 Vivace, Lucaffé Classic and Hausbrandt Venezia
• German roasters: Dallmayr Crema d'Oro intensa, Jacobs Barista Crema Intense, Tchibo Barista Caffè Crema and Melitta Barista Classic Crema Forte
• Gorilla, including Gorilla Crema No.1 and Super Bar Crema, and Lazarro, including Lazarro Espresso Dark Roast
• Fresh-roasted beans from Café du Jour, such as Espresso Madrugador, Despertando Espresso and the Bregman's Blends

To try several at once, there are tasting packs of four 1 kg bags, for example the Italian Espresso Selection and the Lazarro Tasting Pack.

Which form for your machine?

• Bean-to-cup machine: whole beans. For a fuller cup, set the grinder a step finer and pick a smaller cup size rather than a long one.
• Espresso machine with portafilter: whole beans and your own grinder, so you can adjust the grind to the bean.
• Moka pot, filter machine or French press: ground coffee, or beans ground to suit: fine for a moka pot, medium for filter, coarse for a French press. For strong ground coffee, this category includes Segafredo Intermezzo and illy Classico in 250 g packs.

Brewing a stronger cup

• Use more coffee, not just a darker bean. For filter coffee, try about 65 to 70 g per litre of water.
• Make the drink shorter: a ristretto or espresso tastes stronger than a lungo from the same beans.
• With a French press, steep for about four minutes and use a coarse but not too coarse grind.
• With a moka pot, take it off the heat as soon as it starts to gurgle; boiling it longer only adds bitterness.