Spicy coffee beans and blends

Where the spice in coffee comes from

"Spicy" is a tasting term, not a flavouring. It describes aromas that remind you of clove, black pepper, cardamom or cinnamon, and they have three main sources.

• Origin: coffee from Indonesia and India is known for earthy, woody and spicy notes. Sumatra is the textbook example.
• Roast: a darker roast pushes the flavour towards pepper, smoke and dark chocolate, and away from fruit.
• Robusta: robusta beans taste woodier and more bitter than arabica, with a peppery edge. Many Italian espresso blends include some robusta for body and crema.

Start with an origin known for spice

Sumatra Speciality is the obvious first choice: a 100% arabica from the Indonesian island famous for earthy, spicy coffee, freshly roasted by Café du Jour. India is the other classic origin, and illy Arabica Selection India (250 g) lets you taste that character in a single-origin arabica.

Not every coffee here is spicy in the same way. Ethiopian coffee, for example, is better known for floral and fruity notes, so if spice is what you are after, start with Sumatra or India.

Darker roasts

Dark Roast Brazil shows what the roast does. Brazilian arabica is usually nutty and chocolatey; roasted dark, it picks up a warm, peppery edge. If you like that style, our dark roast coffee has more of it.

Espresso blends in 1 kg bags

For a bean-to-cup or portafilter machine, look at the stronger blends. The names give you a clue: Kimbo Espresso Crema Intensa, Lavazza Expert Gusto Forte, Kimbo Vending Audace and Dallmayr Crema d'Oro intensa are the more intense blends in each brand's range, where roast and body carry the spice. Robusta often adds the peppery note, and the product page shows each blend's composition where we have it. Drink a shot black first: milk softens spicy notes into a warmer, rounder cup.

Which spicy coffee for which machine?

• Bean-to-cup or portafilter espresso machine: one of the espresso blends in 1 kg bags, or Dark Roast Brazil.
• Cafetière, AeroPress or filter with a grinder: Sumatra Speciality or illy Arabica Selection India. A cafetière gives a full, heavy cup in which earthy notes come forward.
• No grinder and no machine: the Ethiopia drip bags, see below.

Compare with a tasting pack

Spice is easier to judge side by side. Italian Espresso Selection and the Segafredo Preview Package each hold four 1 kg bags of espresso beans; the Lazarro Beans Duo puts a dark roast next to a caffè crema, so you can taste what the roast adds. The illy Arabica Tasting Pack (4 x 250 g) does the same for single-origin arabica. More packs are under sample packs.

No machine? Drip bags

The Ethiopia single serve coffee drip bags come in a box of 14. A drip bag is a small filter with ground coffee inside: hang it over your cup, pour on hot water in a few rounds, and remove it. Being Ethiopian, it leans more to fruit than to spice, but it is the only option here that needs no grinder or machine.