It’s a frequent question following a similar theme “what’s your strongest coffee?”

To answer the question, we first need to understand what strength is.

Caffeine? Well that is relatively the same across all of our blends. Sure, the Robusta bean has a higher caffeine content (2.7% versus 1.5% with Arabica). However, that is balanced out in the roasting process.

Flavour? Coffee is one of the most intensely flavoured things that humans consume. All of our blends are 100% coffee and therefore packed with flavour. Light, bright, fruity, caramel, chocolate, woody and tobacco tones are all there to be discovered right through our range.

Roast? This is usually what people associate with “strength”. Dark and very dark roasting creates a caramelisation effect on the oils within the coffee that produces the heavy undertones (think burnt taste) that a lot of people seek from their coffee. Very dark roasting actually starts to burn the organic matter of the bean and has a charcoal effect.

Dose? Strength of coffee, regardless of bean or roast, is determined quite simply by volume of coffee v volume of water. The less water and more coffee that is used to extract the flavours results in stronger coffee.

Our Blend 12 has the highest Robusta bean content and is roasted to the maximum level possible. It is the darkest roast that we can offer without setting the smoke alarms off.

Our capsules contain 5-6 grams of coffee. Your local barista is 12+ minimum. Which is why a double shot makes sense and produces what Louise and I consider a far richer coffee experience in cup.

What's your favourite coffee?

Louise starts every day with a double short shot of Blend 5. It’s a very strong flavoursome coffee to kickstart the day.

Patrick prefers double-shot Blend 7 or Blend 9 with milk. Both of those blends are a Robusta & Arabica blend roasted to get the best flavours out of each bean. They ooze with flavour and have enough oomph to awaken the senses.

And here’s a little something …. Want a coffee that will linger on the palate? Try a double shot of our decaffeinated blend. Now that is a sassy little number.

The joy of finding your own favourite

At the end of the day, coffee is all about personal taste. Finding the right espresso pour to suit your taste. That’s the beauty of the capsules and machines – it gives you a wonderfully controlled environment to produce a consistent coffee taste.

We talk about all of this in our Secret To Good Coffee series. Click here to read it.