Strong Coffee
Our strong coffees are roasted for longer than many other varieties, producing deep flavours and powerful tones. These coffee beans are perfect for those looking for really flavoursome brews, and whilst they can be enjoyed at any time, they are particularly well suited to after dinner settings.
You can sort all of our coffees with our Coffee Sorter tool.
- Monsoon Malabar CoffeeMonsoon Malabar, a wonderful variety from our Asian coffee range, is picked in the Malabar region of India, one of the wettest regions of southern India, undergoes an especially unique process to bring out the beans' fullest flavours. Straight after being harvested the Malabar beans are transported to open warehouses along the Malabar Coast, where they will be exposed to the harsh, moist winds of the area's monsoons for around three to four months. While they are stored in these open ...
From £14.99★★★★★1202 Review(s) - Golden Crema CoffeeThis is the crème de la crème of coffee blends, a robust, rich and bold coffee of the highest quality to spoil yourself with at any time of day. The strong blend makes an exquisite espresso that could be just the thing to give yourself a midday pick-me-up, but if you want to enjoy this treat to its fullest then use it as a base for all your favourite filter coffees: the luxurious texture is brought to the forefront when you add steamed milk, creating creamy, silky lattes and cappuccinos that ...
From £14.99★★★★★907 Review(s) - Italian CoffeeThe same blend as our Continental coffee, but roasted slightly lighter so that the same great flavour is produced without the oily characteristics, making it ideal for smooth and intense espressos. While our Italian is classed as a strong coffee and is best enjoyed as an espresso, you don't need to feel restricted to that single drink. Why not start the day with Italian coffee beans as a base for your favourite filter coffees, and enjoy a powerful, full-flavoured experience. The perfect ...
From £13.99★★★★★495 Review(s) - Dark Decaffeinated Colombian CoffeeIf you're looking for a quality decaf coffee that doesn't sacrifice on strength and intense flavours, then our Dark Decaffeinated Colombian is for you. Ideal for deep, aromatic espressos, these beans offer the rich and luxurious flavour of chocolate and produce wonderfully full-bodied coffees that won't be keeping you up all night. Our Dark Decaffeinated Colombian is roasted on order, so it will arrive to you as fresh as possible, bursting with intoxicating aromas and packed full of flavour, ...
From £14.99★★★★★413 Review(s) - Arabica Supremo CoffeeAn extraordinary, complex blend of 100% Arabica beans from five different coffee-growing locations across the world, puts Arabica Supremo high on the list of the finest blends to be created. Deep, rich and smooth, with an exotic, spicy aroma, the recipe for this ingenious mix of high quality, expertly roasted beans is a well-kept secret, but once tried, you’ll be left in no doubt as to how amazing it tastes. Arabica Supremo is roasted dark, with a strength level of 8/10, and flavour and ...
From £19.99★★★★★249 Review(s) - Director's CoffeeWith an intense, spicy taste and a wonderfully full body, this Sumatran-based blend is ideal for espressos, packing a strong punch that's not often encountered in blends, yet retaining a complexity of flavours that's not always easy to find in stronger coffees. The big, powerful flavours of Director's linger superbly on the tongue, but aren't so oppressive that you can't enjoy this blend filtered or prepared with a cafetiere. Our Director's blend is especially good for those who enjoy a bit ...
From £14.99★★★★★269 Review(s) - Old Brown Java CoffeeIdeal for espresso, our strong Old Brown Java beans are aged as green beans for at least two years before being roasted, giving the coffee a heavier body and a powerful flavour, but very little acidity. The process of ageing beans is popular among many Javanese coffee producers and can last for as long as three years, during which green beans may be 'monsooned' by being exposed to the warm, moist air of the rainy seasons. As the green beans age they often begin to turn to a light brown ...
From £14.99★★★★★359 Review(s) - Blue Sumatra CoffeeThis strong Indonesian coffee comes from Sumatra, the second largest of the Indonesian islands, and is considered among the finest examples from the region. Indonesia itself is the fourth largest coffee producer in the world, and the longitude and latitude of the country make for particularly well suited micro-climates in producing a diverse, flavoursome variety of beans. In fact, depending on the region, Indonesian coffees are known to be imbued with flavours of cocoa, smoke, cedar wood, ...
From £15.99★★★★★295 Review(s) - Java Santos CoffeeThis blend of Indonesian Java and Brazilian Santos creates a wonderfully strong coffee that's full of flavour, but without any bitterness. Java, or Kopi Jawa as Indonesians refer to it, is typically a strong, slightly sweet coffee, and it works wonders here with the light body and low acidity of Santos. The balance of flavours creates an indulgent blend that's best enjoyed as an espresso, but can also be used in a cafetiere or as a base for your favourite filter coffees.
From £14.99★★★★★168 Review(s) - Continental CoffeeThis strong coffee is full of character and perfect for those who enjoy powerful, dark roasts that pack a punch. Our Continental is the darkest roasted coffee we offer and, while perhaps not for the faint hearted, offers a divine combination of heady aromas and rich, oily, well-balanced flavours. Given the strength of this wonderful coffee, we would recommend it mainly for intense espressos, although it can also be used to make rich filter coffees that will carry a very mild acidity and ...
From £13.99★★★★★224 Review(s) - Caffè Marcos CoffeeOur premier blend of expertly roasted coffees from the very finest plantations in Central and South America, mixed with complex tones from African and Indian speciality beans for a deep, rich and full-bodied coffee. A slight hint of acidity is balanced beautifully with a mellow flavour in what we consider to be one of our greatest ever blends. Perfectly suitable for an exquisite espresso, Caffè Marcos forms the ideal base for all manner of coffee drinks. With a strength level of 8/10, ...
From £19.99★★★★★106 Review(s) - Guatemala Swiss Water Decaffeinated CoffeeGuatemala Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee offers the typical taste profile of a Guatemalan coffee, but without the caffeine, so it can be enjoyed at any time of the day or evening. It is produced using the ingenious Swiss Water Decaffeination Process, a method that removes caffeine from coffee without the use of chemicals, and without losing the wonderful flavours contained in quality Arabica beans. It is a medium bodied cup with good acidity, a rich aroma, and hints of citrus and caramel. ...
From £22.99★★★★★70 Review(s) - Buckaroo CoffeeNot for the faint-hearted, our Buckaroo Blend is strong, darkly roasted and straight to the point, with a kick that's sure to get you moving first thing in the morning. While this blend is great in filter coffees, it really comes alive as an espresso, where the deep, rich aromas and powerful flavours are brought right to the forefront, giving your senses a wonderful wake-up call and lingering on the tongue long afterwards. Roasted to order, our Buckaroo blend will be delivered to you with ...
From £13.99★★★★★104 Review(s) - Brazil Ipanema CoffeeExclusively prepared bourbon variety cherry beans. This unique coffee, grown in the Sul de Minas Gerais region of Brazil, to the Northwest of Rio, is slightly citric, has noticeable acidity and evident floral overtones. Its soft, mellow and sweet taste stands alone, producing distinct fragrances and aromas. The aftertaste is long, pleasant and almondy. Brazil Ipanema is suitable for all brewing methods, but excels in espresso-based drinks in particular. Want to read more about Brazil Ipanema ...
From £15.99★★★★★76 Review(s) - Smokey Joe's CoffeeThis gorgeous combination of monsoon washed and Ling Tong Sumatran beans hits you immediately with its velvety sweetness, rich fruit flavours and smokey spiciness. Leaving behind an earthly and complex taste that is fantastic for a more savoury coffee, our Smokey Joe's is best enjoyed in the evening or after a meal, and compliments a dessert especially well. The monsoon washed beans undergo the heavy winds and rains of Indonesia's monsoon season, during a process that removes much of their ...
From £14.99★★★★★89 Review(s) - Peru CoffeeThis high grown coffee has a wonderful fruity and floral taste, with a sharp acidity and a subtle chocolate finish. Coffee is one of the largest agricultural exports of Peru, with approximately 200,000 small farms spanning the country from north to south, producing high quality arabica beans. Our Peru coffee goes wonderfully in your favourite filter coffees, and will also make a delightfully sharp espresso. Be sure to check out our wider range of South American coffee, including wonderful ...
From £14.99★★★★★63 Review(s) - Ernesto CoffeeOur Ernesto coffee is a strong blend from South America, and we've added some powerful Ethiopian beans to make a perfect espresso combination. This blend takes its name from the renowned Italian coffee merchant, Ernesto Illy, whose passion for the finest espresso led to some of the greatest innovations in history of the industry. Under Illy's guidance extensive research was carried out into finding the perfect espresso, factoring in such minute measurements as the fineness of the grind and ...
From £14.99★★★★★76 Review(s) - Turbo CoffeeLooking for a speedy wake up? Then our strong Turbo blend is just the coffee for you. Its bold, rich texture and earthy flavours are ideal for getting you out of bed in the morning, especially if you favour more savoury blends over sweeter varieties, and the generous measure of caffeine will keep you going as you start the day. Try this as an intense, powerful espresso, ideal for when you're in a hurry and about to leave the house, or, if you have a little more time on your hands, let the ...
From £14.99★★★★★19 Review(s) - Lungo Continental CoffeeOur very own Lungo Continental blend is smooth and strong, with subtle Mocha hints that work a treat in milky filter coffees, yet also bring a delightful and unique taste to espressos. This dash of Mocha is wonderfully balanced with a good helping of our dark roasted Continental coffee, which brings a very mild acidity and some good power, and is blended to a secret ratio that has taken us a few years to get just right. This delicious blend will leave you replenished, full of energy and ...
From £13.99★★★★★14 Review(s) - Kick Start CoffeeOur strong Kick Start blend is a fantastic coffee to help you wake up in the morning, or keep you going through those long work days. It has a delicious sweet caramel flavour that can be enjoyed all through the day without becoming too acidic or bitter, and a divine velvety texture that works wonders in all your favourite filter coffees. But if you really want perking up, then enjoy this intense blend as a short, sharp espresso and immediately feel the benefits.
From £14.99★★★★★47 Review(s)
Everything you need to know about strong coffee
If you were to ask your colleagues, friends or family members how they take their coffee, we guarantee you’d hear the word ‘strong’ used over and over again. Delivering a pick-me-up quite like no other, strong coffee is the brew of choice for many coffee lovers who favour intense flavours and powerful taste experiences.
But what exactly is strong coffee? And how can you make the best cup of strong coffee at home? If you’d like to learn more about strong coffee, from brewing tips to its meaning, check out our indispensable guide below.
The Java Jargon Decoder
- Grind size - The size of particles once you’ve ground your coffee. The scale ranges from extra-coarse to super-fine.
- Ratio - The amount of ground coffee used vs the amount of water used.
- Ristretto - This brew is a short shot of highly concentrated espresso coffee. The drink is made using the same amount of grounds as an espresso but only uses up to half as much water.
What is strong coffee?
For different people, strong coffee means different things. For some, strong coffee is the darkness of a roast, whereas for others, it’s a fierce caffeine hit. To complicate the definition even further, when some people talk about strong coffee, they’re referring to intensity, such as the experience of drinking a short, sharp espresso.
Technically none of these definitions is wrong. Generally, the darker the roast, the 'stronger' the variety. That’s why you’ll usually hear words such as, ‘punchy’, ‘full of flavour’ and ‘intense’ used to describe dark roast coffee. There are, however, exceptions to this rule, and some dark roasts can produce a brew with subtle and mild notes.
Similarly, a cup of coffee with a high caffeine content doesn't necessarily equate to strong coffee. For example, although you’ll find more caffeine per ounce in an espresso vs drip coffee (around 40mg vs 10mg), due to serving sizes, in one 2 oz double espresso, you’ll get around 80 milligrams of coffee compared to 120 milligrams in a cup of drip coffee. So while it may feel like you’re getting a strong caffeine hit with an espresso shot, you’re actually consuming more caffeine using other brewing methods.
Taking these varying interpretations into consideration, at Coffee Direct, we define strong coffee as the perceived strength of a brewed cup of coffee. If a roast gives you robust, intense flavours full of rich aromas, we will describe it as a strong coffee. This sort of taste experience does tend to result from darker roasts as these types of beans have lower acidity, are heavy-bodied and give you deep, dark flavours.
A helpful comparison for coffee strength can be found in the world of wine. A wine with a higher ABV may make for a ’stronger’ drink, but that’s not always the case. Some grape varieties and brewing processes can produce wines that seem quite light in body and taste, yet they have a high ABV.
How to make strong coffee at home
If you want to turbocharge your morning brew, here are our top tips on how to make a cup of good strong coffee at home.
Go darker
By picking a dark roast, your coffee is more likely to have a stronger flavour. Generally, the longer beans are roasted, the deeper and richer the flavour gets. The best coffee beans for strong coffee are dark roasted Arabica Coffee Beans. Although Robusta Coffee Beans tend to produce powerful flavours, these are often quite bitter and harsh, so consider this before switching from Arabica.
Up the grounds-to-water ratio
For regular brewed coffee, the suggested ratio is two scoops (2 tablespoons) of grounds to one cup of water. To make your coffee taste stronger, simply add more grounds; that way you’ll get a higher percentage of coffee molecules in your cup.
Master your grind
Always pay attention to your grind size to maximise the taste of your bean. Grinding extracts flavour from the bean, but if done incorrectly for your chosen brewing method, you’ll compromise the taste of your coffee. For example, if you don’t dissolve enough coffee particles, you could end up with a drink that is weak, sour or astringent instead of strong and flavoursome.
Elevate your water temperature
Like chocolate, coffee is soluble, meaning it dissolves faster at higher temperatures. By heating your water higher, it’ll extract more flavour quicker. However, make sure your quest for the strongest coffee doesn't lead to a burnt coffee. Optimum temperature is 96 ºC. Any higher and you may burn the coffee, creating unpleasant bitterness.
Have fun and experiment
The best tasting coffee is subjective, so play around and have fun experimenting with different water to grounds ratios and timings until you perfect the art of a great cup of super-strong coffee.
Did you know strong coffee can improve physical performance?
Knocking back a strong cup of coffee about half an hour before you hit the gym may accelerate your weight loss. Caffeine stimulates your nervous system, triggering fat cells to break down body fat. It’s also proven to improve physical performance by 11-12%.
Our delicious strong coffees
At Coffee Direct we sell a huge variety of delicious dark roast coffees. Our strong coffees are roasted for longer to create intensely deep flavours and rich aromas. Whilst our strongest coffee beans and grinds can be enjoyed at any time, they are particularly well suited to after-dinner settings.
Monsoon Malabar Coffee
Unique to the coastal regions of Karnataka and Kerala, Monsoon Malabar is one of our best-selling coffees and is perfect for those who like their brew strong. Harvested in the Malabar region of India, one of the wettest regions of southern India, the beans are immediately exposed to the harsh, moist winds of the area's monsoons for around three months. This process causes the beans to swell, losing their acidity and creating a full-bodied, flavour-packed coffee.
“I like good strong coffee, i.e. a strong flavour that pleases the palate rather than assaults it! Monsoon Malabar scores extremely well in this respect. Furthermore, this coffee has a very pleasant finish.”
John M. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Golden Crema Coffee
Our Golden Crema coffee is the crème de la crème of strong coffee blends. It has a lustrous texture which you can enhance by adding steamed milk to create irresistible silky lattes and cappuccinos.
“Excellent all-rounder but especially good as espresso or flat white. Has a strong flavour, is not bitter and is quite like dark chocolate.”
Martin S. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Italian Coffee
Always offering a powerful, full-flavoured experience, our strong Italian Coffee is best enjoyed as an espresso. However, it can also be used as a base for your favourite filter coffees to produce a powerful, flavour-rich experience.
“I’m no coffee expert, but I know good taste and this knocks the socks off my previous bean. It’s full-bodied, well rounded and has no bitter aftertaste. Delicious!”
Priyesh P. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Old Brown Java Coffee
The depth of flavour from our Old Brown Java coffee beans comes from the two-year ageing process of its green beans. The longer the green beans are aged, the more flavour they gain, so this process ensures a heavier body, mighty flavour and very little acidity.
“This Old Brown Java coffee is rounded and pungent with a rich, deep flavour and hints of fig. The perfect accompaniment to croissants aux amandes - with which I drank it this morning.”
Derek F. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dark Decaffeinated Colombian Coffee
If you require maximum flavour but minimum caffeine kick, our Dark Decaffeinated Colombian is for you. Ideal for aromatic espressos, these beans offer rich and luxurious flavours of sweet fruit and chocolate, producing wonderfully full-bodied coffees that won't keep you up all night.
“Best decaf we have tasted. Full strength but not bitter.”
C. T. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
FAQs
What is the world’s strongest coffee?
With its rather ominous name and skull and crossbones packaging, Death Wish Coffee is apparently the world’s strongest coffee in terms of caffeine content. Produced with 100% Robusta coffee beans, Death Wish Coffee has claimed the world's strongest title with a caffeine level that is twice as high as your regular cup.
For even the most seasoned coffee drinker, the likes of this world's strongest coffee, with its high caffeine content, is a bit too much to handle regularly. Although the novelty may be appealing, we advise skipping the strongest coffee in the world and checking out our selection of delicious everyday strong coffees instead.
Does strong coffee raise blood pressure?
The link between coffee and blood pressure is down to caffeine. Caffeine has a short-term impact in terms of elevating blood pressure, with a mild increase in the range of 5 to 10 mmHg. This caffeine powered effect lasts for about 3 hours until the effect subsides.
If you keep within the daily recommendations of caffeinated coffee consumption, strong coffee has no more or less of a health impact than regular coffee. Strong roasted coffee will only raise your blood pressure any higher than regular coffee if you drink a higher concentration. For instance, 20g of coffee may be used as coffee for espresso machines, but 30g is used as coffee for filter machines. Therefore, the drink which was made with more coffee will have more caffeine.
Is strong coffee bad for you?
The health risks (and health benefits) of strong coffee are no different from regular coffee. Consuming high caffeine levels can be dangerous, but again, this is only if you're consuming huge amounts of caffeine. Up to 400mg of caffeine a day is considered safe for most healthy adults, which is roughly the amount of caffeine in four cups of brewed coffee.
What does a strong coffee taste like?
The taste of strong coffee is often described as 'punchy', 'intense', 'flavour-packed' and 'rich'. These flavours are usually associated with darker roasts, although one roast will always differ from another. Remember, good strong coffee should never be sharp, overly bitter or acrid, which can sometimes happen during the roasting or brewing process.