# grande milano



## Dougie (Jan 27, 2012)

Has anyone heard of these beans?

A recent article sited a shop in Byres Road Glasgow as having the strongest coffee around. so eventually I managed to get in and i treated myself to an americano.

This was about 30-40 after a double expresso from artisan on Gibson street. Anyway shortly after I was gibbering like and idiot with my 3 year old. It's strong stuff.

The shop sells a kilo for £25 but I wondered if I can get it online cheaper. I googled it and nothing came up. any ideas?

Cheers.


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## Dougie (Jan 27, 2012)

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/12December/Pages/high-caffeine-health-risk-cafe-coffee.aspx

heres the article. has no one heard of these beans online?

thanks


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Frankly don't buy it. Especially at £25 a kilo.

The name is a code word for 'packed full of cheap robusta', as is the claim for high caffeine content. If you really must, then just get some of Bella Baristas Italia Creme or Izzo beans. Much cheaper and full of cheap robusta


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## Dougie (Jan 27, 2012)

do you not think the beans are any good?


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Not tried them, but as I've said, if by 'strongest' you mean highest caffeine content then that blend will be stuffed full of nasty Robusta. More caffeine does not equal better coffee, if you think it does then save yourself the hassle and buy a jar of Nescafé and a box of Pro Plus.

£25 a kilo could get you some serious gourmet shit. Not shitty stuff that you can find for £10 a kilo or less.

Why are you interested in it?


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## Dougie (Jan 27, 2012)

purely because of the high caffeine.

i need to research beans a bit more i think.


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## RoloD (Oct 13, 2010)

Why not just buy it neat?


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Dougie said:


> purely because of the high caffeine.
> 
> i need to research beans a bit more i think.


Very broadly, higher quality (therefore expensive) better tasting beans=less caffeine

If it is what I think it is then that shop is taking the piss @ £25 a kilo. Should be about £7.


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## Dougie (Jan 27, 2012)

mmmm. so, two things. can you recommend a bean for me? somewhere online maybe.

and can you recommend a link to coffee beans etc so i can get to know them a bit better.

oh, what coffee would you say taste really nice but has lower caffeine? and i assume anything with lots of robusta are high caffiene but taste bad, is that corrct?

thanks.


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

There's Robusta and there's Robusta. It varies in quality and price , but broadly speaking it doesn't taste good and so either gets left out of blends or put in small quantities. If you want to know what Robusta tastes like go and try the cheapest instant you can find.

It is put in to espresso blends to give a good crema (but you can still get good crema from decent Arabica beans if properly brewed), caffeine content, and because it is cheap. Some blends have it in and it doesn't stand out too much, but in others after a while it really grates. Until fairly recently many people felt espresso blends should have it in.

Recommendations? Well, that depends on what you like. If you want to try an economical blend with Robusta in that isn't too intrusive, then Happy Donkey is good. Otherwise for full Arabica blends in a sort of traditional style try Union Revelation, Hands-On Lusty Glaze (or any number of others in fact)

HasBean are veering towards (and Square Mile are fully ensconced in ) the trend for high acid espresso. Not my taste at all but you may like it.

I'll reiterate that I haven't tried those beans you refer to, but everything points to a robusta heavy blend.


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## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

Expobarista is completely correct. About 15% of the robusta crop is high end robusta used in good Italian espresso blends to give body, strength and crema. If you buy cheap coffees from the supermarkets, they generally taste like crap IMO but they produce buckets of crema, no matter how old they are. That's robusta - but usually the cheaper blends use a higher percentage of robusta and they use cheap robusta. Robusta is high in strength and very high in caffeine. However, better blends made by good roasting houses use robusta to balance their coffees.

Trial and error is the way to choose. Everyone likes different styles. I enjoy the traditional full roasts as well as the lighter full roast styles of Has Bean. I also prefer SO coffee but a good blend is nice once in a while. A lot of people here enjoy heavy only Italian blends. Some people drink the same coffee all the time once they find one they like, while others experiment and change beans every order. There is so much choice and so many different price points out there.


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## Dougie (Jan 27, 2012)

ok thanks.

how did you learn about all the types of beans etc?


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Making espresso for 20 years and roasting for 10


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