What Is Strong Coffee?

What Is Strong Coffee?

September 06, 2020

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 Our 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.



Leave a comment


Also in Easy to go Good

Celebrating The Dad’s With The Dad Pack
Celebrating The Dad’s With The Dad Pack

August 28, 2022

The unconditional love of New Zealand's mums and dads is why our little island will always be called home. To help your dad feel like New Zealand's favourite dad this Father's Day (Sunday 4th September) we've created the Dad Pack.

Read More

If It's Not Gleam, It's Not Clean!
If It's Not Gleam, It's Not Clean!

August 01, 2022 4 Comments

We are delighted to announce the release of Gleam. Exclusive to Coffee Capsules 2U, Gleam is a premium quality descaling and cleaning tablet for your coffee machine. You can pour the coffee of your dreams when your coffee machine gleams!

Read More

Growing Like Crazy
Growing Like Crazy

July 08, 2022

It may be winter but things are growing like crazy here at Coffee Capsules 2U. One word to describe it all? New! New coffees, new flavours, new ways of doing things. We're packing the good morning happiness train chocka full of goodies and will soon be stopping to unload at a station near you.

Read More