🚚 More Shipping Options | Free shipping available
Coffee King offers four specialty blends — Italian Gourmet, Original Rich & Smooth, Barista Premium, and Gourmet Decaf — each designed around a specific cup experience rather than a roasting convention. Whether you're brewing your morning espresso at home, stocking a café menu, or outfitting an office kitchen, there's a Coffee King bean built for exactly how you drink coffee.
Key Takeaway: Coffee King's range spans a smooth, chocolatey medium roast (Italian Gourmet) through to a bold, high-intensity dark roast (Original Rich & Smooth), a barista-grade espresso blend (Barista Premium), and a chemical-free Swiss Water decaf (Gourmet Decaf). All four start from £6.97 and are available as whole beans or ground.
Most coffee brands start with the bean. They source it, roast it, name it, and tell you what to expect. Coffee King works the other way around.
It's called the Cup-to-Bean philosophy. The team defines what an extraordinary cup should taste like first — the flavour notes, the body, the finish — and then works backwards to find the origin, the blend, and the roast level that delivers it. That's why Coffee King's Italian Gourmet is medium roasted when the industry says "Italian" should be dark. It's why every bean in the range is named for the experience it delivers, not the process behind it.
The result is four genuinely distinct blends that cover every coffee occasion — from a quiet Monday morning cafetière to a busy Saturday service behind an espresso machine.
Roast: Medium · Strength: 3/5 · Bean: 100% Arabica · Origin: Brazil & Central America
If you're new to Coffee King, Italian Gourmet is the place to start. It's the brand's flagship blend and the widest-appeal bean in the range.
The tasting notes tell you exactly what to expect: milk chocolate on the open, warm caramel through the middle, and a long praline sweetness on the finish. The body is full and syrupy, with mild, naturally balanced acidity and absolutely no bitterness.
Here's the counterintuitive part: despite the name, this is a medium roast. In the coffee industry, "Italian roast" technically means the darkest commercial roast — charcoal black, oily, and bitter. Coffee King deliberately ignored that convention. They asked what customers actually want when they reach for a bag called "Italian Gourmet" — richness, café quality, warmth — and built the blend to deliver that experience instead.
Best brew methods: Espresso (rich crema, chocolate depth), flat white and cappuccino (caramel notes lift against steamed milk), cafetière (full body, no silt), filter and pour-over (Central American brightness shines), cold brew (natural sweetness is outstanding).
From £6.97 · Available as whole beans and ground coffee
Roast: Dark · Strength: 4–5/5 · Bean: Arabica & Robusta · Origin: Brazil, Latin America & India
Original Rich & Smooth is Coffee King's founding blend — the most assertive bean in the range, built for drinkers who find medium roasts mild and want their Americano to cut through milk and still taste of coffee.
The flavour profile opens with dark cacao depth, balanced by a distinctive cinder toffee sweetness through the mid-palate, with a rich, satisfying finish. The Arabica provides body and aromatic complexity, while the Robusta drives exceptional crema production, caffeine presence, and an espresso-shot authority that lighter roasts simply can't match. The Indian component adds a characteristic earthiness and spiced quality that extends the finish.
Best brew methods: Espresso (exceptional crema, powerful clean finish), Americano (retains intensity throughout), flat white (cuts through milk — the cinder toffee note is distinctive), moka pot.
From £6.97 · Available as whole beans and ground
Roast: Medium-Dark · Strength: 4/5 · Bean: Arabica & Robusta · Origin: Brazil, Latin America & India
Barista Premium is the most technically sophisticated blend in the Coffee King range. It's designed around a single, specific experience: the perfectly pulled espresso shot where the flavour evolves as you drink it.
That evolution is what sets it apart. There are three distinct stages: caramel sweetness on the open, rich hazelnut character through the mid-palate, and a long cocoa finish that lingers well beyond the cup. This three-stage flavour profile isn't discovered by accident — it's engineered into the blend through the precise medium-dark roast, which sits in the transition zone between dark enough for espresso authority and light enough to retain the bean's layered sweetness.
This is particularly valuable in milk drinks. Even in a flat white or cappuccino, where milk occupies a significant portion of the palate, the caramel and hazelnut notes remain distinct and expressive.
Best brew methods: Espresso (café-quality extraction with caramel sweetness and perfect crema), flat white (the hazelnut mid-note excels), cappuccino (the three-stage profile unfolds as foam integrates), latte (cocoa finish provides depth even through a full milk ratio).
From £6.97 · Available as whole beans and ground
Roast: Medium · Strength: Low · Bean: 100% Arabica · Origin: Central America · Decaffeination: Swiss Water Process
Coffee King's Gourmet Decaf exists to prove a point: removing caffeine doesn't mean removing flavour. In blind tastings, most drinkers don't identify this as decaf — not because the caffeine is undetectable (it genuinely isn't there, with 99.9% removed), but because everything that makes coffee taste like coffee is fully present.
The tasting notes include warm baking chocolate on the open, gentle hazelnut through the body, caramel as an undertone throughout, and a long, satisfying floral finish that lifts the cup. Central American 100% Arabica was chosen specifically because its natural sweetness and complexity survive the decaffeination process with character intact.
What is the Swiss Water Process? Most decaf coffee uses chemical solvents (ethyl acetate or methylene chloride) that strip caffeine quickly but take flavour compounds with them — which is why most decaf tastes flat and hollow. The Swiss Water Process uses only water and activated carbon filtration. Zero chemicals. It costs significantly more, but it preserves the aromatic oils, natural sugars, and flavour compounds that define the cup.
Best brew methods: Cafetière (smooth, full-flavoured French press cup), filter (Central American brightness shines), espresso (pulls a genuine shot with crema), AeroPress (highlights chocolate and caramel clarity), cold brew (natural sweetness amplified — exceptional evening drink).
From £7.97 · Available as whole beans and ground
| Italian Gourmet | Original Rich & Smooth | Barista Premium | Gourmet Decaf | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roast | Medium | Dark | Medium-Dark | Medium |
| Bean | 100% Arabica | Arabica & Robusta | Arabica & Robusta | 100% Arabica |
| Strength | 3/5 | 4–5/5 | 4/5 | Low (caffeine-free) |
| Origin | Brazil & Central America | Brazil, Latin America & India | Brazil, Latin America & India | Central America |
| Key Notes | Chocolate · Caramel · Praline | Dark cacao · Cinder toffee | Caramel · Hazelnut · Cocoa | Baking choc · Hazelnut · Floral |
| Best For | Everything — the all-rounder | Espresso · Americano · Bold lovers | Espresso · All milk drinks | All methods · Evening drinking |
| Price From | £6.97 | £6.97 | £6.97 | £7.97 |
All four blends are Premium Quality Certified, vegan, allergen-free, and GMO-free. Available in 250g and 500g packs.
Here's a quick guide based on how you drink coffee:
"I want one bag that works for everything." Start with Italian Gourmet. It's the widest-appeal blend, works across every brew method, and is the clearest expression of what Coffee King is about.
"I like my coffee strong and bold." Original Rich & Smooth is your bean. Strength 4–5/5, dark roast, built for those who want their coffee to mean it.
"I have an espresso machine and I care about the shot." Barista Premium was built for you. The three-stage flavour profile rewards good extraction and shines in milk-based drinks.
"I want great coffee without the caffeine." Gourmet Decaf is Swiss Water certified, 99.9% caffeine-free, and genuinely delicious. The 9pm cup you actually want.
"I'm stocking a café or office." Consider carrying two or three from the range. Italian Gourmet as your house coffee, Barista Premium for espresso-focused drinks, and Gourmet Decaf as a decaf option customers will actually enjoy. Browse the full coffee collection to see all options.
Coffee King's range isn't just for home kitchens. The four blends are designed to cover a complete café menu or workplace coffee station.
Building a café menu around Coffee King beans: Italian Gourmet works as a versatile house coffee — approachable for black coffee drinkers and expressive enough for flat whites. Pair it with Barista Premium as your "signature espresso" for customers who want something bolder and more complex. Add Gourmet Decaf and you've covered every customer preference without compromising quality at any point.
For offices and workplace bean-to-cup machines: Italian Gourmet's medium roast and zero bitterness make it the safest choice for a shared machine — everyone from the tea-and-one-sugar crowd to the double-espresso regulars will find something to enjoy. At under £7 per 250g, it delivers specialty quality at a practical price point.
Wholesale enquiries: For volume pricing, wholesale accounts, or café partnership enquiries, contact Coffee King directly through coffeekingdirect.com.
All Coffee King beans are available as whole beans or pre-ground (cafetière, filter, and espresso grinds), so you can match the format to your equipment without needing a separate grinder.
Cup-to-Bean means Coffee King designs the ideal taste experience first, then works backwards to find the origin, blend, and roast that delivers it. It's the opposite of how most coffee is made — and it's why the range tastes genuinely different from what you'll find at equivalent price points.
Yes. All four blends are available as whole beans (for grinder-equipped machines) and pre-ground in cafetière, filter, and espresso grinds. They work in everything from a simple cafetière to a commercial espresso machine.
In the industry, "Italian roast" means the darkest possible roast — charcoal black and bitter. Coffee King named Italian Gourmet after the café culture and quality it evokes, not the roast convention. The medium roast unlocks the milk chocolate, caramel, and praline sweetness that customers actually want from a premium Italian-style coffee.
Yes. It's certified Swiss Water Process — which uses only water and activated carbon filtration. Zero solvents. 99.9% of caffeine is removed while preserving the flavour compounds that make the coffee taste great.
Keep them in an airtight, opaque container at room temperature, away from heat, light, and moisture. Use within two to four weeks of opening for peak flavour. Avoid the fridge or freezer for beans you're using daily, as temperature fluctuations cause condensation that degrades flavour.
Yes — Coffee King sells 250g, 500g and 1KG packs through ours online store, and wholesale enquiries for larger volumes can be made through coffeekingdirect.com.
Ready to find your perfect cup? Browse the full Coffee King bean collection — every blend starts from just £6.97, with free UK delivery options available.